Freya Stark (1893-1993) was a woman who dared to do what few men of her class and generation dared do: In the 1920s and 1930s, her extensive travels throughout the Middle East lead her into remote and dangerous areas of Syria and Arabia (more specifically, the infamous Valley of the Assassins). That she underwent these journeys alone (usually accompanied by an interpreter) is a remarkable achievement. Stark wrote several books detailing her journeys around the world, and in her day achieved no small amount of celebrity. Today she is widely regarded as one of the best-known explorers of the twentieth century.