Isabella Bird spent much of 1890 roaming the exotic lands of Persia and Kurdistan, traversing the coast and secluded towns and villages, keeping this vivid, descriptive, diary of local life and culture. While much of Europe had industrialized over the century prior, the Middle East of the late 19th century had not undergone such a transformation. Isabella Bird traversed Persia - modern-day Iran - and saw sights little-changed...