The Middle East has always been one of the most challenging destinations
for lorry drivers. In the 1970s and 80s, many drivers may not have even
heard of the destinations they were sent to before heading out
eastwards. Along the way they endured extreme weather conditions,
bureaucratic nightmares, and the physical trials of keeping themselves
and their trucks operational over many thousands of miles of poorly
maintained and dangerous roads. Their adventures have become legendary
within the trucking world.In this book Dave Bowers tells with humour and
insight the amazing stories of people driving to Middle East
destinations, battling against all the odds to deliver their loads. The
inspiration comes from his own experience through those routes and in
particular on one adventurous journey homewards from Tehran in 1975,
when he happened to be stranded in Iran, with no cash to speak of and
spending many nights sleeping in abandoned trailers along the way. Dave
travelled homewards after he was given lifts in trucks returning to
Europe. These were driven by drivers who had many tales to tell, and
this book was motivated by the need to keep these fascinating stories
alive.Illustrated with photographs of the drivers and vehicles taken at
the time, Beyond the Bosphorus records what it was like for ordinary HGV
drivers to get involved in something so dramatically different from
their everyday working lives in the UK. It will be of interest to lorry
drivers, general vehicle enthusiasts and also those with a historical
and social interest in the Middle East alike.
