author
Rosita Forbes
d. 1967
An English travel writer and explorer, she became famous for bold journeys in North Africa and the Middle East at a time when such travel was rare for European women. Her books blend adventure, sharp observation, and the showmanship that made her a widely read popular author.
1 Audiobook
The sultan of the mountains : the life story of Raisuli
by Rosita Forbes
About the author
Born Joan Rosita Torr in 1890, she wrote under the name Rosita Forbes and built a public reputation as a daring traveler, novelist, and lecturer. She is best known for her 1920–1921 journey to the Kufra Oasis in Libya with Ahmed Hassanein, a trip that made her the first European woman known to reach the oasis when it was closed to most Western visitors.
Her travel writing helped turn her expeditions into literary success. Books such as The Secret of the Sahara introduced readers to remote places through vivid, fast-moving storytelling, and she became one of the best-known British travel writers of her era.
Forbes died on June 30, 1967, in Bermuda. Today she is remembered for the energy of her travel books and for the complicated mix of courage, curiosity, and self-invention that shaped both her journeys and her public image.