Join us for the London launch of The Dervish Bowl: The Many Lives of Arminius Vambéry by Anabel Loyd. This new biography paints a compelling portrait of one of the most enigmatic figures of the nineteenth century, whose restless travels and self-fashioned legends made him both a celebrated explorer and a controversial character.
Arminius Vambéry (1832–1913) was a Hungarian-born linguist, adventurer, and writer who rose from poverty to become a regular guest at the courts and parlours of Victorian England. Disguised as a dervish, he crossed Persia and Central Asia on foot, publishing tales that thrilled European audiences and earned him a reputation as an intrepid traveller. Yet his story is far from straightforward: Zionist sympathiser, inspiration for Bram Stoker’s Van Helsing, and even a British agent in the “Great Game” with Russia, Vambéry embodied the shifting identities and ambiguities of Europe’s imperial century.
In her book, Anabel Loyd draws on Vambéry’s own memoirs alongside newly uncovered sources, letters, and contemporary accounts to reveal the complex reality behind the myths. From hero to trickster, patriot to opportunist, he emerges as a man who was always both insider and outsider - fitting in everywhere and nowhere at once.
