Frederick V (1723-1766), King of Denmark, financed the first Western expedition to Arabia in 1761-1767. This is what Thorkild Hansen's (1962) account of the project taught me about the social dynamics of the 18th century academia.
While backpacking through Thailand I read Doris Lessing's debut novel The Grass Is Singing published in 1950. It is about the interaction of white farmers and their black workforce in colonial Africa. I realised that there are striking similarities between colonial farming and the Thai tourism business.
