In this book Professor Arberry describes the lives and labours of six great scholars - Simon Ockley, Sir William Jones, E. W. Lane, E. H. Palmer, E.G. Browne and R. A Nicholson - men who were devoted to building a bridge between the peoples of Europe and Asia.

To these biographical essays, Arberry has appended a fragment of candid autobiography and an eloquent plea for the further encouragement of Oriental studies.