The Sahara: A Cultural History (Landscapes of the Imagination) - Softcover

Gearon, Eamonn

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0199861951 ISBN 13: 9780199861958

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2011

Synopsis

The Sahara is the quintessence of isolation, epitomizing both remoteness and severity of environment unlike any other place on the face of the earth. Replete with myths and fictions, it is a wild land, dotted with oases and camel trains trudging through sand dunes that roll like the waves on a sea, as far as the distant horizon. But this is just part of the picture. The largest desert in the world, the Sahara ranges from the river Nile running through Egypt and Sudan in the east, to the Atlantic coast from Morocco to Mauritania in the west; stretching from the Atlas Mountains and the shores of the Mediterranean in the north, to the fluid Sahelian fringe that delineates the desert in the south.

Invaders and traders have come and gone for millennia, but the Sahara is also the place that some people call home. While larger than the United States, this vast area contains only three million people: Africans and Arabs, Berber and Bedu, Tuareg and Tebu. Eamonn Gearon explores the history, culture, and terrain of a place whose name is familiar to all, but known to few.

Conquered and Cursed: from the 50,000-strong army of Cambyses, swallowed in a sandstorm in the sixth century BC, to the US Marines' first foreign engagement, in 1805; Hannibal and his elephants, Caesar against Anthony and Cleopatra, Alexander the Great, the armies of Islam, Napoleon, and Rommel versus Monty.

Myths and Mysteries: from whales in the White Desert to the arrival of camels in the Great Sand Sea; chariots of the gods and colonialists' motor-cars; from the Land of the Dead to Timbuktu; salt and gold mines, fields of oil and gas and a man-made river.

Artists, Writers, and Filmmakers: from the ancient rock art of the Tassili frescoes to the modernism of Matisse and Klee; from Ibn Battuta to Paul Bowles; from Beau Geste's French Foreign Legion to Star Wars.

About this title

About the Author

Eamonn Gearon is an Arabist, author, and camel expert. For the past twenty years, he has lived in the Greater Middle East, focusing on policy issues as an analyst and special advisor.

Review

 "A succinct and successful summary of the past, present and future of this surprisingly busy desert"
Michael Palin

"Vital background reading for anyone who wants to understand the deep roots of the Arab Spring"
BBC

"A painstaking study of a remarkable corner of the planet"
Geographical Magazine

"It maintains an honoured place on my reference shelves" 
Colin Thubron

"For width of learning, and skill in finding gems of interest, this book is hard to beat" 
Robert Twigger

"A wonderful book that is as rich as the Sahara is austere"
Tim Butcher

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0199861951
• ISBN 13: 9780199861958
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288