Items related to Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival

Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival - Hardcover

 
9780316835145: Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival
View all copies of this ISBN edition:
 
 
Chronicles the hardships encountered by twelve American sailors who, in 1815, were shipwrecked on the coast of North Africa, captured, sold into slavery, and sent on a difficult odyssey through the perilous heart of the Sahara.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Review:
Some stories are so enthralling they deserve to be retold generation after generation. The wreck in 1815 of the Connecticut merchant ship, Commerce, and the subsequent ordeal of its crew in the Sahara Desert, is one such story. With Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival, Dean King refreshes the popular nineteenth-century narrative once read and admired by Henry David Thoreau, James Fenimore Cooper, and Abraham Lincoln. King’s version, which actually draws from two separate first person accounts of the Commerce's crew, offers a page-turning blend of science, history, and classic adventure. The book begins with a seeming false start: tracing the lives of two merchants from North Africa, Seid and Sidi Hamet, who lose their fortunes—and almost their lives—when their massive camel caravan arrives at a desiccated oasis. King then jumps to the voyage of the Commerce under Captain Riley and his 11-man crew. After stops in New Orleans and Gibraltar, the ship falls off course en route to the Canary Islands and ultimately wrecks at the infamous Cape Bojador. After the men survive the first predations of the nomads on the shore, they meander along the coast looking for a way inland as their supplies dwindle. They subsist for days by drinking their own urine. Eventually, to their horror, they discover that they have come aground on the edge of the Sahara Desert. They submit themselves, with hopes of getting food and water, as slaves to the Oulad Bou Sbaa. After days of abuse, they are bought by Hamet, who, after his own experiences with his failed caravan (described at the novels opening), sympathizes with the plight of the crew. Together, they set off on a hellish journey across the desert to collect a bounty for Hamet in Swearah. King embellishes this compelling narrative throughout with scientific and historical material explaining the origins of the camel, the market for English and American slaves, and the stages of dehydration. He also humanizes the Sahrawi with background on the tribes and on the lives of Hamet and Seid. This material, doled out in sufficient amounts to enrich the story without derailing it makes Skeletons on the Zahara a perfectly entertaining bit of history that feels like a guilty pleasure. --Patrick O'Kelley
About the Author:
Dean King is the author of numerous books, including the highly acclaimed biography Patrick O'Brian: A Life Revealed, and has written for many publications, including Men's Journal, Esquire, Outside, New York magazine, and the New York Times. He lives in Richmond, Virginia.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

  • PublisherLittle, Brown and Company
  • Publication date2004
  • ISBN 10 0316835145
  • ISBN 13 9780316835145
  • BindingHardcover
  • Edition number1
  • Number of pages320
  • Rating

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780316159357: Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  ISBN 13:  9780316159357
Publisher: Back Bay Books, 2005
Softcover

9780099435921: Skeletons on the Zahara

Arrow ..., 2005
Softcover

9780434008896: Skeletons on the Zahara

Heinemann, 2004
Hardcover

9780786264056: Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival

Thornd..., 2004
Hardcover

Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace

Stock Image

King, Dean
Published by Little, Brown and Company (2004)
ISBN 10: 0316835145 ISBN 13: 9780316835145
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
GF Books, Inc.
(Hawthorne, CA, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Book is in NEW condition. Seller Inventory # 0316835145-2-1

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 25.88
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

King, Dean
Published by Little, Brown and Company (2004)
ISBN 10: 0316835145 ISBN 13: 9780316835145
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Book Deals
(Tucson, AZ, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. New! This book is in the same immaculate condition as when it was published. Seller Inventory # 353-0316835145-new

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 25.89
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

King, Dean
Published by Little, Brown and Company (2004)
ISBN 10: 0316835145 ISBN 13: 9780316835145
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
GoldenWavesOfBooks
(Fayetteville, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New. Fast Shipping and good customer service. Seller Inventory # Holz_New_0316835145

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 21.92
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.00
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

King, Dean
ISBN 10: 0316835145 ISBN 13: 9780316835145
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Ergodebooks
(Houston, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: New. 1. Chronicles the hardships encountered by twelve American sailors who, in 1815, were shipwrecked on the coast of North Africa, captured, sold into slavery, and sent on a difficult odyssey through the perilous heart of the Sahara. Seller Inventory # DADAX0316835145

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 26.08
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

King, Dean
Published by Little, Brown and Company (2004)
ISBN 10: 0316835145 ISBN 13: 9780316835145
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Wizard Books
(Long Beach, CA, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New. Seller Inventory # Wizard0316835145

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 25.40
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 3.50
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

King, Dean
Published by Little, Brown and Company (2004)
ISBN 10: 0316835145 ISBN 13: 9780316835145
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
GoldBooks
(Austin, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New Copy. Customer Service Guaranteed. Seller Inventory # think0316835145

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 26.74
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.25
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

King, Dean
ISBN 10: 0316835145 ISBN 13: 9780316835145
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Front Cover Books
(Denver, CO, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: new. Seller Inventory # FrontCover0316835145

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 29.68
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.30
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

King, Dean
Published by Little, Brown and Company (2004)
ISBN 10: 0316835145 ISBN 13: 9780316835145
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
The Book Spot
(Sioux Falls, SD, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: New. Seller Inventory # Abebooks94593

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 59.00
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

King, Dean
Published by Little, Brown and Company (2004)
ISBN 10: 0316835145 ISBN 13: 9780316835145
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
BennettBooksLtd
(LOS ANGELES, CA, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. New. In shrink wrap. Looks like an interesting title! 0.95. Seller Inventory # Q-0316835145

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 58.07
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.13
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Seller Image

King, Dean
Published by Little, Brown and Company (2004)
ISBN 10: 0316835145 ISBN 13: 9780316835145
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Pieuler Store
(Suffolk, United Kingdom)

Book Description Condition: new. 1. Book is in NEW condition. Satisfaction Guaranteed! Fast Customer Service!!. Seller Inventory # PSN0316835145

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 61.26
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 31.82
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds