The Sahara: A Cultural History

by Eamonn Gearon

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 continental 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.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Africa, Nature, Geography, Travel

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Tamara]

Meh, with a side helping of unsatisfactory and boring. I have no idea what this is even meant to be. It's not a history book, it isn't travel writing, it isn't a cultural overview in any meaningful way...it's just snippets of stuff with an overarching theme. Seriously, it's like a couple dozen of those little essays you get in English exams to test your reading comprehension - both in the level of interest and in the level of writing. Three pages about the Romans in North Africa. Three pages about the Dakar Rally, three about WW1 poetry, etc, etc. And it's still almost entirely a westerners-abroad collection. Artists, explorers, tourists, etc. The ancient history gets a broad overview, but the contemporary nations have less space dedicated to their history and politics than there is given over to Michael Palin. The only even marginally good bits - and this is a low bar here - are a very few touches of more straightforward travel writing that describe a few lesser known desert cities and oases - not Timbuktu or Siwa, but dusty mining towns of little interest to anyone but, persumbly, the people who live there. I might read a book about the history of those places, and the countries and civilizations they're a part of, but this isn't it.

[SB · Rating 2 out of 5]

As dry as the Sahara. The premise was interesting and I liked the theme of each chapter and wanted to learn more about each topic (travellers to the desert, literature about the desert, European imperialism etc) but the execution was lacking (much like water in the desert). I enjoyed the dedication:

For my late father, upon whose knee I first leant about the Sahara;
My mother, for not telling me how much she worried when I first entered the Sahara;
And to Osama, Ibn Kelb and Baby, my camels, who made it possible for me to explore the Sahara, thereby exchanging dreams for memories.

[Theron · Rating 3 out of 5]

very interesting book about a barren, yet rich landscape.

[Owain · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well-researched book by a knowledgeable author. It covers a vast array of subjects from history, religion to various arts, geography and biology as well as a little politics. I particularly like the less euro-centric view of the topic than I was expecting considering the author is European. He recognises the huge negative affects Western Imperialism caused in the recent passed- unfortunately little mention of how it's acting in the present. There are many surprising facts. Most of them regarding the Sahara's earlier history and civilisations as well as the long-lasting effects cultures like the Romans had on the region up until the modern era. The fact that Roman-era coins were still in circulation into the 18/1900's in parts of the Sahara is fascinating.

[Lance Hillsinger · Rating 3 out of 5]

I purchased Eamonn Gearon’s Sahara: A Cultural History after purchasing his Great Course lecture series The History of Achievements of the Islamic Golden Age. Most of the Great Course lectures are very good; Gearon’s lecture series was exceptional. Sadly, I can’t say the same about his book, Sahara.

Gearon divided Sahara into five parts, but it is really two parts. The first part is the history of the Sahara and proceeds more or less chronologically from prehistoric times to WWII, with a little early 21st Century thrown in. Most of the second half is about how writers, adventurers, painters, and poets, have enjoyed and expressed themselves about the Sahara. While each chapter is the second half is chronological, overall, the timeline zig and zags repeatedly from the 18th Century to the 20th Century and back. Moreover, in his telling of the cultural history of the Sahara, the artists, writers, etc. cited by Gearon of Sahara are mostly Europeans, usually British, with a few Americans thrown in as well. Still, one is impressed with his literary knowledge. Gearon could probably teach a college-level literature course with ease.

Actually, Gearon has taught at Islamic studies Georgetown and elsewhere. He is fluent in Arabic and has advised state department officials. He has traveled long distances by camel. His memoir would be a most exciting and informative book. If Gearon ever writes a memoir, it will be on my must-buy list.

[Desi Pilla · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book, like the Sahara, is extremely dry. It starts off quite well, with a history of the natural landscape, followed by a history of the geopolitics of the region. But then the author gives up on describing anything about North Africa itself, and instead focuses on other Europeans’ perspective of the region. For a book subtitled “A cultural history”, it is bizarre to me that Gearon would devote 25-35% of the book to describing books, poems, movies, and paintings written by Europeans. Sure, perhaps there aren’t many sources by Algerian authors, or none that are easily accessible to an English reader, but I find no value in a list of synopses of movies that are set in the Sahara. Gearon merely describes the plot lines, not offering any commentary on how the West’s perspective on the Sahara is correct/skewed/wrong. There are some mentions of the many civil wars happening in the region, but many more words are devoted to some well-to-do Frenchman lounging in a cafe in Biskra (or similar anecdotes). It is maddening how a book can miss the mark so poorly. If you are truly interested in learning about the history of Saharan culture, look elsewhere.

[B · Rating 5 out of 5]

This engrossing book covers so much--from the physical terrain of the Sahara to the explorers and would-be conquerors drawn to it, from the dramatic political and religious history of the region to the well-known movies filmed and set there (Star Wars, The English Patient). I found the chapter on the Sahara's role in World War II particularly compelling.

For anyone with even a passing interest in this remote area of the world, I would highly recommend this book.

[Samantha Rainman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating book on all things Saraha desert!

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though gratifyingly broad of scope overall, there's something missing from this survey--cohesion, I think, as in the end it just seemed a patchwork of rather-too-generalized chapters and (particularly toward the end, where he gets to profiling modern explorers) odds and ends. The illustrations, in this edition at least, are rare black and white prints of crappy quality, and there is no index. I highlighted a few lines (see below), but they turned out to be exceptions in an otherwise bland, impersonal narrative. Alas.

Notable notes:

"Blind or virtually sightless guides have been encountered in every part of the Sahara."

"The red rock wilderness / Shall be my dwelling place... / The rock says 'Endure'. / The wind says 'Pursue.' / The sun says 'I will suck your bones / And afterwards bury you.'"

"By far the biggest Tuareg cultural event to draw foreign visitors is the music-oriented Desert Festival, which is held annually in Mali, terrorism permitting."

[Billy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A light read dealing with all things Saharan. The tome starts with the pre-history of the place when it wasn't a desert. Then it goes on to deal with the history of the various comings and goings of a long host of invaders and explorers. Interested in what painters, authors, and poets were inspired there? There's chapters on that as well.

In the end, if you have a specific interest in the desert, this book will probably be inadequate. However, as a quick reference it has a place.

I took one star off for its persistent political correctness in apologizing for the racism of long-dead authors. We got it: your psyche was scarred by having to read words that were less than flattering to the natives.

[Mazen Alloujami · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book on the Sahara history, adventurers' experiences, live and artistic inspiration.
Un excellent livre sur l'histoire, les aventures, la vie et les inspirations artistiques du Grand Sahara.
كتاب جيد حول تاريخ الصحراء الكبرى، مغمروها، الحياة فيها وما الهمته في عالم الفن.