A History of Libya

by Jon Wright John Wright

John Wright's concise history of Libya begins in the prehistoric Sahara and concludes with the bloody overthrow of the Gadafi regime and the emergence of a 'new' Libya in 2011. After surveying the story of the central Sahara's early hunter-gatherers and its Garamantian civilization, Wright briskly recounts the land's succession of foreign invaders, followed by the semi-independent Karamanli regime in 1711 and the return of the Turks in 1835. He discusses the workings of the historic trans-Saharan slave trade to Tripoli, Benghazi and other ports for local sale or export to the Eastern Mediterranean, and highlights Tripoli's nineteenth-century role as a base for European penetration of the Sahara and the lands beyond it. Wright's modern history assesses the controversial Italian era (1911-43), describing in detail the long, harsh conquest while giving due credit to the material achievements of the colonial regime. This fair and comprehensive overview provides a clearer understanding of Libya's subsequent history, covered in four final chapters.

Genres: History

288 pages, Paperback

First published July 6, 2010

Reviews

[Nils · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid political history of Libya, more positive on the Qaddafi years than most, though realistic about the failure to build any durable institutions. Harrowing descriptions of the genocidal policies of the Italian occupation.

[Richard Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good concise history of Libya, perhaps the chapters on Gadafi and the revolution lacked a little depth, but nevertheless a interesting read.

[Matthew Griffiths · Rating 3 out of 5]

an interesting accounting of the history of Libya, going from the relative high points of the roman period right the way through to the decline of the ottoman period. offers a fairly well structured approach to recounting the history of the various developments in the history of Libya and engages particularly well with the history of the divisions between the two regions of the Libyan state in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica. only shame was that the edition I read was not up to date with current affairs in Libya.