What do you think?
Rate this book
South from Barbary: Along the Slave Routes of the Libyan Sahara
The stunning debut of a talented young travel writer. 'South from Barbary' - as 19th-century Europeans knew North Africa - is the compelling account of Justin Marozzi's 1,500-mile journey by camel along the slave-trade routes of the Libyan Sahara. Marozzi and his travelling companion Ned had never travelled in the desert, nor had they ridden camels before embarking on this expedition. Encouraged by a series of idiosyncratic Tuareg and Tubbu guides, they learnt the full range of desert survival skills, including how to master their five faithful camels. The caravan of two explorers, five camels with distinctive personalities and their guides undertook a gruelling journey across some of the most inhospitable territory on earth. Despite threats from Libyan officialdom and the ancient, natural hardships of the desert, Marozzi and Ned found themselves growing ever closer to the land and its people. More than a travelogue, 'South from Barbary' is a fascinating history of Saharan exploration and efforts by early British explorers to suppress the African slave trade. It evokes the poetry and solitude of the desert, the companionship of man and beast, the plight of a benighted nation, and the humour and generosity of its resilient people. Written with infectious wit and insight, and a terrific historical grasp, this is a superbly readable travel book about a rarely visited but enthralling and immensely beautiful region of the world.
320 pages, Paperback
First published October 25, 2012
5 people are currently reading
104 people want to read
About the author
Justin Marozzi
9 books75 followers[Excerpt from http://www.justinmarozzi.com/about/]
Justin is a travel writer, historian, journalist and political risk and security consultant. He has travelled extensively in the Middle East and Muslim world and in recent years has worked in conflict and post-conflict environments such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Darfur. He graduated from Cambridge with a Starred Double First in History in 1993, before studying Broadcast Journalism at Cardiff University and winning a scholarship to the University of Pennsylvania to read a Masters in International Relations. After working in the BBC World Service on ‘News Hour’ and BBC Westminster on ‘Today in Parliament’, he joined the Financial Times as a foreign correspondent in Manila, where he also wrote for The Economist. During his time in the Far East, he shared a Winnebago with Imelda Marcos, a helicopter with the Philippine president and his mistress, and a curry with Aung San Suu Kyi whilst under house arrest in Rangoon.
His first book, South from Barbary, was an account of a 1,200-mile expedition by camel along the slave routes of the Libyan Sahara, described by the desert explorer and SAS veteran Michael Asher as “the first significant journey across the Libyan interior for a generation”. His second, Tamerlane: Sword of Islam, Conqueror of the World, launched in Baghdad in 2004, was the best-selling biography of the world’s greatest Islamic conqueror and a Sunday Telegraph Book of the Year: “Outstanding… Justin Marozzi is the most brilliant of the new generation of travelwriter-historians.”
In 2006, he wrote Faces of Exploration, a collection of profiles of the world’s leading explorers. He has contributed to Meetings with Remarkable Muslims (an interview with the Afghan mujahid hero Ahmed Shah Massoud), The Seventy Greatest Journeys, and most recently The Art of War (essays on Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan and Tamerlane).
His latest book, published in October 2008, is The Man Who Invented History: Travels with Herodotus, based on extensive research in Turkey, Iraq, Egypt and Greece. Apart from a year working for a British security company in Iraq, an encounter with the Grand Mufti of Egypt and an investigation into outwardly religious girls performing oral sex in car-parks in Cairo, one of the many highlights of the Herodotean trail was a retsina-fuelled lunch with the nonagenarian war hero and writer Sir Patrick Leigh Fermor.
Justin is a regular contributor to a wide range of national and international publications, including the Financial Times, Spectator, Times, Sunday Telegraph, Guardian, Evening Standard, Standpoint and Prospect, where he writes on international affairs, the Muslim world and defence and security issues, and has broadcast for the BBC World Service and Radio Four.
Justin is a former member of the International Institute of Strategic Studies, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, where he has also lectured, and an Honorary Travel Member of the Travellers Club.
Justin is a travel writer, historian, journalist and political risk and security consultant. He has travelled extensively in the Middle East and Muslim world and in recent years has worked in conflict and post-conflict environments such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Darfur. He graduated from Cambridge with a Starred Double First in History in 1993, before studying Broadcast Journalism at Cardiff University and winning a scholarship to the University of Pennsylvania to read a Masters in International Relations. After working in the BBC World Service on ‘News Hour’ and BBC Westminster on ‘Today in Parliament’, he joined the Financial Times as a foreign correspondent in Manila, where he also wrote for The Economist. During his time in the Far East, he shared a Winnebago with Imelda Marcos, a helicopter with the Philippine president and his mistress, and a curry with Aung San Suu Kyi whilst under house arrest in Rangoon.
His first book, South from Barbary, was an account of a 1,200-mile expedition by camel along the slave routes of the Libyan Sahara, described by the desert explorer and SAS veteran Michael Asher as “the first significant journey across the Libyan interior for a generation”. His second, Tamerlane: Sword of Islam, Conqueror of the World, launched in Baghdad in 2004, was the best-selling biography of the world’s greatest Islamic conqueror and a Sunday Telegraph Book of the Year: “Outstanding… Justin Marozzi is the most brilliant of the new generation of travelwriter-historians.”
In 2006, he wrote Faces of Exploration, a collection of profiles of the world’s leading explorers. He has contributed to Meetings with Remarkable Muslims (an interview with the Afghan mujahid hero Ahmed Shah Massoud), The Seventy Greatest Journeys, and most recently The Art of War (essays on Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan and Tamerlane).
His latest book, published in October 2008, is The Man Who Invented History: Travels with Herodotus, based on extensive research in Turkey, Iraq, Egypt and Greece. Apart from a year working for a British security company in Iraq, an encounter with the Grand Mufti of Egypt and an investigation into outwardly religious girls performing oral sex in car-parks in Cairo, one of the many highlights of the Herodotean trail was a retsina-fuelled lunch with the nonagenarian war hero and writer Sir Patrick Leigh Fermor.
Justin is a regular contributor to a wide range of national and international publications, including the Financial Times, Spectator, Times, Sunday Telegraph, Guardian, Evening Standard, Standpoint and Prospect, where he writes on international affairs, the Muslim world and defence and security issues, and has broadcast for the BBC World Service and Radio Four.
Justin is a former member of the International Institute of Strategic Studies, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, where he has also lectured, and an Honorary Travel Member of the Travellers Club.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 3, 2017
I thought I might want to add this book to our reference home library collection. It was ok, but more of a personal travel log than anything ground breaking. Some good info but nothing that I did not already have from other sources. Glad that I borrowed this from my library rather than buy it on a whim from Amazon. Sno-Isle, my library system is awesome.
February 16, 2019
Wow! One of the first pieces of travel writing I've read and I'm blown away by the ease at which Justin flows from first person narrative to embedding historical references. The use of quotes at the start of each chapter was a great indicator and means of setting the tone for the chapter. I also loved the friendship between him and Ned and their guides. By describing the characteristics of each camel it really draws in the reader and makes them grow emotionally attached to the whole caravan. Great read, would definitely read another book by Justin Marozzi
January 28, 2024
Very enjoyable account of two Brits travelling through the Libyan Sahara by camel with a series of local guides. Lots of historical tidbits along the way and some quotes from Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom which felt familiar as I just read that! I think it gives an idea of Gadaffi's Libya, but obviously through western eyes. Amazing descriptions of the desert terrain and experience, and of the five characterful camels. If you enjoy travel writing, I highly recommend this.
June 28, 2018
Very interesting book about a trip by camel along the slave routes of the Sahara in Libya before the fall of Colonel Gadaffi. It includes lots of history about the route and the people who had visited the area in various previous times. The book includes some black and white photos. The author is a journalist.
August 24, 2018
Although I found the description of the journey interesting, all the references to previous travellers became tedious after a while.
December 4, 2012
Marozzi's fascination with Libya seemingly stems from his father taking him to Tripoli as a kid. Marozzi travelled for some 1200 miles through the Libyan desert, starting in Ghadames, inside Libya just off the southernmost tip of Tunisia, and finishing in Kufra, not far from the borders with Egypt and Sudan.
What makes his trip spectacular is his travelling by camel, literally one of a handful of people, local or foreign, to have done so in the last 70 years, when travel by camel quickly has been replaced by travel by car, mostly Toyota.
Although in a few places, Marozzi's style slackens, becoming too descriptive of his, well, rather dull surroundings, unless, I'm sure, you're there yourself, in most of the book he's enjoyably weaved travelogue and history together while showing his awe and respect for the few (foreigners) who went before him and the current inhabitants of this barren land.
What makes his trip spectacular is his travelling by camel, literally one of a handful of people, local or foreign, to have done so in the last 70 years, when travel by camel quickly has been replaced by travel by car, mostly Toyota.
Although in a few places, Marozzi's style slackens, becoming too descriptive of his, well, rather dull surroundings, unless, I'm sure, you're there yourself, in most of the book he's enjoyably weaved travelogue and history together while showing his awe and respect for the few (foreigners) who went before him and the current inhabitants of this barren land.
August 13, 2010
blah blah blah macho British white dudes take a camel trek across the Sahara Desert, complain a lot and disrespect locals. The historical subplot follows the accounts of British colonist/explorer dudes who were sent to Libya in the 1800s under the guise of stopping the slave trade. So in one fell swoop we have the narrator demonizing local Libyan A-rabs for being hideously cruel slave traders (and corrupt/lazy contemporaries) while romanticizing an ineffective, missionary-style colonialism. The dudes put their camels through hell for a stupid trip that they hate on the entire way, but force themselves to follow through because each of the two is too embarrassed to be the first one to ask the other to quit, even though they want to. There is no joy or beauty in this book. It's not even funny and the descriptions don't capture much.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews