Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival

by Dean King

Skeletons on the Zahara chronicles the true story of twelve American sailors who were shipwrecked off the coast of Africa in 1815, captured by desert nomads, sold into slavery, and subjected to a hellish two-month journey through the perilous heart of the Sahara. The western Sahara is a baking hot and desolate place, home only to nomads and their camels, and to locusts, snails and thorny scrub -- and its barren and ever-changing coastline has baffled sailors for centuries. In August 1815, the US brig Commerce was dashed against Cape Bojador and lost, although through bravery and quick thinking the ship's captain, James Riley, managed to lead all of his crew to safety. What followed was an extraordinary and desperate battle for survival in the face of human hostility, starvation, dehydration, death and despair. Captured, robbed and enslaved, the sailors were dragged and driven through the desert by their new owners, who neither spoke their language nor cared for their plight. Reduced to drinking urine, flayed by the sun, crippled by walking miles across burning stones and sand and losing over half of their body weights, the sailors struggled to hold onto both their humanity and their sanity. To reach safety, they would have to overcome not only the desert but also the greed and anger of those who would keep them in captivity. From the cold waters of the Atlantic to the searing Saharan sands, from the heart of the desert to the heart of man, Skeletons on the Zahara is a spectacular odyssey through the extremes and a gripping account of courage, brotherhood, and survival.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Adventure, Africa, Survival, Travel, Biography

380 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 16, 2004

About the author

I like to read, wander cross-country, travel in cultures I don't understand, cycle, play squash, and I'm a foodie. But most of all I like to be in the throes of writing a book. This is invigorating work. The moment when the hard-won research combines with a bit of sweat and blood and occasionally a tear to become a fluid paragraph is like no other. What I hope to achieve is to suspend time and disbelief for the reader and carry her or him into another world, where they live more fully and in the moment.

Reviews

[Ken · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read a number of true adventure and survival stories, and this one stands out as one of the most extraordinary feats of survival I’ve read. The deprivations and hardships of Riley’s crew make for fascinating reading, and the odds of their survival — never mind making it back to civilization — are truly extreme. Riley is a highly intelligent, loyal, and sensitive captain, and he gambles a risky deal to save his life and his crew.

And the author has clearly done his research, determining many details of locations that Riley has visited. Between the research and the surviving first-hand accounts, many extraordinary details of the journey survive, making this a rich story indeed. The book also offers a number of interesting anthropological and social insights into Arab culture ca. 1815, much of which we are told remains unchanged today.

Weaknesses? Well, the book is not particularly well-written. It’s not *poorly* written, but the author does not have the style or flair that might make this a truly outstanding book. Finally, the names of many of the Arab characters are confusingly similar. Not the author’s fault, to be sure, but a minor problem for the reader.

In this election year, I did take away from this book one small insight. Perhaps the well-known “liberal” bent of the New England seacoast states stems, in part, from generations of well-traveled seaman like Riley, who experienced firsthand the cultures of the world and made contacts with people from many nations.

Addendum: this story has stayed with me for years after reading the book. It’s truly one of my all-time favorites.

Addendum 2: 10 years later, and I'm still recommending this book to everyone I can find.

[Nathan Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Skeletons on the Zahara" is a true but gut-wrenching, dehydrating, queasy story of fate of Captain James Riley and the men of The Commerce. The story itself is horrifying and contains a quality of human suffering that is incomprehensible to the first world mind. I read this book right after reading "Endurance Shackleton's Incredible Voyage" and I was constantly comparing the two the whole time.

Both stories are remarkable and I can't imagine how anything but Divine providence could ever attribute to their survival. From a writing style, I found Dean King's prose preferable but a little choppy at times. His re-telling was much faster paced than Shackleton's though the events in Africa were far more eventful than in the Antarctic. Additionally, though King painted many scenes like a novelist would, I found myself wishing that he worked harder to develop his real-life characters and portrayed even more of their humanness.

On a personal note, reading survival stories like those of Shackleton and Riley seem have a noticeable impact on my moral character. I can't imagine how one could read these stories and not find their hearts swelling in thanksgiving and gratitude. I am reminded how heavy God's hand of blessing and how light his hand of affliction has been on me.

Shackleton and Riley have left their mark on me and I imagine I will tell these stories to my children (once they develop strong enough stomachs of course).

[Sandra Deaconu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Am mai citit povești inspirate din cazuri reale despre cum au supraviețuit diverși oameni în sălbăticie sau în situații extreme, inclusiv despre sclavie, dar puține mi s-au părut atât de intense, poate doar Revolta de pe Bounty a făcut excepție. Aproape la fel de detaliată și fascinantă precum cea a lui Solomon Northup, dar să nu uităm că ,,12 ani de sclavie'' este o autobiografie, deci cu atât mai mult trebuie apreciată ,,odiseea modernă'' de față, pentru că a reușit să redea cu atâta elocvență experiențele și trăirile celor implicați. Dacă sunteți pasionați de istorie, episodul relatat aici nu trebuie ratat. Dacă nu sunteți, s-ar putea să fie un pic greu de parcurs pentru că veți găsi multe date legate de geografia locurilor de atunci și navigație, dar sunt îmbinate cu anecdote și informații cu mare impact, care vă vor facilita drumul. Pentru mine a fost o lectură uluitoare și cred că reușita lui Riley și a echipajului său merită să nu fie uitată. Recenzia aici: https://sandradeaconu.blogspot.com/20....

[Licha · Rating 4 out of 5]

edited 11/23/19--comment added to original review:

Looking back on my review, I'm surprised I gave it 3 stars. This book has stayed with me all these years. Sometimes you don't know how a book will affect you in the future or if it will have stayed in your heart, and this one certainly has. I am bumping this up to 4 stars. / end of comment

I so hate the three star rating more than any other. I feel like giving it this usually means the book was just ok, average. This is not what this book was at all. I could not put this book down at all. I was sneaking peeks every time I could trying to see what was going to happen next.

This is a true story about twelve men on a ship in the early 1800's. They are crossing the Atlantic sea for trade when their boat gets shipwrecked off the coast of Northern Africa. What happens next is pure horror when a tribe of Arabs takes them as their personal property so they can be sold as slaves. It is a story of survival, the hardships they go through, the sufferings they must endure to both the elements and to the evil spirit of human nature.

This story is a true testament to the human spirit and the will to survive. I love stories like this. How would I fare in such a situation? What would I do? Would I survive? There were many times in the story when it seemed like it would have just been easier for the men to give up and die and be done with their misery. The men have to endure traveling through the Sahara Desert, with no shoes, clothes, unable to speak the language and looked down on for being Christians in a Muslim country. They go hungry and thirsty for days at a time, suffer unbelievable torture to their bodies, all with the final goal of surviving and making it back home.

I was touched by this book. I cannot put in words what it must be like for a group of people who go through anything like this. It bonds you for life. This book made me cry at times, made me angry and sad--that a human being can see another another human being suffering or in pain and be indifferent to it and at times inflict even more pain on top of pain. It was just beyond my understanding of human nature. To know that there can be someone on the other end of the spectrum, who can be compassionate and help a person in need is the triumph of the human spirit.

A bit of trivia I learned from this is that the original book that this book was based on was a book that Abraham Lincoln considered to be influential in his life. I recommend this book to anyone who loves a good survival story.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

When life gets a little tough for me, I tend to turn to non-fiction books about situations much worse than mine that people have survived – this usually helps to change my perspective a little and make me appreciate what I have, rather than what I don’t. Normally a dedicated introvert, even I have started to struggle a little with lockdown (helped by working from home) and so a little perspective adjusting was in order – this book fulfilled that perfectly.

Skeletons on the Zahara tells the terrible story of the crew of the US brig Commerce that in 1815 found itself shipwrecked on the western coast of the Sahara. While the ship was lost, the crew survived…only to find themselves robbed, enslaved, and marched near death across the desert. Even if they hadn’t been enslaved, life in the desert was brutal, relying on camels to provide pretty much all of their nutrients – when the camel’s ran out of milk, their urine was next on the menu – and with everyone you came across a potentially dangerous enemy. If you’ve ever wondered what happens to a dangerously sunburnt person being rubbed in animal fat and then marched under the desert sun, this book has the answer (hint – it’s really not pretty)

Ship’s captain James Riley would do what he could to keep his men together and find their way to freedom through the striking of a friendship with one of their captors – a man who unfortunately also had enemies of his own – leading to the most tense moments of the book as they edged towards liberation at the same time as a new potential owner made his move.

A gripping page-turner that more than did the job of making me feel grateful to be in lockdown after all, this tale of survival against all odds is worth a read.

**Also posted at Cannonball Read 12**

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Skeletons on the Zahara, the story set in 1815 of an American shipwreck of the west African coast. The crew of the Commerce captured and sold into slavery, with beatings, starvation & dehydration, & disease. It was a hellish story of survival against all the odds. Great story & should be made into a movie. Got the book from an op shop well worth it.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Quick and the Dead

Skeletons on the Zahara was a worthy addition to my “harrowing tales” shelf (42 books and growing). Obviously, I like this kind of book. What makes a good harrowing tale is more than depicting suffering, deprivation, and endurance. No, a good harrowing tale gives the reader a sense of what qualities allowed the central figure to endure.

Captain James Riley and eight of his crew, shipwrecked on the desolate Atlantic shore of the Sahara desert, escaped one band of marauding Arabs in a leaky longboat, only to come ashore again, half dead, to face capture and immediate enslavement by another. The men were split into several groups, despite Riley’s frantic attempts to keep his crew together, and most were traded or resold to other Arab tribesmen, who wandered seemingly randomly through the desert.

Skeletons on the Sahara does a fine job of recreating the fragmented events and making them clear, with maps and evocative depictions of the key Arab figures and their nomadic lifestyle. I learned, for example, of the peculiar physiology of camels, of the shifting alliances and pecking order of Saharan tribes, and of the harsh and implacable conditions on the Sahara, which is not, despite popular imagery, one vast ocean of rolling sand dunes. There is also material on the physiology and effects of the extremes of thirst and hunger on the human body. (I learned, to my surprise, that drinking seawater is not necessarily fatal as long as it is mixed with fresh water. And then there is camel’s urine… but enough said on this matter!)

In short, the author did a fine job of providing details, but not too much detail, and not more than was warranted by his research, which was largely based on the two existing survivor narratives, as well as his own experiences attempting to retrace the survivors’ peregrinations through the Sahara.

As mentioned earlier, those who endure in these harrowing tales of survival share certain features and beliefs. Sometimes, as in the case of Louis Zamparelli ( of Unbroken fame) and the protagonist of this tale, Captain James Riley, there is faith in and submission to a higher power. Riley, nearing death in an enslaved trudge across the desert, has a vision of a future rescue that keeps him going. He comes to believe that God has kept him alive for some particular purpose. Moreover, Hamet, the Arab that Riley has become enslaved to, also comes to believe that Riley is being kept alive by the will of Allah. “Despite their differences,” the author notes, “Riley and Hamet both believed in a higher being, whether called God or Allah, and found unity in his presence in their relationship.” Oddly enough, a strong bond of mutual respect and trust formed between Riley and his captor.

Just as important as belief in a higher power, however, may be the nature of the leader. Several examples, both positive and negative, spring to mind.

There is, at the negative end of the pole, the high-handedness of a Captain Bligh of the Bounty or the imperial conceit of a Stanley, who abandoned his rear column in equatorial Africa. On the positive side we have an Ernest Shackleton , whose wise shepherding of men and resources brought his entire crew of the stranded Endurance arctic expedition back to civilization; or a John Wesley Powell, leader of the first expedition down the Colorado River, who faced seemingly insurmountable obstacles yet still brought most of his men back alive. Captain Riley, while perhaps not as heroic a figure as Shackleton or Powell, clearly was cast from a similar mold. His actions, encouragement, and sacrifices single-handedly led to the survival of several of his crew, though it was impossible for him to save a few who were sold away and never heard of again.

And, as the author makes abundantly clear, one last very important factor in survival is companionship. Riley’s crew formed strong bonds and clung together in adversity. It seems that for some, it becomes just as important to survive as a group as to survive individually. Riley in particular put his men first, although at times this meant he had to make difficult decisions, while at other times he faced opposition, resentment, and ingratitude. But he never gave tit for tat.

Upon his return to the United States, Riley became a committed abolitionist, whose impassioned condemnation of slavery almost certainly sprang from first-hand experience. He had, it seemed, learned something important in captivity: “Men though covered with a black skin are not brutes,” he concluded. “The hypocritical advocate of slavery shall be detested by all mankind.”

Perhaps not surprisingly, when Riley’s account was published in the early 1800s, it became an instant classic, and later a favorite book of Abraham Lincoln.

For modern-day readers, Dean King provides succinct historical background and lucid commentary on early 19th-century life, providing just enough information on the New England seafaring towns and families that Riley and his men set sail from, the types of ships they sailed and life at sea, and the relevant national and international political and commercial events. All this is grafted onto a distillation of the survivor’s two narratives, resulting in a well-paced but not over-dramatized tale, told with enough verve to hold our interest and engage our imaginations and sympathies.

[Bob Schmitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many readers have complained that the book is dry. It is. It is very repetitious. It is also amazing. 12 American sailors are shipwrecked on the coast of Africa in 1815 and taken as slaves by desert nomads. They are beaten, poorly fed, often nude, worked to skin and bones and traded among different groups for as little as a torn blanket. In two months Captain Riley goes from 240lbs to 90 and others are reduced to 40lbs. Through Riley's determination, leadership and guile 5 of the group eventually are freed with another couple coming out of the desert later. Riley writes a memoir of the experience and becomes quite famous. Abraham Lincoln read the book. King weaves this and another memoir together with his own studies into an interesting story.

Riley suffers from classic PTSD after his deliverance from slavery.

I found the descriptions of the nomads behavior and customs interesting. Stealing and lying are common and expected. If you don't guard your possessions and someone else gets them they aren't yours anymore. Generosity in the sharing of food with whoever visits is expected. Yelling, bullying, threatening and aggression are the accepted ways of interacting, (both in 1815 and in 1983 when Amy and I honeymooned in Morocco...boy did people yell and connive a lot!)

The way the sailors were treated was barbaric, no different than American blacks at the time and Riley returns as a staunch abolitionist. He also has great compassion for his final owner, Sidi Hamet, who did indeed profit from his final sale to a British Consul but did nothing contrary to the standards of the time and was honest and brave in his determination to bring Riley and his men to freedom. Later Hamet is killed in transporting several other of Riley's men north for ransom.

The descriptions of the landscape of what is now western Morocco and Mauritania is eye-opening.

It is a dry but fascinating tale.

[Joy D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harrowing true survival story of the crew of the American brig Commerce who were shipwrecked off the western coast of Africa in 1815, held as slaves by nomadic tribes, and subjected to extreme deprivation in crossing the Zahara (Sahara) desert in a desperate attempt to reach safety. It is a tale of courage, tenacity, quick-thinking, adaptability, endurance, and persuasion. Dean King has blended accounts written separately by two survivors, along with his own research, and his trip retracing the path of the crew’s journey, to create a compelling narrative of survival in the face of tremendous adversity. The crew endured separation, enslavement, beatings, extremes of heat and cold in the desert, sandstorms, starvation, dehydration, and they were tested to their physical and mental limits.

I found this book well-plotted and engrossing. The writing is journalistic in style. One of my favorite parts is the bond of trust developed between two men of very different culture and language, and I thought the author did a great job depicting their characters. Content warnings include: consumption of bodily fluids, insects, (and worse), slaughter of animals, slavery, and brutality. The maps, images, list of terms, cast of characters, and footnotes are extremely helpful. Recommended to fans of maritime history, true adventure, and survival stories.

[Chrisl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suspect this would be an informative, entertaining re-read.
('Like'd several reviews by other readers.)
(Fading memory syndrome.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skeleto...

[Ram · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book tells the true tale of American sailors on the cargo ship Commerce, who were shipwrecked in 1815 off the coast of Africa. They were captured, sold into slavery, beaten and starved. Through the efforts of Commerce Captain James Riley, many found their way to freedom.

To research the book, Dean King embarked on a National Geographic Society sponsored expedition to retrace the horrific journey of Riley and his crew across the Saharan ("Zahara") desert.

The main source of his information where the two books, one written by Captain James Riley and the other by a crew member Archibald Robbins. In addition, the author gives significant information on the Sahara environment, the tribes that lived there at the time, camels, accounts from other captives in different incidents and other background information.

The story is rich and intense and I found that I read it in a short time (one of the main indications for me to appreciate a book).

[Bettie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bettie's Books

[Renee Roberts · Rating 2 out of 5]

New subtitle: How to Turn an Amazing Story into the Most Boring Book Ever Written


This is a true story, based on the accounts of two memoirs, one written by Riley, the captain of the Commerce, and one written by Archibald Robbins, a crewman. The facts of the ordeal are known going in, and are quite interesting: shipwreck, capture, enslavement, suffering, and eventual freedom. Their presentation by this author, unfortunately, was NOT.

What Dean King manages to do well is research. It is clearly, and painfully, obvious that he invested much time and energy into the project. If a detail in the background/fate of any character, place, or event was available for him to find, rest assured it's included. He also highlighted the cultural differences the sailors found in the Saharan people, which are difficult for a westerner to understand.

One aspect I found interesting, and was left wondering about, concerns Riley. He is presented in a mostly positive light, actually heroic, with descriptions of his superior seamanship and leadership qualities and the extreme lengths he took to save his crewmen. Yet I have nagging doubts about him. First, because of his decisions during the voyage, where they had several close calls before finally wrecking the ship. Second, because when they made it to shore and were challenged and attacked by the nomads, he essentially sacrificed the "working passenger" Antonio Michel and saved himself. In his account, the man is carried off as prisoner/slave. In Robbins', Michel is run through and killed. Since both versions exist, this seems a mystery we're left to ponder, but I can't help but suspect that Riley's "PTSD" is less trauma from his personal ordeal and more a soul-wrenching guilt that fueled his later heroic efforts to keep the other sailors alive and end their captivity. (Sort of a male, 1800's reality version of a Sophie's Choice.)

Whether this is tedious and boring because of King's writing, or Michael Prichard's narration on the Audio Audible, is debatable, but my feeling is both must share the failure. King is too verbose, repetitive, and dry. Prichard is so monotone he might be AI. A typical sentence would go on like this:

They traveled (insert number here) (insert time here), suffering from (insert affliction here), having nothing or (insert something disgusting here) to eat or drink.

For example, the afflictions were blisters, open sores, blazing sun, freezing temperatures, sandstorms, vomiting, diarrhea, blindness, nakedness, beatings, dehydration, starvation, etc. The matter they ingested varied; brackish water, their own urine, camel's milk, entrails, stomach contents, insects, etc. Repeat sentence, with variations, ad nauseum.

I think I would have been happier to have read the book synopsis and the Wikipedia entry on the shipwreck, and considered myself enlightened on the subject! The facts of the whole event should have 5 stars, but the rendition I experienced is 1 star, and I balanced that out to 2, since I did finish it. From about 25% into the book, I constantly considered shelving it DNF, but kept going just to see how they finally found their freedom.

[Peter Tillman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good book, but not as good as I had hoped. King's book is based principally on "Sufferings in Africa", an 1817 memoir by James Riley, captain of the shipwrecked American brig Commerce: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufferi... (not a good article). Here's a link to free copies online in various formats of the 1817 book: https://archive.org/details/authentic...
Note that this was a 19th century bestseller, selling perhaps a million copies in various editions between 1817 and 1859. See https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
-- which gets about the same average GR readers' ratings as King's book.

King used another memoir as well and added explanatory material, much of which is good but some is distracting. Here is Bob Schmitz's nice review, which came closest to my reaction:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

All of the shipwrecked sailors on the Commerce suffered drastic dehydration after the wreck. Most survived and were eventually ransomed, but most died young after their rescue. It's a grim story, and the Western Sahara circa 1817 was a grim place. I'm not (very) sorry I read the book. I did quite a lot of skimming. For me, 2.5+ stars, rounded up.. As you will see, most readers liked it more than I did.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed Unbound: A True Story of War, Love, and Survival better than this book. In Unbound, it seemed like King had better handle on his subjects, not surprising considering the modern setting. Here the only subject King seems to have a handle on is Capt Riley (not surprising, he wrote a book).

It is, however, a fasinating, if not riveting, story about survival and far more interesting than say Robinson Crusoe. Not only did Riley and co have to live though the shipwreck, they had to cross the Zahara desert (or as some students say the Sahara Dessert). This meant that they had to drink urine. Camel or human. King did not try this, but apparently camel urine is still drunk.

I'm glad King included infromation about Hamet because I found myself saying "you better not betray him" under my breath a copy times.

[Maureen Grigsby · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a brutal true story of a shipwreck off the west coast of Africa, the subsequent enslavement of the sailors, and the stunning conditions they endured before they were ransomed and sent home. Not all of the sailors survived, and for the ones that did, their health was substantially impacted. This took place in 1815. Two books were written by the survivors, and both were huge commercial success. Dean King combined the two stories into one, and I am glad that I finally read this one.

[Shelly deBraga · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is one of the very best books I've ever read. It is the true story of twelve American sailors shipwrecked off the coast of Africa in 1815. They faced incredible odds when they were captured by Arab nomads and sold into slavery. They crossed the Sahara (called the Zahara back then) and faced starvation, beatings, dehydration, sunburn, and hostile tribes. They did incredible things in order to survive. I started this book and was about 40 pages into it and put it down for a week as I was very busy. Yesterday afternoon I picked it back up again and I read until I finished the book at 2:30 am. I could not put it down. It felt as if I was with the sailors every step of the way. I was anxiously awaiting their fate. The author did a great job of telling this true tale of extreme survival in a far off land, in a culture that is so different from the American culture. This is a GREAT read!!! I highly reccomend it. If I could give it 10 stars, I would!

[Tanja Berg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it just enough to finish, but it was a close call at several points. I first started this book many years ago and gave up after ten pages or so. This time I found the historical aspects of the book fascinating enough to continue. The problem was that I had picked up more interesting reads at the airport bookshop that seemed more enticing. By this time I was so far into the fate of Riley and his men that I stuck with it.

Shortly told, Riley and his men run the brig "Commerce" aground on the fearsome West-Saharan coastline in the early 19th century. The ship is plundered and the men sold as slaves in what is some of the inhospitable land on earth. They suffer hunger, thirst and beatings. Not all make it, but some live long enough to tell the tale.

[Deidre · Rating 5 out of 5]

When the crew of the ship, Commerce, left America, the War of 1812 had just ended. The captain of the ship, James Riley, decided to lead the ship in order to recoup some of the fortune he lost during the war. It surprised me that a ship headed to Africa would only have a crew of eleven. Captain Riley was only thirty-seven years old. He was an accomplished sea captain. His crew had sailed together before, some were neighbors on land, and there was a close bond among them.

The ship crashed off the west coast of Africa. The crew survived the crash but faced the cruelest of challenges by surviving the perils of the West African Saharan Arab tribes and the largest desert in the world, The Sahara. The Sahrawi tribe captured and enslaved the crew. Members of the crew were sold for ostrich feathers or a torn blanket. The sailors turned slaves were starved, beaten, and worse, subjected to the beastly torments of the Sahara. Honestly, I do not know how they stayed alive. Captain Riley, for example, went from 240 pounds to 120 pounds. Another smaller man went down to 40 pounds. Forty pounds!!

Due to lack of food and water, they drank their own urine, the urine of the camels (the tribes did that as well), drank the blood of any animal that was killed, and the insides of whatever was part of the animal. Honestly, if the starvation, dehydration, filth, extreme heat didn’t kill them, I don’t know why the brackish water (when they found it) or the raw filthy meat didn’t kill them (when they had it). You have to read the conditions in which they somehow lived. Plus they were beaten and treated like sub humans. It’s why when Captain Riley was saved and returned to the states, he was an abolitionist.

Pg 94: They had been stranded on the western edge of the world’s largest desert, which takes up 1/3 of Africa and stretches “more than three thousand miles east to the Red Sea and twelve hundred miles from the . . . fringe of savanna in the south.”

Fascinating – also on 94 and 95: “The Sahara was not always like this. From 5500 to 2500BC, it was relatively fertile, wet and inviting. Up until Roman times, antelope, elephant, rhinoceroses, and giraffes roamed a savanna densely studded with acacia, while crocodiles and hippopotamuses wallowed in lush rivers. Ostriches, gazelles, and antelope still persisted in 1815, but by then the Saharan climate was arguably the most extreme on earth. Its temperature could sizzle at more than 120 degrees Fahrenheit in the shade, the ground temperature soaring 50 degrees higher in the sun; at night, the thermometer could plunge as much as 85 degrees.” There is also only 5 inches of rain per year.

Pgs 194/195: As cruel and as horrible as the tribes were to them, they did have moments of great sharing when there was nothing. They were given a type of gruel by a group of nomadic Arabs at a time they were near dead. And some of them realized, “The best meal of their journey was the gift of men they did not know and would never see again. Like so much on the Sahara [as in life], it opened their minds to the unexpected, and to small graces in the midst of adversity.”

How the tribes existed on the desert is fascinating. The weather is so dramatic and harsh that it’s an unimaginable life. They use all the byproducts of whatever they find. For most of this narrative there wasn’t food for the slaves to eat. The Arabs, when they came upon dates, for example, took the pits and crushed the oil from them so they could fortify there food with the oil. They then roasted the meat of the pits and then crushed them into balls that would later be used to fuel their fires. I bet the fire smelled good – certainly better than the burning camel dung.

The camel is essential to the Saharan tribal life. Not only can the camel exist and move through the most difficult of terrains, all of the camel’s byproducts are used – the camel’s milk is highly fortified and might be the only thing a person might have to drink or “eat” for the day.

Captain Riley was sold to two brothers, Sidi Hamet and his brother Seid. Sidi was a tough man but compassionate. His brother was a cruel man that Sidi had to work hard to keep under control. If it had been up to Seid, the men Riley was able to convince Sidi to buy, besides himself, would have been sold to this one and that one along the way. Due to Riley’s ability to persuade and to use his powers of observation he was able to save as many people as he did.

Pg 306: “Though Riley could never fully understand Hamet’s ways, the Arab had earned not only the captain’s respect but his admiration . . . he had saved the sailors from slavery; he was a humane and trustworthy man . . . a man who had seen past their differences and trusted him, in a place where trust among strangers was a rare thing.” So here is serendipity again. In the Sahara, a slave, Captain Riley, starved, dehydrated, miserable met an Arab trader and was able to identify an honorable man, an intelligent man. Life presented a possibility to be saved and Captain Riley identified that chance and did everything to capitalize on it. Serendipity.

Four of the crew plus Riley were saved. An Englishman paid their ransom and had help by an Arab “diplomat.” Officer Aaron Savage (20); Thomas Burns (41); James Clark (24); and Horace Savage (15) left Africa on January 4, 1816. Riley stayed behind to help with the possible release of others. It’s amazing Riley’s strength and commitment to his crew. After being saved, he “crossed Morocco by mule to meet James Simpson, the American consul-general in Tangier, to ensure that arrangements were made to rescue the remainder of his crew.”

Pg 308: I was crushed to read that Sidi Hamet was killed trying to rescue the rest of the crew. March 1817, Archibald Robbins was saved by the Englishman, Wilshire, who paid his ransom like he did for the first five. The crew members who were never found were James Barrett, George Williams, Dick Deslisle, John Hogan, and Antonio Michel. It was so sad to read that. I was truly taken by the bravery of the crew and I wanted them all to live.

Captain Riley wrote his memoir of the survival, which was published in 1817, and it became a best seller both in America and in England, as well as other countries. He became a famous nationally and internationally figure. Abraham Lincoln, Henry David Thoreau, and James Fenimore Cooper all read Riley’s book. Archibald Robbins (age 22 at the time of the sail) also wrote a book.

Pg 314: Captain Riley took his family to the northwest part of Ohio, along the river, and named the town after the Englishman who saved them, Wilshire.

This absolutely amazed me. Riley actually returned to Gibraltar and was reunited with Wilshire. March 1840, Riley died at sea, sailing from New York to St. Thomas.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an excellent writer, sometimes I found it hard to read about the all the brutality that these men lived through.It is truly a story about survival, courage, and brotherhood. I couldn't put the book down. I was surprised that I never heard of this story since I live in Connecticut. I will definitely purchase this book.

The story starts on a May 1815, where Captain James Riley, and the crew of the Commerce, left port in Connecticut for an ordinary trading voyage. But they would never imagine what nightmare awaited them. It began with a dreadful shipwreck off the coast of Africa, a confrontation with hostile native tribesmen within hours of being washed ashore, and a hellish confinement in a rickety longboat as they tried, without success, to escape the fearsome coast. Eventually captured by desert nomads and sold into slavery, Riley and his men were dragged along on an insane journey through the bone-dry heart of the Sahara--a region unknown to Westerners. Along the way the Americans would encounter everything that could possibly test them: barbarism, murder, starvation, plagues of locusts, death, sandstorms that lasted for days, dehydration, and hostile tribes that roamed the desert on armies of camels.

They would discover ancient cities and secret oases. They would also discover a surprising bond between a Muslim trader and an American sea captain, men who began as strangers, were forced to become allies in order to survive, and, in the tempering heat of the desert, became friends-even as the captain hatched a daring betrayal in order to save his men.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on the true accounts of Captain James Riley and crew's shipwreck off the coast of Africa in 1815, Dean King compiles a riveting and engaging tale of strength and survival as the sailors spend over two months on the Sahara desert after being sold into slavery.

Wow, this was a terrific book. The barbarism these men were subjected to was horrific and I could scarce believe they managed to survive. The ingenuity, loyalty and perseverance by Captain James Riley is the stuff of legends.

I also appreciated author Dean King's efforts to recreate the trek across the Sahara in an effort to personalize the account of some of the sailor's travails. 4 1/2 stars.

[Reid Eberwein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Astounding story of shipwrecked sailors captured and sold into slavery on the Sahara. Despite the constant brutal conditions, they maintained an incredible sense of hope and purpose.

As the story unfolds, they are trafficked from one slave trader to the next, each with their own cruel customs and harsh punishments. Despite being shackled and forced to march through the desert subsisting on camel urine and whatever scraps were tossed their way, they never gave in to despondency.

Over time, as they were sold, they learned how to leverage the language and customs of the slavers, and eventually finding one who was willing to transport them hundreds of miles across the desert to ransom them.

The story not only describes the horrific conditions they were subjected to, but also the internal politics between different Arab tribes and rulers.

[Karina Padureanu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Impresionanta povestea de supravietuire, insa nu m-a cucerit felul in care este relatata.

[Vicky Hunt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surviving Spirits

A remarkable account of shipwreck, enslavement, abuse, and untold human suffering; Dean King interweaves the primary source books of the two men who wrote about their ordeal on the Sahara desert in 1815. Captain Riley was a man fortified with a depth of faith and spirit that inspired great men like Henry David Thoreau and Abraham Lincoln, and many others in his lifetime. It is Riley's voice that seems to come through the writing of Dean King. I highly recommend this book, and will most assuredly be reading Captain James Riley's own book "Sufferings in Africa" in the coming year.

Dean King shares a bit of background information on the flora & fauna of the Sahara desert, as well as the history of the area and people groups. But, the largest net gain here is the vital insight into the life and thinking of the Muslims and the desert dwelling Bedouins. At one point he refers to the "Communism of the desert." In honesty, as much as I am an American and a strong believer in Democracy and the free market, I can't see the nomadic desert life working any other way. The sharing of meals probably prevented a lot of bloodshed, and therefore less deaths than the threat of starving. As to the lack of storing food, their bodies almost seemed accustomed to storing the calories like camels do. That's debatable, though.

Either way, you come away from the story with a strong sense that the Bedouin continues to live on the sparse, unforgiving desert because he loves it, much as the sailor loves the vast expanses of the sea and the huge open night sky. The ocean is its own kind of desert.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a remarkable and true survival story which reminded me of the incredible courage, perseverence and determination which can be mustered by certain individuals in unimaginable and horrific circumstances, and what makes survival stories a favorite of mine. I thoroughly enjoyed Krakauer's stories Into Thin Air and Into the Wild so was intrigued when I read this book's description. I was probably also a little bit drawn to this book because of the main character's name, James Riley (my youngest son's name).

Although I enjoyed the first half of the book, I became disinterested in the story near the end. The events (although factual, well-written, and obviously well-researched) were relatively repetitive (they were traveling through the Sahara desert; they were extremely thirsty and dealing with constant desire for more nouishment) At these points, I would have enjoyed more insight into the characters thoughts and motivations, but since this was a nonfiction book, the author couldn't take these liberties. This would have been more enjoyable for me as historical fiction, rather than nonfiction.


Be sure to read the author's notes. He visited the Sahara himself while researching the story and included some interesting accounts of his trip.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was generally fairly dry, but punctuated by oases of fascinating material. Har har.
But seriously, it taught me a lot about the Sahara and the people who live there, along with some amazing facts about camels. I really came to like Captain Riley- his loyalty, his perseverance, his faith, his general pluck and intelligence. In order to enjoy those nuggets, though, I felt like I had to wade through a lot of boring geography (then they came to a wadi, then they came to some dunes, then they came to... etc.)
I was also annoyed that the author chose to abandon Robbins' story near the end of the book when he's still in captivity, and then throw together an ending for him in the epilogue.
BUT one of the most amazing parts of this book is that the author himself traveled through the Sahara to research it. I'd be interested in hearing more of his own story.
Overall, a good, well-written, extremely well-researched book. I just had trouble getting into it because of the day-to-day drudgery that comes with walking/riding through the Sahara.

[♥ Marlene♥ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has been on my wish lists (yes, I have one on amazon, one on cliff's, 1 on Bookcrossing and one here although I need to add a lot of books I want to goodread for many years.)

So it was so much fun to receive a package from Hong Kong with 2 books I have been wanting to read for many years. Thanks azuki.

Update June 19 2013:

What a fantastic read! After the first 5 to 10 dry pages it got so that I could not stop reading. Right now I am reading another book like this one, survival book, this time on my kindle, so maybe that is why it differs, cause what I really liked about Dean King's book was the amount of notes, all the little maps spread into the book and all the info.

It was all perfect really. Not too much and not too little.

Even if you do not care about history books I am sure you would love this one. It reads like a thriller!
When I was nearly done I had a hard time saying goodbye and I hope the other books I have in this genre will be just as good, but it is a hard act to follow!

[Florence Buchholz · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Commerce, an American trading ship left port in Connecticut for a voyage that took them through
northwestern African coastal waters. A fateful error in navigation caused the ship to founder on a rocky, inhospitable coast north of Morocco, on the edge of the Sahara desert. The year was 1815. Twelve crewmen were thrown into a life or death struggle with the sea only to land on a barren shore. They fell prey to a band of nomadic Arabs and were enslaved under brutal conditions. Starving, beaten, and near death, the ship's captain never relinquished hope that his men would one day taste freedom again. How does the life force survive under desperate conditions? It's a gripping story of unspeakable cruelty and a surprising redemption of trust and kindness.

[Jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you ever doubted that you're soft then you need to read this book! I would have lasted a day at most in these guy's place. The length, depth, and height of cruelty, desperation, resolve, and outright divine providence which led this poor group of shipwrecked sailors through their trials at the hands of these barbarians is truly amazing.

While reading you may find yourself questioning if this is fiction, yet this really happened and some lived to tell the tale.

A definite goodread for anyone with an interest in history and a good tale.

[Michael Armstrong · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could not put this book down and when I had to it was a joy to return to it. Amazing! The best story of survival I ever read. I treasure all of my books but this one is special. The hot sand almost flows from the pages. Well written. When I read a book I let it draw me into its danger, its twists and message.