Death in the Sahara: The Lords of the Desert and the Timbuktu Railway Expedition Massacre
May 2008 · Sold by Skyhorse
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About this ebook
Desert explorer Michael Asher investigates the most disastrous exploration mission in the history of the Sahara. In 1880, the French government ordered a surveying expedition for a railway that would bring the fabulous wealth of Timbuktu, in French Sudan, to Paris. This trek should have heralded a new era of French prosperity. Instead, it was a deadly fiasco. Under-armed in hostile territory, and foolishly employing the enemy as guides, the one hundred men of the expedition were ambushed and stranded without camels or supplies in the deserts of southern Algeria. Many were killed outright, and for four months the survivors were menaced by the Tuareg, the "lords of the desert," robbed, starved, and tricked into eating poisoned fruit. To escape, the men hid in the wastelands of the Sahara with little hope of finding food or water. They were finally forced to eat their own dead, or, worse, the merely weak. Only a dozen malnourished men lived to tell their tale. The story of their 1,000 mile journey is one of the most astonishing narratives of survival ever recorded. With a "superb grip of narrative and uncanny ability to evoke battle scenes" (The Guardian), Michael Asher has written an amazing true story that is as dramatic as it is frightening.
Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
Desert explorer Michael Asher investigates the most disastrous exploration mission in the history of the Sahara. In 1880, the French government ordered a surveying expedition for a railway that would bring the fabulous wealth of Timbuktu, in French Sudan, to Paris. This trek should have heralded ...
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About the author
Dean King is an award-winning and bestselling author of narrative nonfiction and other works on historical and maritime adventure, including A Sea of Words (1995), Harbors and High Seas (1996), and Every Man Will Do His Duty (1997), all companion works to Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturinnovels. A foremost expert on O’Brian, King also published a biography of the acclaimed author, entitled Patrick O’Brian: A Life Revealed (2000). Most recently, King has published the national bestseller Skeletons on the Zahara (2004), about twelve shipwrecked American sailors’ hellish journey across the Sahara Desert, and Unbound (2010), about the women who embarked on Mao’s Long March in 1934. King’s writing has also appeared inGranta, Esquire, Garden & Gun, Men’s Journal, Outside,andthe New York Times.
Dean King is an award-winning and bestselling author of narrative nonfiction and other works on historical and maritime adventure, including A Sea of Words (1995), Harbors and High Seas (1996), and Every Man Will Do His Duty (1997), all companion works to Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturinnovels. A...
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