Book description
In December 1880 a French expedition attempted to map a route for a
railway that would stretch from their colony in Algeria right across the
Sahara desert to reach their territories in West Africa. "Paris to
Timbuctoo in Six Days" was the slogan. It would do for the French
colonies what the American railways were doing in the western states at
the same time. No native opposition was expected. As one of the
expedition's organizers said, "A hundred uncivilized tribesmen
armed with old-fashioned spears: what is that against the might of
France?" Four months later, a handful of emaciated survivors
staggered into a remote outpost on the edge of the desert. Although
armed with modern rifles, the column had been lured to destruction by
the self-styled "lords of the desert", the Tuareg. At this,
the highpoint of European colonialism in Africa, this story of
treachery, massacre, torture and even cannibalism made headlines around
the world. Attacked by the Tuareg in their remote heartland, the
survivors had been pursued for weeks on end, driven into the waterless
desert to die. The desperate lengths they resorted to shocked Victorian
sensibilities. They do not make easy reading now. This grisly story,
told by our greatest living desert explorer reveals what happened when
the conceit of western colonialism met the equally arrogant Tuareg, who
had dominated this remote region, and anyone trying to cross it, for a
thousand years. Michael Asher served in the Parachute Regiment and
SAS. A fluent Arab speaker, he has lived for years among the Bedouin
peoples. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, his
published books include SHOOT TO KILL (1990), THESIGER: A BIOGRAPHY
(1994) and an acclaimed biography of Lawrence of Arabia. His THE REAL
BRAVO TWO ZERO (2002) was a Sunday Times Top 10 best seller.
