Northern Africa is dominated by the Sahara Desert,stretching across the continent from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea. This book is about the people who lived around the edges of the Desert and the different ways in which they responded to its challenges,establishing networks of communication across its expanse. But the Sahara has not always been a desert. From about 9000 BC the region began to enjoy a warm,humid period allowing vegetation to flourish and wild animals to move in. Humans soon followed practising pastoral economies but with the onset of harsher conditions once more around 3000 BC the desert reclaimed its own. Since then fluctuations in climate have continued to affect the lives of people living around the desert fringes. The communities occupying the North African Coast and in the Nile Valley have come under the influence of the states dominating the Near East and the Mediterranean but those living in in the Sahel to the south of the desert have developed their own distinctive cultures. The book tells the story of the growing links between the two worlds,showing that Africa played a crucial part in the development of the Old World before it was drawn into the story of the New World.
MEDIA REVIEWS
Publisher: Oxford University PressISBN: 9780192858887Weight: 1106 gDimensions: 252 x 195 x 25 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
A marvellously rich book in which the Sahara holds centre stage...Cunliffe has once again magisterially filled a major gap in the literature with this surprisingly rich history of the far from empty Sahara and the vibrant cultures of the lands surrounding it.Facing the Sea of Sand covers a huge amount of ground,yet the clarity of the writing and the array of accompanying maps,graphs,illustrations and photographs ensure that it doesn't feel overwhelming.Professor Sir Barry Cunliffe is an historian of the grand scale...a fascinating account of one of our planet's most hostile places.Distilling an extraordinary amount of Saharan research into a readable narrative is an accomplishment in itself. Successfully placing it into a continental and global context is genius...A masterpiece of African scholarship featuring stunning full-color photography and edifying maps.Barry Cunliffe's words are delivered with great panache,and the images and maps make the book accessible to the widest possible audience.
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