At the end of the 19th century, who would want to conquer the Sahara, a vast and hellish desert? France did, and this is the story of the two fanatical adventurers who made it possible. It is a dark and strange tale of survival in a harsh environment, extreme religious zeal, imperial dreams and violent death. This is a vivid, haunting and sharply witty history of a forgotten episode in Europe's colonial crusade, a narrative of self-sacrifice and cruelty, hatred and friendship, discovery and delusion, set against a backdrop of oceans of burning sand and waterless mountains of black rock.
- ISBN10 080211752X
- ISBN13 9780802117526
- Publish Date 6 January 2004 (first published 27 March 2003)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Grove/Atlantic
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 349
- Language English