First published 2016
The early 1970s brought catastrophic drought to the Sahara Desert. The Tuareg, blue-veiled nomads of ancient tradition, watched their world collapse as water sources dried up and livestock died. These proud people, immortalized in Beau Geste stories, suddenly found themselves wandering desperately across the desert they had called home for centuries. Families split apart as they searched for food and water. Their camels, the foundation of their nomadic life, began to starve. Thurston Clarke captures their voices as they describe the unthinkable choice between abandoning their ancestral way of life or watching their children suffer. The Tuareg must decide whether to preserve their culture or ensure their survival. This is their story of dignity maintained in the face of ecological catastrophe, told through their own words as they confront the end of everything they have known.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, adventure, environment, biography-memoir, africa
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: cultural-preservation, dignity-in-adversity
Setting: Sahara Desert
Period: 1970s
357 pages · Kindle Edition · Open Road Distribution