The lost kingdoms of Africa : through Muslim Africa by trucks, bus, boat and camel / Jeffrey Tayler

London : Little, Brown, 2005. First Edition. Hardcover. Near fine cloth copy in a near-fine, very slightly edge-nicked and dust-dulled dw. Remains particularly and surprisingly well-preserved overall; tight, bright, clean and strong. Physical description: 274 p. : map ; 23 cm. Summary: This is the account of a journey through realms of Africa so remote, so geographically and culturally isolated that their frontiers have rarely been breached. The Sahel region of the lower Sahara - whipped by ferocious winds, shrouded in secrets and home to a vast Muslim population - is the southernmost outpost of Islam's dominance in Africa. Comprising the southern Saharan regions of Chad, northern Nigeria, Niger, Mali and Senegal, they once witnessed the emergence of Africa's wealthiest and most exotic kingdoms and empires. To this day they produce some of the continent's leading writers, musicians and artists. But now, perilous and poverty-stricken, they rarely see travellers. Yet Jeffrey Tayler uncovers this lost area of continent, revealing it as beset by ethnic rebellion and sectarian violence, rife with Islamic fundamentalism, yet home to people of extraordinary hospitality and fortitude. Subject: Tayler, Jeffrey - Sahel - Description and travel. Travel writing. West Africa. TRAVEL / Essays & Travelogues. Genre: Illustrated, text.