Sahara: A Natural History by de Villiers, Marq; Hirtle, Sheila - 2004

In the parched and seemingly lifeless heart of the Sahara desert, earthworms find enough moisture to survive. Four major mountain ranges interrupt the flow of dunes and gravel plains, and at certain times waterfalls cascade from their peaks. Even the sand amazes: massive dunes can appear almost overnight, and be gone just as quickly. We think we know the Sahara, the largest and most austere desert on Earth—yet it is full of surprises, as Marq de Villiers reveals in his brilliant and evocative biography of the land and its people.

Canada: McClelland & Stewart, 2003 «The authors write in the introduction of Sahara: A Natural History, making it possible to envision the sheer vastness of the 3,320,000 square miles of arid landscape spanning Northern Africa. Drawing on sources from prehistoric cave paintings through medieval texts to satellite photographs of the destructive hurricanes that are fueled by the arid solar furnace of the Sahara before spiraling across the Atlantic to North America, the authors paint a highly evocative two-part portrait of what they define as "The Place Itself," "And the People Who Live There."». Soft cover. Fine.

McClelland & Stewart, 2004-01-01. First Edition. Paperback. Good.