The Shores of the Black Ships

(London: William Kimber, 1971). 8vo; original green boards; laminated pictorial dustwrapper; pp. 256, incl. index; several plates; two maps. Dustwrapper spine panel slightly sunned, and top edge a little curled and worn; a trace of foxing to top edge of pages. Very good condition. "The shores of the black ships are Tunisian shores, familiar to the Phoenician sailors who made Carthage the centre of a great seaborne empire. In his yacht September Tide John Marriner explores the coasts and harbours they knew, recalling their skill and enterprise. Their very success brought enmity with Rome, leading to the annihilation of Carthage at the end of the Punic Wars, when Tunisia became a prosperous Roman province: the author introduces us to the monuments of that classical civilization in Africa, when the spectacles in the arena at El Djem sought to rival those of the Colosseum. Tunisia's inheritance from the great Moslem expansion to the west is more obvious. Again there are the monuments, especially the fine Aghlabite city of Kairouan, but the impact of repeated Arab migrations on the Tunisian people is a living reminder of her history. ... With a keen sense of history John Marriner paints a fascinating panorama of Tunisia and its people." .