SAHARA

A spectacular journey across the sands of the Sahara by one Lord Norwich and his company, including photographer A. Costa. Lord Norwich set off in 1965 from Algiers on a six-week tour of one of the most dangerous and exhilarating lands in the world. With the carefully clipped neutrality of National Geographic sorties, Norwich logs his travels--the many tribes and mores of scattered desert populations, remnants of ancient civilizations in primitive drawings and artifacts, remains of Western attempts to colonize or conquer, and the dazzling, perilous extremes of weather. Certainly the general reader, who skirts camels even at a zoo, will have a reliable view of the forever unreached, but like the photographs in which the sky is a blinding blue, the text could reveal a greater passion, less explication, more sensitive participation. However, perhaps riding camels and land rovers under a blazing sun can transfer one's passions toward personal survival solely. But worthwhile, goodness knows.