The Conquest of the Sahara

Douglas Porch

Macmillan, Jun 22, 2005 - History - 352 pages

In The Conquest of the Sahara, Douglas Porch tells the story of France's struggle to explore and dominate the great African desert at the turn of the century.

Focusing on the conquest of the Ahaggar Tuareg, a Berber people living in a mountain area in central Sahara, he goes on to describe the bizarre exploits of the desert's explorers and conquerors and the incompetence of the French military establishment. Porch summons up a world of oases, desert forts and cafés where customers paid the dancer by licking a one-franc piece and sticking it on her forehead.

The Conquest of the Sahara reveals the dark side of France's "civilizing mission" into this vast terrain, and at the same time, weaves a rich tale of extravagant hopes, genius and foolhardiness.

Contents

• INTRODUCTION: ix
• THE MIRAGE: 5
• THE SHORES OF TRIPOLI: 12
• THE DESERT: 27
• THE OASIS: 49
• THE PEOPLE OF THE VEIL: 65
• THE TRANSSAHARIAN: 83
• THE FIRST EXPEDITION: 97
• THE MASSACRE: 111
• THE SOUTHERN APPROACHES: 126
• THE MORÈS AFFAIR: 147
• THE FOUREAULAMY MISSION: 164
• THE MEN WHO WOULD BE KINGS: 181
• THE CONQUEST OF LAKE CHAD: 198
• THE TUAT: 208
• THE RESISTANCE: 222
• THE DARK SIDE OF BEAU GESTE: 233
• THE SAHARIANS: 248
• AN ADMINISTRATIVE TOUR: 273
• EPILOGUE: 295
• NOTES: 305
• SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY: 321
• INDEX: 325

About the author

Douglas Porch is a military historian and the author of The Conquest of Morocco and The Conquest of the Sahara (FSG, 2005). He is a professor of national security affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Conquest of the Sahara
• Author: Douglas Porch
• Edition: illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: Macmillan, 2005
• ISBN: 0374128790, 9780374128791
• Length: 352 pages
• Subjects: History / Africa / General; History / Europe / France; History / Military / General; History / Wars & Conflicts / General; Political Science / Colonialism & Post-Colonialism; Political Science / International Relations / General