Sahara

A Natural History

By Marq de Villiers and Sheila Hirtle

First published 2002 by Walker & Company

A portrait of the Sahara as a living place rather than an empty waste: its geology and climate, its peoples, its trade routes and its long human history.

Marq and Sheila travelled widely in the desert for the book, following in the footsteps of earlier travellers such as Ibn Battuta and Heinrich Barth.

Shortlists

• Pearson Writers' Trust Non-fiction Prize
• Banff Mountain Book Festival, Adventure Travel category

Editions

• 2002 - Walker & Company, New York (First edition)
  ISBN 0802713726
• 2003 - HarperCollins, London (UK edition, published as Sahara: The Life of the Great Desert)
  ISBN 0007148208
• 2003 - McClelland & Stewart, Toronto (Canadian edition)
• 2004 - McClelland & Stewart, Toronto (Canadian paperback edition)
  ISBN 9780771026386

Sources

• Marq de Villiers, "Sahara", his original website (archived 2019)
• Marq de Villiers, "Awards", his original website (archived 2014)
• Kirkus Reviews, review of the US edition
• Publishers Weekly, review of the US edition