Skeletons on the Zahara: An Inspiring Tale of Perseverance in the Face of Adversity

amy pope: Fascinating story! Dean King is an amazing story teller, he has done the research and provides his readers with enough facts and relevant information to understand the background that makes his book a document of both human and historical interest.!

United States on Oct 13, 2023

wadadu: Couldn't put it down . One of the most fascinating stories I've ever read.

Canada on Jul 28, 2023

NA: It took me quite awhile to read all of this book. I found it heart wrenching a lot of the time. It certainly made me wonder how any human could live with the amount of food and water they received as well as the abuse. Many time I found myself saying "Oh No. What Next". It was very interesting and informative about the area and the people who inhabit it.

Canada on Feb 10, 2020

M. Baerends: Being shipwrecked is never pleasant, but being shipwrecked on Africa's endless Sahara coastline is about as bad as it gets. The misadventures of the poor crew members of the American brig "Commerce", hailing from the lush green hills along the Connecticut river, and having to survive in the bone-dry and hellishly hot Sahara, make for depressing reading. Departing in 1815, just after the end of the War of 1812, The "Commerce" makes a stop in New Orleans, then crosses the Atlantic and intends to sail south along the Canaries. The captain loses his bearings due to an unexpectedly fast ocean current, and the ship runs aground on the rocks near Cape Bojador, with all crew surviving.

Suffering from terrible thirst, hunger and sunburn, they are eventually taken captive by the thoroughly nasty tribes inhabiting this forbidding part of our planet. Their new masters - albeit rather pious - treat them worse than slaves, at times preferring to throw away scarce water than feed it to their captives. Even the women in the tribe enthusiastically participate in mistreating the poor castaways. Probably unintentionally, 'Skeletons on the Zahara' is the ideal vacation book for cultural...

United Kingdom on Aug 05, 2019

Capricorn One: This is a difficult book to read, due to the unimaginable suffering undergone by the survivors of the wrecked American brig Commerce along the Northern Africa coast, but it is also a compelling and tightly written story that will hold the reader's interest and give tremendous insight into life in the barren desert lands of North Africa and the nomadic tribesmen inhabiting that area during the early 19th century. Briefly, the American ship is wrecked along the coast of the Saharan desert, a place well known for ill treatment of shipwrecked sailors by the nomadic tribes in that region, including robbery, torture, murder, but most often being taken as slaves. The brig's crew, after an aborted early escape attempt by lifeboat, are captured and taken as slaves. They were treated in a miserable manner, forced to travel and serve the nomad tribes without adequate food, clothing, shelter, and little ability to communicate with their captors. Several were sold and traded to other tribes and, with the exception of a few somewhat compassionate tribesmen lived a life best compared to those held in WWII concentration work camps. Their only hope was to find and convince one of their slave...

United States on Jul 14, 2018

Dale Ramsay: A very descriptive true story of survival on the raw ragged edge of life and death. Though Captain Riley was a Christian he was not spared from unimaginable suffering . One could say however that God was with him. Also his release would imprint him for life as an opponent of the slavery of men. This at a time in history where governments where being brought to a decision on the issue slavery.
This book takes us to a place where few travel . That people that live here , and call it home not only amazed the author , but us as readers! The Arab world then was a brutal place...filled with treachery, and all evils. It seems rather amazing then to meet within the pages ,real God fearing Muslims who live on another plane than the 95%. One can only wonder then what has changed since this book was written nearly 200 years ago.
Fascinating book really, well worth the investment of time and money.

Canada on Sep 18, 2014

Marc Ranger: Dean King's work is a blending or mix of Captain Riley and Robbins's narrative of their 1815 ordeal in slavery after a shipwreck on the Sahara's coast. What I found most appealing about the book, aside from the obvious interest and captivating account on how the sailors endure slavery, was the primitive way of life of the Sahara's dwellers in the early 1800's.

How could those Arabs call their Christians captives "desert dogs", when they, in fact, were living like unkept rodents? This indeed is a book who not only will keep you reading, but will also make you think and ponder about tradition, human relationship and ethnic cultural divergence and diversity.

Yes, slavery is a sin against human nature and God himself, but those who enforced it on others payed the price themselves.

Canada on Feb 04, 2013

Truth Be Told: A very racy and edge of the seat account of the sufferings of the white slaves in Zahara by Dean King. King has left no stone unturned in his attempt to bring out the physical details of the sad adventures of the protagonist of the real story - Capt Riley. Many a time he ( King ) does a fact check on the narrative of the Captain which sometimes puts you off. King has gone to considerable length and expense to scientifically verify the accuracy of Riley's account. The graphic account of the geography and the lifestyles of the people in Zahara - all of which helped by the modern sophisticated technology - rivals the original and is praiseworthy.
Now we come to the crux of the matter on which ground alone , this book loses its 2 stars. In my opinion it only deserves 3 stars. In his sordid desert trek , Capt. Riley develops a strong and unshakeable faith in the Almighty and his entreaties to God are filled with pathos and feelings of utter surrender to the Almighty's will. The resignation by Riley to the divine designs form an integral part of the original account. Where are these details in King's book ? I realize that Iam touching on a deeper and contentious question, the...

United States on May 08, 2010