Freewheeling Andy Posted September 4, 2007 Share Posted September 4, 2007 Jeffrey Taylor sets off on a journey through the troubled but hardly ever reported Sahel. The Muslim areas south of the Sahara, on the "front line" between Muslim and Christian Africa. This book should be fascinating, as he heads through Chad, Niger, Mali and Senegal (and a bit of Nigeria), meeting people and seeing the cities of the great gold, salt and slave trading kingdoms that grew up around the Caravan routes from West Africa to Arabia and Europe. And although Taylor writes interestingly, and knows his subject, the problem with this book is that, really, there are no redeeming features to the areas he travels though. The best travel writing shows at least some affection for the areas visited, but here it's all shanty towns, strict islamic rules, risk of crime, risk of being attacked because he's American (although there is an irony that almost everyone he meets says he's at risk of attack because he's American, yet every individual says that they understand the difference between person and country and it's just everyone else who's threatening...). All of the ancient cities, with the exception perhaps of Timbuktu, is just desert now. There is nothing to see. The people are generally friendly, but not exceptionally. It's just a bleak, bleak picture and eventually the book isn't enjoyable as a result. It's fascinating to read of these places, which are so rarely mentioned in literature or news, despite being the poorest countries in the world, often in the midst of civil war. But unless West Africa is your area of interest I don't think I could really recommend the book. It's just too bleak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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