Skeletons on the Zahara

A True Story of Survival

De: Dean King

Narrado por: Michael Prichard

Skeletons on the Zahara chronicles the true story of twelve American sailors who were shipwrecked off the coast of Africa in 1815, captured by desert nomads, sold into slavery, and subjected to a hellish two-month journey through the perilous heart of the Sahara.

The western Sahara is a baking hot and desolate place, home only to nomads and their camels, and to locusts, snails and thorny scrub -- and its barren and ever-changing coastline has baffled sailors for centuries. In August 1815, the US brig Commerce was dashed against Cape Bojador and lost, although through bravery and quick thinking the ship's captain, James Riley, managed to lead all of his crew to safety. What followed was an extraordinary and desperate battle for survival in the face of human hostility, starvation, dehydration, death and despair.

Captured, robbed and enslaved, the sailors were dragged and driven through the desert by their new owners, who neither spoke their language nor cared for their plight. Reduced to drinking urine, flayed by the sun, crippled by walking miles across burning stones and sand and losing over half of their body weights, the sailors struggled to hold onto both their humanity and their sanity. To reach safety, they would have to overcome not only the desert but also the greed and anger of those who would keep them in captivity.

From the cold waters of the Atlantic to the searing Saharan sands, from the heart of the desert to the heart of man, Skeletons on the Zahara is a spectacular odyssey through the extremes and a gripping account of courage, brotherhood, and survival.

drags at times

long. drags at times. the author knows his history. drags on and on and on

A fascinating book about culture and grit

The book started slowly with quite a lot of background on the various people. Once the ship was on its way it became more and more interesting. Absolutely the men's ability to survive their ordeal was remarkable, however, what was much more interesting was a look into the culture of the desert. Stealing was simply a part of life, expected. If something was taken from you well too bad. It was your fault for allowing someone to take it. Very interesting.

If you have read "Endurance - The Shackleton Expedition" this is similar except in a desert setting.

I highly recommend this book.

Time very well spent

The book is a little slow at first, but once it gets going it really moves. I really enjoyed this book.

Do NOT be put off by the negative reviews.

I finished this in only a couple of days. Heart wrenching and touching, you'll be glad you listened to this story.

Disappointing

Long, boring, overly detailed, and poorly written. I usually love books which are described in reviews this way, but this time they were painfully accurate .

full of Heroes and villains

Amother great true story, reminded me of how tough we used to be. very humbling

Engaging story of survival

Amazing story, well performed, and exciting all the way through. One of those, “can’t believe it happened” stories but it did.

great story

The character development was shallower than in the Endurance, but the tale of the journey makes up for any shortcomings

Fascinating actual history

An eyewitness account of the life of nomadic caravan traders in the early 1800s in the Sahara desert, and a true, first person account of being shipwrecked and enslaved by people from a land and culture totally different from ours. Fascinating, and verified historically accurate.

Arabian scimitars shine above the desert.

Riley, his subordinates and captors came back to life through Dean King’s research and story telling. I learned a lot and enjoyed the book. I will be reading more of Dean’s work and would love to see Skeletons of the Zahara made into a movie. Looks like a role made for Kevin Costner.