Angry Wind: Through Muslim Black Africa by Truck, Bus, Boat, and CamelHailed by Bill Bryson and the New York Times Book Review as a rising star among travel writers, Jeffrey Tayler penetrates one of the most isolated, forbidding regions on earth--the Sahel. This lower expanse of the Sahara, which marks the southern limit of Islam's reach in West and Central Africa, boasts such mythologized places as Mopti and Timbuktu, as well as Africa's poorest countries, Chad and Niger. In parts of the Sahel, hard-line Sharia law rules and slaves are still traded. Racked by lethal harmattan winds, chronic civil wars, and grim Islamic fundamentalism, it is not the ideal place for a traveler with a U.S. passport. Tayler finds genuine danger in many guises, from drunken soldiers to a thieving teenage mob. But he also encounters patience and generosity of a sort found only in Africa. Traveling overland by the same rickety means used by the local people--tottering, overfilled buses, bush taxis with holes in the floor, disgruntled camels--he uses his fluency in French and Arabic (the region's lingua francas) to connect with them. Tayler is able to illuminate the roiling, enigmatic cultures of the Sahel as no other Western writer could. |
Contents
The Challenge of the Sahel | |
Mahamat of NDjamena | 8 |
PariVente | 21 |
The Piste to Wadai | 28 |
Abéché | 44 |
Desert of Daggers | 59 |
The Guns of Faya Largeau | 74 |
The Sultan of Kanem | 94 |
Torture in Zinder | 150 |
Fetters of Bronze in Ayorou | 167 |
Gao | 175 |
Sailing the Niger to Timbuktu | 188 |
Dance of the Desert | 201 |
Djennés Bitter Winds | 214 |
Death in the Sun | 229 |
Misére | 234 |
Nigeria Agonistes | 103 |
Fear and Faith in Maiduguri | 115 |
Return to Kano | 131 |
The Mujahid of Sokoto | 141 |
The Coast of Slaves | 240 |
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS | 249 |
Other editions - View all
Angry Wind: Through Muslim Black Africa by Truck, Bus, Boat, and Camel Jeffrey Tayler Limited preview - 2005 |
Angry Wind: Through Muslim Black Africa by Truck, Bus, Boat, and Camel Jeffrey Tayler Limited preview - 2013 |
Angry Wind: Through Muslim Black Africa by Truck, Bus, Boat, and Camel Jeffrey Tayler No preview available - 2005 |
Common terms and phrases
Abéché aboard Africa ahead Ahmad American Ansongo Arabic asked atop Bamako began blue border bounced Bush caftan camel Chad Chadian Chadian Arabic chief Christian circumcise dark desert Djenné door dressed driver drove dunes dust eyes Ezekiel face Fada faith Faya Largeau felt French Fulani girls goats Gorani hand Harmattan Hassan Hausa head Ibrahim imam Islam Jelal jumped kadmuls Kanem Kano land looked Mahamat Maiduguri Mali Malian Mirriah Mosque Muhammad Muslim N'Djamena neems never Niger Nigeria Omar palace passport pinasse piste pulled Qur'an religion road robes Sahara Sahel Sahelians sand seat shari'a shehu shouted slave smiled Sokoto soldiers Songhai stood stop sultan talk taxi Timbuktu told took town trip truck Tuareg turban turned village vizier Wadai walked walls West Western wind woman women words Zinder