Near Death in the Desert: True Stories of Disaster and Survival » (Original)

Cecil Kuhne is the editor of two previous anthologies on adventure travel, On the Edge and The Armchair Paddler. A former whitewater rafting guide, he has also written nine books about rafting, kayaking, and canoeing. He lives in Dallas

“The night was heavy with foreboding. The rain, which had been spitting down on us during the late afternoon, grew heavier. It hurled into our faces, borne by a wind that was now gusting between the dunes at full force. . . . It was the worst storm we had encountered and Ned was out in it alone.” —Justin Marozzi, South from Barbary

Cecil Kuhne's newest anthology gathers the best adventure stories from the world's most barren landscapes. Ranging from 19th-century explorers to modern-day journalists, these desert trekkers deal with everything from deserting men, corrupt armed soldiers, and Nigerian bush taxis to suspicious natives, stubborn camels, and debilitating sunburn. These thirteen tales are more than suspenseful; they also show how life can survive in the most punishing climates.

Also featuring:

Robyn Davidson's Desert Places-Robyn Davidson follows the Rubari people across the Thar as she tries to adapt to a difficult-but fascinating-way of life.

Michael Asher's Two Against the Sahara-Newlyweds embark upon a nine-month, 4500-mile journey across the world's largest desert, traveling from Morocco to Sudan.

Bayle St. John's Adventure in the Libyan Desert-In 1847, a team of four trek deep into Libya in search of an oasis. But what they find is even more astounding…

Preface

Foreword Robyn Davidson

TWO AGAINST THE SAHARA
On Camelback trom Nouakchott to the Nile
Michael Asher

RIDING THE DEMON
On the Road in West Africa
Peter Chilson

DESERT PLACES Robyn Davidson

SAHARA UNVEILED
A Journey Across the Desert
William Langewiesche

INTO A DESERT PLACE
A 3,000 Mile Walk Around the Coast of Baja, California
Graham Mackintosh

SOUTH FROM BARBARY
Along The Slave Routes Of The Libyan Sahara
Justin Marozzi

THE FEARFUL VOID Geoffrey Moorhouse

THE EXPLORATION OF THE COLORADO RIVER AND ITS CANYONS J. W. Powell

ADVENTURES IN THE LIBYAN DESERT Bayle St. John

GLORY IN A CAMEL’S EYE
Trekking Through the Moroccan Sahara
Jeffrey Tayler

THE LAST NOMAD
One Man’s Forty-Year Adventure in the World’s Most Remote Deserts, Mountains and Marshes
Wilfred Thesiger

Forbidden Sands
A Search in the Sahara
Richard Trench

Notes on the Contributors Permissions Acknowledgments