Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival

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Some stories are so enthralling they deserve to be retold generation after generation. The wreck in 1815 of the Connecticut merchant ship, Commerce, and the subsequent ordeal of its crew in the Sahara Desert, is one such story. With Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival, Dean King refreshes the popular nineteenth-century narrative once read and admired by Henry David Thoreau, James Fenimore Cooper, and Abraham Lincoln. King's version, which actually draws from two separate first person accounts of the Commerce's crew, offers a page-turning blend of science, history, and classic adventure. The book begins with a seeming false start: tracing the lives of two merchants from North Africa, Seid and Sidi Hamet, who lose their fortunes—and almost their lives—when their massive camel caravan arrives at a desiccated oasis. King then jumps to the voyage of the Commerce under Captain Riley and his 11-man crew. After stops in New Orleans and Gibraltar, the ship falls off course en route to the Canary Islands and ultimately wrecks at the infamous Cape Bojador. After the men survive the first predations of the nomads on the shore, they meander along the coast looking for a way inland as their supplies dwindle. They subsist for days by drinking their own urine. Eventually, to their horror, they discover that they have come aground on the edge of the Sahara Desert. They submit themselves, with hopes of getting food and water, as slaves to the Oulad Bou Sbaa. After days of abuse, they are bought by Hamet, who, after his own experiences with his failed caravan (described at the novels opening), sympathizes with the plight of the crew. Together, they set off on a hellish journey across the desert to collect a bounty for Hamet in Swearah. King embellishes this compelling narrative throughout with scientific and historical material explaining the origins of the camel, the market for English and American slaves, and the stages of dehydration. He also humanizes the Sahrawi with background on the tribes and on the lives of Hamet and Seid. This material, doled out in sufficient amounts to enrich the story without derailing it makes Skeletons on the Zahara a perfectly entertaining bit of history that feels like a guilty pleasure. --Patrick O'Kelley

Book Description

Some stories are so enthralling they deserve to be retold generation after generation. The wreck in 1815 of the Connecticut merchant ship, Commerce, and the subsequent ordeal of its crew in the Sahara Desert, is one such story. With Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival, Dean King refreshes the popular nineteenth-century narrative once read and admired by Henry David Thoreau, James Fenimore Cooper, and Abraham Lincoln. King's version, which actually draws from two separate first person accounts of the Commerce's crew, offers a page-turning blend of science, history, and classic adventure. The book begins with a seeming false start: tracing the lives of two merchants from North Africa, Seid and Sidi Hamet, who lose their fortunes#151;and almost their lives#151;when their massive camel caravan arrives at a desiccated oasis. King then jumps to the voyage of the Commerce under Captain Riley and his 11-man crew. After stops in New Orleans and Gibraltar, the ship falls off course en route to the Canary Islands and ultimately wrecks at the infamous Cape Bojador. After the men survive the first predations of the nomads on the shore, they meander along the coast looking for a way inland as their supplies dwindle. They subsist for days by drinking their own urine. Eventually, to their horror, they discover that they have come aground on the edge of the Sahara Desert. They submit themselves, with hopes of getting food and water, as slaves to the Oulad Bou Sbaa. After days of abuse, they are bought by Hamet, who, after his own experiences with his failed caravan (described at the novels opening), sympathizes with the plight of the crew. Together, they set off on a hellish journey across the desert to collect a bounty for Hamet in Swearah.King embellishes this compelling narrative throughout with scientific and historical material explaining the origins of the camel, the market for English and American slaves, and the stages of dehydration. He also humanizes the Sahrawi with background on the tribes and on the lives of Hamet and Seid. This material, doled out in sufficient amounts to enrich the story without derailing it makes Skeletons on the Zahara a perfectly entertaining bit of history that feels like a guilty pleasure.--Patrick O'Kelley

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An incredible story of shipwrecked American sailors sold into slavery in North Africa and dragged through the hellish interior of the Sahara.

Customer Reviews:

A modern retelling of one of the most influential books in U.S. history.......2007-10-09

We read this book for our book club and had the honor of discussing it with the author, Dean King. As someone without any sort of nautical background, I was a bit worried as I started reading that the book was going to be too technical for me, but I quickly got to the point where I didn't want to put it down. The story, which is true and yet reads like a novel, had a certain "Apollo 13" feel to it...it is hard to fathom that so much could go wrong and yet be overcome. Dean King really did his research and was able to verify seemingly unverifiable elements of the story through his own trek on camel - and in some cases on foot - through the Sahara (such as the branding treatment used for illness and the belief that one cannot be hurt if fallen from a camel).

The original manuscript of Captain Riley's has been documented as being one of a handful of books that was influential to Abraham Lincoln. After his own stint as a slave, Riley - a white man - was able to give voice to the inhumanity of slavery here in the U.S. in a way that, at that time, no black man or woman could. Captain Riley's experiences and the telling of his story certainly had an impact on the consciousness of the American people and its leaders. This book brings history alive in a truly thrilling way. I highly recommend reading the footnotes for each chapter and the extra features (like an excerpted interview with the author) included in the paperback version of this book.

Too Much Camel Urine.......2007-09-20

Skeletons of the Zahara certainly has moments of high drama, and the fact that the story is (mostly) true, adds to the sense of adventure and disbelief. And the poor sailors stranded on the Western Shore of Africa could not have been treated much worse than they were. But for me, the retelling of this story suffered from the same monotony as the sailors themselves must have felt. There are lengthy passages of their travels through the desert that are too similar to other lengthy passages of their travels through the desert. This was interspersed occasionally with the graphic depiction of the devouring of an entire camel. I don't really have a weak stomach, but the numerous references to the green goo inside the camel stomach which became the main entree on the menu was a little too much even for me. Then there was the camel urine, which one and all slurped down like a nice chardonnay. Maybe I need to spend more time with the Touareg to get a better feel for things.

One Heck of a Ride.......2007-07-23

This book rips your throat out and stuffs it up your nose!!!!!!!!!
If you think you are tough.....or if you waste your time watching the goofy fake Survival Reality TV shows.......then you need to cleanse your brain with this book......It will show you what a wimp you really are...I do not know anyone who could take for 24 hours what these human beings endured for the extraordinary amount of time they were subject to these conditions from hell......... Dean King did his homework ...from the library to the turf...He actually ventured into this region and DID SOME REAL HOMEWORK

It'll take your breath away.......2007-06-25

Americans shipwrecked in 1815 and held captive by Muslim slavers in the Sahara.

I was considering ordering Sufferings in Africa by James Riley and Robbins' journal: by Archibald Robbins, the two books King based his book on, but after reading this I didn't think I could stomach anymore of their suffering.

The cruelty and ignorance of the arabs/islamist/muslims is stunning. How could and why would anyone be so cruel? If you don't take care of your servants how are they going to be able to continue to serve you?. These arabs were either too dumb to logic that out or just inherently vicious.

Devoured by the Desert.......2007-05-13

This incredible tale captures the true recollections of survivors of shipwreck and enslavement by nomadic Arabs in the western Sahara in 1815. It's a time when the US is striving to assert itself on the world stage. American men seeking to provide for their families willingly take great risk and leave their homeland and find themselves in the Islamic world, stranded and forced to pay a high price to escape. Survival in this world requires enduring constant threat to life and limb. While some of the Arabs are worthy of respect and admirable in their bravery, even the best examples have a moral code that is hard to reconcile with Western values. Equally true is how Islamic values mirror some of the best and worst of Western values (slavery, cruelty for economic profit, strong familial bonds, communal coherance in a time of threat, and dissonance in a time of abundance). While the story of Captain Riley and his fellow American sailors may stand as one of the world's great survival tales, it is enriched by moral themes relevant to today's world experience.

Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival

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Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival

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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: B000JBY0NI

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Slavery from the View of White Men

Skeletons on the Zahara
Dean King
Manufacturer: William Heinemann
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0434008893

Customer Reviews:

Slavery from the View of White Men.......2006-09-20

Captain Riley and his crew of Connecticut sailors lose their way in a fog near the Canary Islands in 1815 and are shipwrecked on the west coast of Africa north of Senegal. The Sahara desert, with all it's sandstorms and lack of water and vegetation, meets the sea where they land. They are captured and enslaved by extremely poor local Bedouin tribes, who travel by camel, sharing all they have. The Captain believes his men will perish without water and food and can do nothing but accept their fate. But he clings to the dream of collecting his scattered crew and paying a ransome to free them so they all can go home. The book he writes a few years later inspired many Americans to become abolitionists, including Abraham Lincoln. Unforgettable story.

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Skeletons On The Zahara

Manufacturer: Books on Tape
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette
ASIN: 1415901686

Product Description

Audiobook - 9 cassettes - 90 minutes each

Book Description

In today's vernacular, Marx "outed" capitalism well over a century ago, but his explanation has been both ignored and misinterpreted by not only his detractors but also by many socialists and even a considerable number of Marxists as well. Today we are experiencing the full impact and suffering the repercussions of capitalism's inherent need to become, more than ever before, a fully internationalized and integrated system of socio-economic control and domination--the global system that many commentators have suddenly remembered Marx and Engels (1848) presciently forecasted in the Communist Manifesto. When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, the victory of capitalism and liberal democracy was triumphantly proclaimed. The Cold War was over, and we were promised a lasting peace. But as we enter the third millennium, we are facing escalating social divisions, injustice, and oppression, with an environment in varying stages of ecological decay. Daily we are bombarded by the schizoid media images of capitalism's extremes on television news: the ravaged faces and wasted bodies of some of the thousands suffering famine, or the millions living in the world's slums, and then the gleaming, yet vacuous smile and sumptuously adorned figure of some extravagant, wealthy individual who is one of the select members of the global upper-class. Are we becoming conditioned to accept such contrasts and regard them as normal and inevitable at a time when we have the potential to eliminate scarcity and eradicate human deprivation? The author argues that critical education is needed to form a movement capable of challenging and then transforming capitalism. She also offers an accessible account of Marx's dialectical critique and expose of capitalism, clearly demonstrating the real enemy that should be the focus of anti-capitalist and anti-globalization struggles. This is an account that explains why our main focus should not be on greedy, individual capitalists or particular multinational corporations, or even their handmaiden institutions, such as, the World Bank, IMF, WTO, etc. but instead the global network of capitalist social relations and consequent habituated human practices in which we are all involved. These together with the historically specific form of capitalist wealth are the real enemy--the essence of capitalism--that must be abolished in order for humanity to have any hope of social and economic justice in the future.

Book Description

In this testament to the distinguished career of H.S. Houthakker a number of Professor Houthakker's friends, former colleagues and former students offer essays which build upon and extend his many contributions to economics in aggregation, consumption, growth and trade. Among the many distinguished contributors are Paul Samuelson, Werner Hildenbrand, John Muellbauer and Lester Telser. The book also includes four previously unpublished papers and notes by its distinguished dedicatee.

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Drawing upon history, psychology, folklore, linguistics, anthropology, and the arts, this book challenges "wooden Indian" stereotypes to redefine negative attitudes and humorless approaches to Native American peoples. Moving from tribal culture to interethnic literature, Lincoln covers the traditional Trickster of origin myths, historical ironies, Euroamericans "playing Indian," feminist Indian humor at home, contemporary painters and playwrights reinventing Coyote, popular mixed-blood music and Red English, and three Native American novelists, Louise Erdrich, James Welch, and N. Scott Momaday. Indi'n Humor documents and interprets the contexts of laughter among Native Americans, as they see and are seen by the rest of the world. The study comes to focus comically on the poets, visual artists, playwrights, and novelists who make up the cultural renaissance of the past twenty years.

Indi'N Humor: Bicultural Play in Native America

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Indi'N Humor: Bicultural Play in Native America
Kenneth Lincoln
Manufacturer: Oxford Univ Pr on Demand
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Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000LRDJYG

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An excuse

Great Overview

A TUNE OF SUCCESS

A Good Starter Book

A very cost effective way to understand music publishing

New Songwriter's Guide to Music Publishing: Everything You Need to Know to Make the Best Publishing Deals for Your Songs
Randy Poe
Manufacturer: F & W Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Business | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
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Book Description

In The New Songwriter's Guide to Music Publishing, author and music insider Randy Poe teaches readers how to get the best deals for their songs. This revised edition:

-Features knowledgeable insider advice, giving aspiring songwriters a leg up on the competition

-Provides clear instruction that's right on the mark, as well as informative sidebars, sample forms, and amusing anecdotes

-Covers the basics of song publishing options, from single song contracts, to full-time positions as staff writers, to starting one's own company

Updated for the Internet age, the refreshed content will be an essential reference for anyone trying to sell their songs.

Customer Reviews:

An excuse.......2007-05-07

Sorry folks, I bought this book as a present for a man in Trinidad. He seems happy with it, but I looked at it only to see if it was the kind of thing he wanted.

I tried to buy the 2007 version of Songwriter's Market, but
was told it couldn't be delivered to a WI or Danish address. However, I'm not sure if this was on Amazon,

Great Overview.......2006-04-16

If you want to understand music publishing - get this book. It starts with music publishing then and now, writing a song, getting it copyrighted and copyright law, how to go about getting it published, the royalties artists and publishers should receive,how you can start your own company, as well as the different organizations for artists and publsihers. It has information on ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC, the three performing rights societies, with a good synopsis on each. This book covers the nuts and bolts of the music publishing industry and any serious individual interested in learning more about this subject should have this book.

A TUNE OF SUCCESS.......2004-03-23

If I had to recommend just one book on music publishing, this would be it. The author elaborates on the origin and history of the music publishing business, and most importantly, thoroughly explains to you in detail what music publishing is, in addition to providing you with real life examples of how it works. You will have a much greater understanding and deeper appreciation of this complex, and lucrative facet of the industry once you've read this short, useful, well-written book.

A Good Starter Book.......2003-12-11

As a songwriter and aspiring Music Publisher, I found the background and history of music publishing along with candid information involved with it to be very enlightening. This book gives detailed information and also give step by step instructions on how to get started in the business of music publishing. I was very well impressed.

A very cost effective way to understand music publishing.......2003-04-28

This book was very attractive to me because of the price. I spent upwards of 70 dollars a book for similair music industry reference material, and this is one of the best books I own. This book, for the most part, has much of the information that "Music Publishing" by Tim Whitsett has, but is more expensive. Although Whitsett goes into a little more detail, you save 30 dollars. If you have the money, get both to have an arry of information.

The credentials that Poe has in writing "Music Publishing: A Song Writers Guide" is very amazing and the reader gets the understanding of the mistakes people have made in the publishiong aspect of music. I must warn you, that if you are not used to reading of the music industry you should not start off with this book. This is more for the people who have a little bit of general background about music in general. Other than that; a great, inexpensive resource on publishing.

Book Description

This directory details the output of transcriptions from the Armed Forces Radio Service from the beginning in 1942 up to 1967. Since many official papers of the early days are no longer available, the information was gathered from many private sources. The range of programs the AFRS covered was immense. Particularly during the war years the accent was on entertainment. Popular and classical music and comedy and drama shows were rebroadcast over AFRS stations all over the world. The AFRS also produced many programs designed to inform and educate. This directory attempts to present the complete range of series the AFRS transmitted. Collectors and followers of popular, country or series music and of drama or comedy shows will appreciate the short description of the AFRS shows, complete with cast names and issues and recording dates, that comprise the entries. The entries are organized by series and include the Libraries series, H-Series, Network Series, R-Series, and Assigned Matrix Numbers. An appendix of non-AFRS transcriptions is included along with a bibliography for further research.

Book Description

Century 21 Computer Applications & Keyboarding 7E, a revision of Century 21 Keyboarding & Information processing, reflects the changing keyboarding course. New key learning is still included, its just moved to the Resources section. The book starts with Review lessons that cover the entire keyboard, just more quickly than the new key sections. Computer Apps have been moved into the main part of the text (as opposed to the Appendix) and expanded significantly. Coverage of Computer Apps includes spreadsheet, database, electronic presentations, speech recognition, web search, and web page design. The Cycles continue to be a part of the pedagogy, with complete integration of cross-curricular themes in each cycle: Arts and Literature, Science, Environment and Health, Social Studies, and Technology. The Seventh edition continues with its non-software specific approach to word processing, using Transparency Masters to support commercial software functionality. The complete course contains 150 keyboarding and word processing lessons, 54 computer apps lessons, and 15 new key learning lessons (in the Resources section). Century 21 Computer Keyboarding, available in soft- or hard-cover versions, includes the 75 keyboarding and word processing lessons.

Century 21 Jr., Input Technologies and Computer Applications

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Century 21 Jr., Input Technologies and Computer Applications
Jack Hoggatt , Jon Shank , and Karl Barksdale
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Century 21 Computer Applications and Keyboarding 8th edtion Instructor's Edition

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Century 21 Computer Applications and Keyboarding 8th edtion Instructor's Edition

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Binding: Spiral-bound
ASIN: B000H81UJ0

Century 21 Plus: Computer Applications with Document Formatting

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Century 21 Plus: Computer Applications with Document Formatting
Jack P. Hoggatt , Jon A. Shank , and Karl Barksdale
Manufacturer: South-Western Educational Pub
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Century 21 Computer Applications and Keyboarding: Comprehensive, Lessons 1-150

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Century 21 Computer Applications and Keyboarding: Comprehensive, Lessons 1-150
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Manufacturer: South-Western Educational Pub
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Style Manual for Hoggatt/Shank's Century 21? Computer Applications and Keyboarding: Comprehensive, Lessons 1-150, 8th

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Style Manual for Hoggatt/Shank's Century 21? Computer Applications and Keyboarding: Comprehensive, Lessons 1-150, 8th
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