Sahara

Part of the fun of this book is indeed the fact that it is dated. This is just my personal opinion, but I don't think these classic Saharan landscapes lend themselves well to the ultra-modern high gloss photographs you find in so many pictorial works, about say, the national parks of the United States, where the pictures of Glacier National Park look more like paintings. No, the pictures found in "Sahara" look like they were taken in the 70s - there's a sense of age, imperfection, and graininess about them that seems well-suited to the Sahara. Which is not to say that these pictures are poorly taken or technically incompetent. They are not. It's just a matter of working with what is available at the time, like Matthew Brady and the Civil War, which happens to suit my aesthetic tastes just fine. In any event, this is probably my favorite pictorial work I've read and viewed on the Sahara. I prefer it to the fine works of Michael Palin and "The Call of the Desert" by Philippe Bourseiller, which is also very good. This book delivers up all you could want out of a pictorial book on the Sahara. I especially find its emphasis on Algeria (the country with the most stunning Sahara scenery, in my humble opinion) to be quite in line with what I was looking for. And I must say what fascinates Nomachi falls in well with what fascinates me: the Hoggar Mountains of Algeria, the Air Mountains of Niger, the Grand Ergs Oriental and Occidental (The Grand Erg Occidental is particularly wondrous). Nomachi also does a fine job of recalling his experiences in a time when Sahara travel was in some ways more rustic and difficult, though in some ways, it has been more difficult in areas like Libya, which until recently was very difficult to travel in, and the civil war in Algeria makes personally seeing the most beautiful of the Saharan landscape more dangerous than it has any right to be at the time of this writing. So we must content ourselves with fine pictorial works like these. The photography and text on the great nomads of the Sahara was charming and guileless. All in all, I enjoyed this work thoroughly because it seemed to cater specifically to my interests - I think your level of enjoyment will depend on what exactly interests you about the Sahara, but I think anyone who finds this amazing desert beautiful will enjoy this book.