Skip to content
Scan a barcode
Scan
Added to your cart
Paperback Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival Book

ISBN: 0316159352

ISBN13: 9780316159357

Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival

Select Format

Select Condition ThriftBooks Help Icon

Recommended

Format: Paperback

Condition: Very Good

$6.39
Save $13.60!
List Price $19.99
Almost Gone, Only 1 Left!

Book Overview

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.

Customer Reviews

27 customer ratings | 5 reviews

Rated 5 stars
Great book

Great seller , great price , fast shipping

1Report

Rated 5 stars
1815 shipwreck and slavery, told under the Sahara sun today

An 1815 shipwreck and slavery by Arabs told under the Sahara sun today Dean King studied Captain James Riley's story of his 1815 shipwreck off the coast of Africa, and the subsequent slavery of Riley and crew when captured by the Arabs. After months in the formidable Sahara Desert, Riley and crew were freed from being hostages, by Englishman William Willshire. Riley returned to the States and in 1816 published his book,...

5Report

Rated 5 stars
Unbelievably Fascinating

I cannot praise this book enough for anyone who is remotely interested in survival stories. For the several days I was reading it, I had to talk about it to anyone who crossed my path, and the subjects usually included dehydration, starvation, burning skin and other intense forms of suffering. I was blown away by the amount of damage the human body and spirit can take and yet still continue on. It was truly hard to believe...

5Report

Rated 5 stars
Real survivors

In 1815 a New England merchant brig foundered in rocky seas off North Africa. Its crew survived though perhaps they later wished they hadn't.In the first days, hostile nomads drove them to escape back to the sea in a small boat with a broken oar only to suffer such dehydration and starvation that even enslavement by the dreaded nomads seemed preferable - until it happened.After a slow, thoughtful start laying out the background...

4Report

Rated 5 stars
A Gritty Story that Will Make a Super Movie Someday

In 1815 Captain James Riley and the crew of the United States merchant ship Commerce set sail from Connecticut for Gibraltar. Two months later they were shipwrecked near Cape Bojador, off the coast of Northern Africa, captured by Sahrawi Arabs, sold into slavery and dragged eight hundred miles across the hot and hostile Sahara Desert. Along the way they were fed meager rations and pressed into hard labor as the faced barbarism,...

4Report

Copyright © 2025 Thriftbooks.com Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information | Cookie Policy | Cookie Preferences | Accessibility Statement
ThriftBooks ® and the ThriftBooks ® logo are registered trademarks of Thrift Books Global, LLC
GoDaddy Verified and Secured