Table of Contents
Prologue 1
Part 1 The Middle of Nowhere 8
1 City of Gold 9
2 Dinner with the Blue Men 15
3 White Man's Grave 23
The School for Nomads - Lesson One: Baggage 33
Part 3 City 38
4 The God-Blessed Lair of Pigeon Shit 39
5 Learning to Love the Glottal Stop 51
6 Death of a Camel 56
The School for Nomads - Lesson Two: Riding 63
Part 3 Mountain 68
7 The Sultan's Road to Azrou 69
8 Market Forces 77
9 The Hunt for Aziza's Lost Cattle 82
The School for Nomads - Lesson Three: Tracking 92
Part 4 Dunes 97
10 Poets of the Sahara 98
11 The Last Colony in Africa 103
12 Picnic in the Desert 122
The School for Nomads - Lesson Four: Camp 129
Part 5 Plateau 132
13 Iron-Ore Train to the Adrar 133
14 Dancing with Nomads 148
15 Libraries in the Sand 158
The School for Nomads - Lesson Five: Study and Play 166
Part 6 Urban Nomads 171
16 Fishing and F***ing 172
17 City of Spells 190
The School for Nomads - Lesson Six: Lore 199
Part 7 Plain 202
18 Paradise Lost 203
19 Cowboys and Animists 211
20 A Short Walk in the Gondo Bush 219
The School for Nomads - Lesson Seven: Water 232
Part 8 River 236
21 Masters of the River 237
22 Spirits of the Niger 247
The School for Nomads - Lesson Eight: Score 256
23 Lights Out on the Sahara 259
Part 9 The Middle of Nowhere (Revisited) 271
24 Timbuktu the Broken 272
25 Licking the Desert's Wounds 287
Postscript 300
Glossary 304
Notes 307
Bibliography 315
Index 321
Acknowledgements 328