Camel journeys may belong to a bygone era, but the British have long had an affinity with the resilient animals. With South from Barbary, Justin Marozzi becomes the latest writer to follow in the tradition of Wilfred Thesiger and Michael Asher. Having known Libya since a young age, Marozzi set out two years ago to cross the Libyan Sahara by camel. Travelling with a friend, Ned, five camels and a succession of guides, Marozzi crossed 1150 miles of the great desert. Travel books usually benefit from the author having more than a passing knowledge of a place. Unfortunately, however, although Marozzi's debut is strong on Saharan cultures and early European explorers, he has an awkward prose style that tends to be over-laden with adverbs, adjectives and discordant similes. He also has a rosy-eyed view of the history of British involvement with the slave trade, waxing lyrical over 19th century attempts to suppress the trade while largely ignoring the fact that Britain was the leading beneficiary of the Atlantic trade throughout the 18th century.
That is not to say that the book is without merit. In the second half the story picks up, and the prose becomes less stodgy. The desert journey appears to improve Marozzi's qualities of empathy, and he is never less than honest about the behaviour of Ned and himself. In the end, though, South From Barbary seems to be an opportunity missed. Although Marozzi's work is erudite on Libya's history, room remains for a book that deals more richly with the nature of modern Libya. --Toby Green
