Jeffrey Tayler Knihy

Beset by ethnic rebellion and sectarian violence, few areas of the world are as isolated and little travelled as the Sahel, the expanse of the badlands and semi-desert forming the southern coast of the Saharan sand sea. Nonetheless, Chad, northern Nigeria, Niger, Mali and Senigal once fostered some of Africa's wealthiest and most exotic kingdoms and empires, and to this day produce some of the continent's leading writers, musicians and artists. The predominantly Muslim faith of the region makes the Sahel a cultural as well as geographic designation. Timbuktu, the cities along the Niger River, and the Hausa emirates once thrived on trans-Saharan trade, and accepted Islam from Arabs who came as both merchants and conquerers. Jeffrey Taylor travels 2,500 miles across the Sahel by truck, taxi, bus and boat to present a personal account of one of Africa's least- known regions - that of Muslim Africa.

Jeffrey Tayler describes his journey through the Moroccan Sahara on camel and foot, describing extremely harsh conditions because of unprecedented drought, and offering a glimpse into the Arab world.

At thirty-three one's direction in life should be clear, and mine was not. In search of some direction, or at least a new challenge, Jeffrey Tayler gave up his day job of opening rejection letters from publishers and went exploring. Having always been fascinated by Africa and the great age of Victorian exploration he went to Kinshasa in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) and found a boat to take him up-river to Kisangani, deep in the heart of the jungle. Not content with that, he then bought a pirogue (a kind of canoe), hired a guide and set out to paddle the 1000 miles back to Kinshasa.