A Tuareg youth ventures into trackless desert to find the father he remembers only as a shadow from his childhood, but the spirit world frustrates and tests his resolve. For a time, he is rewarded with the Eden of a lost oasis, but eventually, as new settlers crowd in, its destiny mimics the rise of human civilization. The Libyan Tuareg author Ibrahim al Koni has used Tuareg folklore about Anubis, the ancient Egyptian god of the underworld, to craft a novel that is both a lyrical evocation of the desert's beauty and a chilling narrative in which thirst, incest, patricide, animal metamorphosis, and human sacrifice are more than plot devices. Translated by William Maynard Hutchins. Glossary, 184pp, EGYPT. AMERICAN UNIVERSITY IN CAIRO.

Rethinks the history of colonial and nationalist analyses of modern Libya which have ignored Libyan society and culture. Argues that both colonial and postcolonial Libyan society has confronted contradictions modernity, genocide, and nation-state and alienation. 144pp, UK. ROUTLEDGE.

First comprehensive history based on original research for over twenty years offers a lucid account of Libya's past, and corrects some of the misunderstandings about its present. Takes the story from the 1900s, through the Italian occupation, the Sanusi monarchy and Qadhafi's self-styled revolution. The final chapter is devoted to the events which brought Libya back into the international fold. Index, bib, notes, 246pp, UK. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS.

New in paperback. 'A poignant story of a child exposed too early to the brutalities of Libyan politics' (J.M. Coetzee). 256pp, UK. PENGUIN.

2001

A guide book covering the whole of North Africa's second largest country in detail providing essential travel information and cultural background. Maps, 332pp, UK. FOOTPRINT HANDBOOKS. 1900949776

2000 Paperback

Second edition. Well researched guide book providing all the essential information for tourists to Libya. Includes maps and a language guide. Index, 30 maps, 272pp, AUSTRALIA. LONELY PLANET.

Charts the instances of ignorance, misunderstanding, treachery, and suffering on both sides that have shaped and limited commercial and diplomatic intercourse. BNS, map, 11 b/w ill, 296pp, USA. UNIV. PRESS OF PENNSYLVANIA, 0812236726

In 1992 United Nations sanctions were imposed on Libya after it refused to hand over for judgement in an international court two Libyan citizens suspected of involvement in the bombing of a passenger plane over Lockerbie in Scotland in 1988. The sanctions were not suspended until 2003, by which time Libya had undergone fundamental changes. After the sanctions were lifted, those changes accelerated rather than going into reverse. The newly militant attitude of the United States after the events of 9 September 2001, and the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, conveyed to the Libyan leadership that opposition to the West was potentially disastrous. Libya stepped back from the development of nuclear weapons and opened its economy to the West. Meanwhile Colonel Gaddafi, the leader of the Libyan Revolution, has found ways to consolidate his hold on the country. The author suggests that the future of Libya now lies in becoming what he calls-paradoxically-an authoritarian liberal state. Index, notes, 182pp, UK. HURST & CO.

An examination of all facets of the Lockerbie tragedy including from the police investigation and indictment of two Libyan citizens to the imposition of international sanctions. The authors also discuss the significance of the event within the context of events since September 11th 2001. BNS, 248pp, UK. McFARLAND & COMPANY, 0786416092

Considers possibilities for new development, from 1990 onwards, and in the new circumstances now that the embargo against Libya has been lifted, IN FRENCH, 240pp, FRANCE. KARTHALA.

Account of an epic 1,500 mile journey by camel across the Libyan Sahara, retracing the old slave routes from the coast of North Africa. B/w ill, index, 355pp, UK. HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS, 0006531172

In the winter of 1873 74, Gerhard Rohlfs led the first interdisciplinary geoscientific expedition, at the behest of Khedive Ismail, to explore the Great Sand Sea west of Egypt's Dakhla Oasis and to reach Kufra Oasis in what is now Libya. The publication of Zittel's 'About the Geologic Structure of the Libyan Desert' in 1880 was the beginning of the systematic geologic mapping of Egypt. 'Three Months in the Libyan Desert' is Rohlfs' account of the expedition, its adventures, and its many trials. BNS, 272pp, EGYPT. AMERICAN UNIVERSITY IN CAIRO.

2005 9774248384 Paperback