Popular Mauritania Books

Guantánamo Diary: Restored Edition by Mohamedou Ould Slahi (Editor) , Larry Siems (Editor)

The acclaimed national bestseller, the first and only diary written by a Guantánamo detainee during his imprisonment, now with previously censored material restored. When GUANTÁNAMO DIARY was first published--heavily redacted by the U.S. government--in 2015, Mohamedou Ould Slahi was still imprisoned at the detainee camp in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, despite a federal court rulin The acclaimed national bestseller, the first and only diary written by a Guantánamo detainee during his imprisonment, now with previously censored material restored. When GUANTÁNAMO DIARY was first published--heavily redacted by the U.S. government--in 2015, Mohamedou Ould Slahi was still imprisoned at the detainee camp in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, despite a federal court ruling ordering his release, and it was unclear when or if he would ever see freedom. In October 2016, he was finally released and reunited with his family. During his 14-year imprisonment, the United States never charged him with a crime. Now for the first time, he is able to tell his story in full, with previously censored material restored. This searing diary is not merely a vivid record of a miscarriage of justice, but a deeply personal memoir---terrifying, darkly humorous, and surprisingly gracious. GUANTÁNAMO DIARY is a document of immense emotional power and historical importance.

A Moonless, Starless Sky: Ordinary Women and Men Fighting Extremism in Africa by Alexis Okeowo

In the tradition of Behind the Beautiful Forevers and Nothing to Envy, this is a masterful, humane work of literary journalism by New Yorker staff writer Alexis Okeowo--a vivid narrative of Africans, many of them women, who are courageously resisting their continent's wave of fundamentalism. In A Moonless, Starless Sky Okeowo weaves together four narratives that form a powe In the tradition of Behind the Beautiful Forevers and Nothing to Envy, this is a masterful, humane work of literary journalism by New Yorker staff writer Alexis Okeowo--a vivid narrative of Africans, many of them women, who are courageously resisting their continent's wave of fundamentalism. In A Moonless, Starless Sky Okeowo weaves together four narratives that form a powerful tapestry of modern Africa: a young couple, kidnap victims of Joseph Kony's LRA; a Mauritanian waging a lonely campaign against modern-day slavery; a women's basketball team flourishing amid war-torn Somalia; and a vigilante who takes up arms against the extremist group Boko Haram. This debut book by one of America's most acclaimed young journalists illuminates the inner lives of ordinary people doing the extraordinary--lives that are too often hidden, underreported, or ignored by the rest of the world.

Travels in Mauritania by Peter Hudson

When Peter Hudson set off for Mauritania, he knew it only as a big blank space on a map of Africa. Travelling from the capital, Nouakchott, hardly more than a desert encampment, he found among the oases and ancient caravan towns a people in harmony with their harsh surroundings, and began to understand something of the emerging nation's confrontation with the modern world. When Peter Hudson set off for Mauritania, he knew it only as a big blank space on a map of Africa. Travelling from the capital, Nouakchott, hardly more than a desert encampment, he found among the oases and ancient caravan towns a people in harmony with their harsh surroundings, and began to understand something of the emerging nation's confrontation with the modern world. Progressing by foot, camel and donkey, rarely by road, Peter Hudson came face to face with the reactionary side of Islam, with the unsuspecting power of Aid food, with the bitterness of downtrodden black Africans and with the ever-encroaching Sahara. He found a bitter-sweet, sad yet happy land, a land that seeped into his veins.

Deep in the Sahara by Kelly Cunnane , Hoda Hadadi (Illustrator)

Lalla lives in the Muslim country of Mauritania, and more than anything, she wants to wear a malafa, the colorful cloth Mauritanian women, like her mama and big sister, wear to cover their heads and clothes in public. But it is not until Lalla realizes that a malafa is not just worn to show a woman's beauty and mystery or to honor tradition—a malafa is for faith—that Lalla Lalla lives in the Muslim country of Mauritania, and more than anything, she wants to wear a malafa, the colorful cloth Mauritanian women, like her mama and big sister, wear to cover their heads and clothes in public. But it is not until Lalla realizes that a malafa is not just worn to show a woman's beauty and mystery or to honor tradition—a malafa is for faith—that Lalla's mother agrees to slip a long cloth as blue as the ink in the Koran over Lalla's head, under her arm, and round and round her body. Then together, they pray. An author's note and glossary are included in the back of the book.

The Desert and the Drum (Dedalus Africa) by Mbarfek Ould Beyrouk , Rachael McGill (Translator)

The Desert and the Drum is the first novel ever to be translated into English from Mauritania. It won the Ahmadou-Kourouma Prize in 2016. Everything changes for Rayhana when foreigners with strange machines arrive to mine for metal near her Bedouin camp. One of them is the enigmatic Yahya. Rayhana’s association with him leads to her abandoning all she knows and fleeing alon The Desert and the Drum is the first novel ever to be translated into English from Mauritania. It won the Ahmadou-Kourouma Prize in 2016. Everything changes for Rayhana when foreigners with strange machines arrive to mine for metal near her Bedouin camp. One of them is the enigmatic Yahya. Rayhana’s association with him leads to her abandoning all she knows and fleeing alone to the city. When her tribe discover she’s stolen their sacred drum they pursue her to exact their revenge. Though Rayhana has her own missing person to seek. The Desert and the Drum tells of Rayhana’s rift with her family, the disturbing characters she encounters in the metropolis, her attempts to separate friend from foe and to find a place for herself amidst the contradictions of contemporary Mauritania.

Sahara by Michael Palin , Basil Pao (Photographer)

Michael Palin's epic voyages have seen him circumnavigate the globe, travel from the North to the South Pole and circle the countries of the Pacific Ocean. This was perhaps the greatest challenge yet: to cross the vast and merciless Sahara desert. Shrugging aside the perils of camel stew and being run over by the Paris-Dakar rally, he travels through some of the most specta Michael Palin's epic voyages have seen him circumnavigate the globe, travel from the North to the South Pole and circle the countries of the Pacific Ocean. This was perhaps the greatest challenge yet: to cross the vast and merciless Sahara desert. Shrugging aside the perils of camel stew and being run over by the Paris-Dakar rally, he travels through some of the most spectacular landscapes on earth. For the Sahara is no empty wasteland, but home to a diversity of cultures whose long history stretches from the time of the ancient Egyptians to the oil-rich Islamic republics of today.

Impossible Journey: Two Against The Sahara by Michael Asher

Under An African Sky: A journey to the climate frontline by Peter Hudson

Peter Hudson has been visiting the same village in Mauritania on the remote edge of the Sahara for over twenty years. This is the story of his most recent journey there – an intense and engaging day-by-day account through which global change and inequality are made human. The Sahel – the 'shore' of the Sahara – is where cultures, customs and climates meet, merge and clash. Peter Hudson has been visiting the same village in Mauritania on the remote edge of the Sahara for over twenty years. This is the story of his most recent journey there – an intense and engaging day-by-day account through which global change and inequality are made human. The Sahel – the 'shore' of the Sahara – is where cultures, customs and climates meet, merge and clash. Through the numerous characters we meet and from the obviously deep and sympathetic nature of the relationship the author has with the local people, we learn of the realities of life in one of the harshest, most marginalised and but also quietly inspiring corners of the world. Searingly honest and refreshing, this is a superb piece of travel writing about a little-known part of the world.

Islam's Black Slaves: The Other Black Diaspora by Ronald Segal

A comprehensive study of the Eastern slave trade by an eminent British scholar A companion volume to The Black Diaspora, this groundbreaking work tells the fascinating and horrifying story of the Islamic slave trade. Islam's Black Slaves documents a centuries-old institution that still survives, and traces the business of slavery and its repercussions from Islam's inception A comprehensive study of the Eastern slave trade by an eminent British scholar A companion volume to The Black Diaspora, this groundbreaking work tells the fascinating and horrifying story of the Islamic slave trade. Islam's Black Slaves documents a centuries-old institution that still survives, and traces the business of slavery and its repercussions from Islam's inception in the seventh century, through its history in China, India, Iran, Turkey, Egypt, Libya, and Spain, and on to Sudan and Mauritania, where, even today, slaves continue to be sold. Ronald Segal reveals for the first time the numbers involved in this trade--as many millions as were transported to the Americas--and explores the differences between the traffic in the East and the West. Islam's Black Slaves also examines the continued denial of the very existence of this sector of the black diaspora, although it survives today in significant numbers; and in an illuminating conclusion, Segal addresses the appeal of Islam to African-American communities, and the perplexing refusal of Black Muslim leaders to acknowledge black slavery and oppression in present-day Mauritania and Sudan. A fitting companion to Segal's previous work, Islam's Black Slaves is a fascinating account of an often unacknowledged tradition, and a riveting cross-cultural commentary.

Silent Terror: A Journey into Contemporary African Slavery by Samuel Cotton

Silent Terror is the disturbing story of a black American's journey into the horrors of modern-day slavery in Africa. The author's odyssey takes him from New York to the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, where he comes face to face with the Arab-Berbers' centuries-old practice of enslaving black Africans. Samuel Cotton's research exposes this heinous practice while documenti Silent Terror is the disturbing story of a black American's journey into the horrors of modern-day slavery in Africa. The author's odyssey takes him from New York to the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, where he comes face to face with the Arab-Berbers' centuries-old practice of enslaving black Africans. Samuel Cotton's research exposes this heinous practice while documenting and analyzing the hatred that the Arab minority holds for blacks, both slave and free, in a country where everyone is Muslim. Cotton takes the reader into the life of oppressed Africans and provides critical insights into the use of religion and language to successfully enslave blacks. He also shows the process by which Arab masters produce docile slaves. The narratives he recorded from those who escaped reveal the horrible truth of slave life, the despair and humiliation, and the slaves' capacity for hope and courage. Interviews with former slaves who have become abolitionist leaders show the path from bondage to freedom and offer the hope that this grim practice will one day be a relic of the past. Silent Terror examines why African nations have been silent on this subject and the role that neocolonialism plays in continuing an unspeakable practice. This book is also a personal narrative. The author shares the impact of coming to grips with his African past and identity and his internal and external struggles to bring the issue of slavery to the American public. He sheds light on the growth of a modern-day abolitionist movement aimed at destroying the remaining strongholds of slavery and details the difficulty of getting the Black Muslim community to confront the idea of slavery in the Islamic world and to get black people in general to deal with this painful reality.

Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff

The Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer brings to life the most intriguing woman in the history of the world: Cleopatra, the last queen of Egypt. Her palace shimmered with onyx, garnets, and gold, but was richer still in political and sexual intrigue. Above all else, Cleopatra was a shrewd strategist and an ingenious negotiator. Though her life spanned fewer than forty years, The Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer brings to life the most intriguing woman in the history of the world: Cleopatra, the last queen of Egypt. Her palace shimmered with onyx, garnets, and gold, but was richer still in political and sexual intrigue. Above all else, Cleopatra was a shrewd strategist and an ingenious negotiator. Though her life spanned fewer than forty years, it reshaped the contours of the ancient world. She was married twice, each time to a brother. She waged a brutal civil war against the first when both were teenagers. She poisoned the second. Ultimately she dispensed with an ambitious sister as well; incest and assassination were family specialties. Cleopatra appears to have had sex with only two men. They happen, however, to have been Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, among the most prominent Romans of the day. Both were married to other women. Cleopatra had a child with Caesar and–after his murder–three more with his protégé. Already she was the wealthiest ruler in the Mediterranean; the relationship with Antony confirmed her status as the most influential woman of the age. The two would together attempt to forge a new empire, in an alliance that spelled their ends. Cleopatra has lodged herself in our imaginations ever since. Famous long before she was notorious, Cleopatra has gone down in history for all the wrong reasons. Shakespeare and Shaw put words in her mouth. Michelangelo, Tiepolo, and Elizabeth Taylor put a face to her name. Along the way, Cleopatra’s supple personality and the drama of her circumstances have been lost. In a masterly return to the classical sources, Stacy Schiff here boldly separates fact from fiction to rescue the magnetic queen whose death ushered in a new world order. Rich in detail, epic in scope, Schiff ‘s is a luminous, deeply original reconstruction of a dazzling life.

Landfalls: On the Edge of Islam with Ibn Battutah by Tim Mackintosh-Smith

Following on Travels with a Tangerine (a New York Times Notable book) and The Hall of a Thousand Columns, here is the third volume in the author's passionate pursuit of the 14th-century traveler who out-traveled Marco Polo   For Ibn Batuttah of Tangier, being medieval didn’t mean sitting at home waiting for renaissances, enlightenments, and air travel. It meant traveling t Following on Travels with a Tangerine (a New York Times Notable book) and The Hall of a Thousand Columns, here is the third volume in the author's passionate pursuit of the 14th-century traveler who out-traveled Marco Polo   For Ibn Batuttah of Tangier, being medieval didn’t mean sitting at home waiting for renaissances, enlightenments, and air travel. It meant traveling the known world to its limits. Seven centuries later, Tim Mackintosh-Smith’s fascination takes him to landfalls in remote tropical islands, torrid Indian Ocean ports, and dusty towns on the shores of the Saharan sand-sea. His zigzag itinerary across time and space leads from Zanzibar to the Alhambra (via the Maldives, Sri Lanka, China, Mauritania, and Guinea) and to a climactic conclusion to his quest for the man he calls "IB"—a man who who spent his days with saints and sultans and his nights with an intercontinental string of slave-concubines. Tim’s journey is a search for survivals from IB’s world—material, human, spiritual, edible—however, when your fellow traveler has a 700-year head start, familiar notions don’t always work.