West of Arabia

HAVING TRAVELLED AROUND TAIWAN IN HIS LAST book, this time Gary Heath explores Arabic culture as he journeys over 5000 kilometres through Northern Africa, encountering old soldiers, black marketeers, political activists, Bedouin students and Tuareg tribesmen. Studiously avoiding the tourist traps, he finds the scent of revolution in the air, just a few months before the Arab Spring. Yet the biggest culture shock comes when he returns to Fortress Europe...This book is a lively recount of a journey in its own right, and also a valuable historical record that describes underlying tensions that were to explode onto the world stage just shortly afterwards. It includes a chapter reflecting on the changes that subsequently took place in many of the countries visited.