
Tangier
From the Romans to The Rolling Stones
Richard Hamilton(Author)
Tauris Parke (Publisher)
Published on 14. July 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
320 pages
978-1-78831-757-3 (ISBN)
Description
In Tangier, the Moroccan novelist Mohamed Choukri wrote, 'everything is surreal and everything is possible.'
In this intimate portrait of a city, the former BBC North Africa correspondent, Richard Hamilton, explores its hotels, cafes, alleyways and darkest secrets to find out what it is that has inspired so many international writers, artists and musicians.
Delving down through complex historical layers, he finds a frontier town that is comic, confounding and haunted by the ghosts of its past. Samuel Pepys thought God should destroy Tangier and St Francis of Assisi called it a city of 'madness and delusions.' Yet, throughout the centuries, it has also been a crucible of creativity. It was a turning point in Henri Matisse's artistic journey and had a profound impact on the founder of the Rolling Stones, Brian Jones. Tangier also produced two of the greatest American novels of the twentieth century: The Sheltering Sky and Naked Lunch. Besides Paul Bowles and William Burroughs, the book also looks at lesser known characters such as the flawed genius, Brion Gysin, as well as Ibn Battuta, who travelled three times further than Marco Polo.
Featuring a thrilling cast of pirates, sultans, artists, musicians, writers, princes and playboys, this is an essential read about Tangier.
In this intimate portrait of a city, the former BBC North Africa correspondent, Richard Hamilton, explores its hotels, cafes, alleyways and darkest secrets to find out what it is that has inspired so many international writers, artists and musicians.
Delving down through complex historical layers, he finds a frontier town that is comic, confounding and haunted by the ghosts of its past. Samuel Pepys thought God should destroy Tangier and St Francis of Assisi called it a city of 'madness and delusions.' Yet, throughout the centuries, it has also been a crucible of creativity. It was a turning point in Henri Matisse's artistic journey and had a profound impact on the founder of the Rolling Stones, Brian Jones. Tangier also produced two of the greatest American novels of the twentieth century: The Sheltering Sky and Naked Lunch. Besides Paul Bowles and William Burroughs, the book also looks at lesser known characters such as the flawed genius, Brion Gysin, as well as Ibn Battuta, who travelled three times further than Marco Polo.
Featuring a thrilling cast of pirates, sultans, artists, musicians, writers, princes and playboys, this is an essential read about Tangier.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Illustrations
16pp colour plate section
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-78831-757-3 (9781788317573)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Richard Hamilton has worked for the BBC World Service as a broadcast journalist since 1998, including being a correspondent in Morocco, South Africa and Madagascar. He also reports for BBC TV, radio and online. While living in Morocco, he co-authored the Time Out Guide to Marrakech and has written throughout his career for magazines and newspapers such as Conde Nast Traveller and The Cape Times. He has an MA in African Studies from SOAS.
Content
Acknowledgements
1 Hercules
2 Quintus Sertorius
3 Ibn Battuta
4 Samuel Pepys
5 Walter Harris
6 Henri Matisse
7 Paul Bowles
8 William Burroughs
9 Brion Gysin
10 Francis Bacon
11 Joe Orton
12 Mohamed Mrabet
13 Brian Jones
Postscript
Select Bibliography
Index
Color Plates
1 Hercules
2 Quintus Sertorius
3 Ibn Battuta
4 Samuel Pepys
5 Walter Harris
6 Henri Matisse
7 Paul Bowles
8 William Burroughs
9 Brion Gysin
10 Francis Bacon
11 Joe Orton
12 Mohamed Mrabet
13 Brian Jones
Postscript
Select Bibliography
Index
Color Plates