Andrew Goudie's latest desert-themed masterpiece scratches away the crusty veneer of about 60 of the most intrepid and fearless explorers ever to venture into the vast wastelands of the world's deserts. Spanning a period of about 300 years it covers the activities of many of the unsung heroes of desert travel, whilst still paying homage to the better known explorers – Thesiger, Rohlfs, Bagnold et al. Many did it purely for the thrill of being the first explorer there, others were subjecting themselves to the arid regions of the planet for military and governmental reasons. The one experience they all shared was the harshness of desert survival; the dust, heat, sweat, thirst and general discomfort that is unavoidable to any who venture off the broken tarmac and onto the stones and sand in search of adventure.
The book is laced with charming anecdotes and quotes describing an era of exploration now lost to us forever in a sandstorm of Foreign Office recommendations and insurance restrictions. This was a time when large chunks of the globe were controlled by a handful of colonial rulers and all you needed was a stiff upper lip, a starched shirt and a reasonable amount of funding, either from the family fortune or a gullible government who swallowed the idea of your preposterous plan. It is very well laid out and invites readers to opt for a short, but detailed, analysis of both the deserts explored and the characters and agendas of the explorers themselves.
On a more gruesome note it also pays homage to those less fortunate in their adventures. A terrifying list early in the book catalogues 36 of those who did not return: James Wellstead, aged 37, died of fever, attempted suicide and madness. Vying with Wellstead for top spot in horrendous departures must be poor Eduard Vogel, aged 26, who was simply ‘beaten to death’.
Thankfully most did survive their experience and many went on to live well into their 80s and 90s. The French naturalist, Théodore André Monod, who spent most of his life traversing the Sahara by camel, as he loathed the petrol engine, finally dismounted in 1994 aged 91 and died peacefully in Versailles aged 98.
Most Victorian and Edwardian explorers relied upon the camel of course, but in later years a few saw the big advantages of the car. Sir Bede Clifford made the first crossing of the Kalahari in 1928 using six wheeled Morris trucks, and Captain William Shakespear had a healthy fascination for the motor car and in 1907 drove an 8-horsepower Rover home to England from the Middle East. Sadly, Shakespear died in a skirmish at Jarrab in 1915 and his head was cut off and hung on one of the main gates to the medina!
Great Desert Explorers is meticulously researched by Goudie, himself once Honorary Secretary and Vice-President of the Royal Geographical Society (RGS), and widely travelled in many of the deserts represented. He provides many of the location photographs to supplement the original black and white images taken by the explorers themselves and it is easy to imagine him totally absorbed in the RGS archives discovering the reports and information that makes this book so addictive to anyone with an interest in desert travel.
