Libyan Sands: Travel in a Dead World Paperback – February 14, 2011

Very interesting book about a time and place where exploration was new. The hardiness of these part time explorers and the risks they took for fun is somewhat overwhelming. The book gives a look back almost 100 years into the lives of men using ingenuity and determination to conquer a forbidden place. They explore places untouched since the stone age and stubble over relics from that time. Also a good look at the history of little known desert people. Beautifully written.

Libyan Sands is an evocative description of the author's motor car exploration of the Western Desert (Egypt, Libya, Sudan, Chad) during the interwar period of the 20th century. The insatiably curious Ralph Bagnold began by gathering fellow army officers to see the sites of Egypt -- the pyramids, monasteries, Roman ruins, oasis life, and the desert -- and to experience the joys of motoring in the early days of automobiles. This led to several trips to Sinai, Palestine, and Transjordan in 1926-27, sometimes pioneering new auto routes.Next came a series of long-range trips into the Western Desert in 1927-30. Bagnold and his companions solved a succession of problems --- lack of water (countered by an adaptation that recycled car radiator water losses), getting stuck in soft sand (rope ladders and metal chutes for providing tire traction, reduced tire pressure), navigation in featureless landscapes (invention of a sun compass), crossing sand dune barriers (discovery of sand properties that enabled cars to drive up certain kinds of dunes in certain conditions) --- and in the process explored vast expanses that had been unknown to modern science. At the conclusion of one of the trips, at a Greek café in Wadi Halfa, he and his companions founded the Zerzura Club of desert explorers, named for the last "lost" oasis.A chance meeting with a travel colleague at the Royal Geographical Society map room, examining blank spaces on a map of North-East Africa, led to a return to Egypt. "The externals of Cairo change very slowly, and the atmosphere changes not at all." The 1932 expedition covered 6,000 miles, mostly across uncharted desert. Besides work on a plethora of `ologies --- geology, archaeology, ornithology, entomology, botany, topography --- the expedition was familiar with history (Herodotus, ancient Arabic texts, the Mahdi's uprising, preceding explorers) and took sympathetic note of human interaction: "The common-sense politeness of the people [of northern Sudan], their spontaneous helpfulness and their restraint in the display of any curiosity that might annoy are amazing in comparison with the people of other countries."One of the most memorable incidents was meeting an Italian army contingent at a remote oasis, a meeting celebrated with a dinner invitation and excellent Chianti, but a prologue to the desert war to come.The story is told with a vivid demonstration of practical scientific application, an impressive breadth of interests, contemplation on issues such as remoteness and exploration, and not a little lyrical appreciation of the desert.An epilogue by the author and an afterword by his son put the narrative into perspective. Bagnold was the greatest of the Libyan Desert explorers (first among his fellows, including the now better-known Count Almasy), a scientist of the first order (his Physics of Blown Sand and Desert Dunes has been a standard text on the subject for more than 50 years), and the founding leader of World War II's elite Long Range Desert Group (which arguably deflected the Italian army from overrunning Egypt and seizing the Suez Canal). These achievements are either described or foretold in this modest traveler's tale.The Eland edition is a welcome reprinting of a classic.

How often do you pick up a graduate text book to find the author gushing in open admiration of a 20th century explorer? Soldier? Engineer? I know, not often. Me too. But Bagnold deserves all this admiration. He wrote the book on sand transport after exploring the Egyptian desert. A classic "where no man has gone before" situation. I too fell in love with explorer and this work after being introduced to him in a planetary science graduate text book. Bagnold's writing is superb and he keeps you enthralled throughout the book. An underrated and captivating man. He spans post WWI, through WWII, to become the world's expert in desert processes, and lives to see his name assigned to Martian features before his death in 1990. Remarkable life, remarkable book.

Bagnold is one of my heroes. I have read this book a few times. First as hardcover and later as e-book, just to easier check details. Having traveled myself as a geologist in Egypt's Western Desert in a modern 4WD is far cry from these guys driving in back stripped T Fords. Learning by trial and error how to drive in the dune-fields, inventing a simple cooling system, with primitive (but effective) navigation and mostly using their wits and respect for a piece of unforgiving nature if something would go wrong. They explored an uncharted desert just because it was there. Wanting to know what was beyond the horizon. Careful planned expeditions, carrying all petrol and water with no margin for mistakes. Their maps were key to the WWII battles between Rommel and Monty along the coast and the cat-and-mouse game of the long range patrols. Bagnold was so impressed by the systematics he noticed in the sands that he later became an expert in desert dune sand depositional processes, again using the same pragmatic approach that characterises his expeditions in the real thing. The stories of his expeditions are captivating, but perhaps a bit more to somebody who has been there and felt the desert. You feel it in this book. A dead world, yes, but a fascinating one. Paris Dakar with all its high tech lacks what these men had so much of: real guts and explorers blood. On top of that Bagnold was a good writer who keeps you going.

Like the joke of the general looking at a map and exclaiming what a desolate and empty place only to have have an aide turn the map face up Bagnold did the same for the regions of Sinai and the vast Libyan desert. Eschewing the camel for durable Fold model T’s he and like minded companions set out into vast empty spaces to put features on empty maps, bringing back proof of fabled oasis’s and caravan routes, find remnants of long departed humanity, explore off limits areas like Petra, help understand the formation of sand dunes and oasis’s, and simply appreciate absolute desolation. He is an excellent writer who makes you an arm chair companion.

Having been a user of "The physics of blown sand and desert dunes" by RA Bagnold, I was interested in knowing more about his desert background. Libyan Sands: travel in a dead world was a well-written account of early motorised exploration of very sandy landscapes, though the author's later interest in the physics of sand movement was not really anticipated. The book was very enjoyable, covering a lot of political and social aspects of the use of deserts by their natural inhabitants as well as invaders

This is one of the most enthralling books on desert life i have ever read. OK its 1930 and deserts of Libya were a big blank space on the map. Yet Bagnold got out there in a Model T Ford no less and not only discovered new scenery, oasis, and prominent land marks he effectively mapped the unknown. What was also interesting was how time in that empty space changed him and his understanding of its locals. This knowledge not only got him promoted in the army and made to head his own group but also later assisted the allies defeat the invading germans and italians. My father was in the 8th Army....and the Long Range Desert Group set up by Bagnold later became part of their arsenal and changed the outcome of the second world war. This is as real as it gets. Written in a neat neutral style where Bagnold simply tells it as it was. I have read many books on the desert and those that cross it but this beat them all for reality.

This is a fantastic book, full of interest and adventure. It is amazing what those guys achieved. When Bagnold wanted to continue his exploration of the Libyan desert after being posted to the North West Frontier, and found there was no suitable public transport, he casually decided to drive from what is now Pakistan to Egypt. When their cars broke down in the desert they would think nothing of changing a crankshaft or differential out among the sand dunes. It is written in a wonderful easy style, modest and unassuming, yet entertaining and amusing. How the world has changed. If Bagnold wanted assistance he would simply call on the local District Commissioner and all would be arranged. A great read, highly recommended.

a real gem - fascinating tale well told!

Very good detail well.written, used s part of a historical survey.

I enjoyed this. The narrative is mainly pacy and the struggle of man & primitive machine against the desert is inspiring. Also interesting to see how the area has so sadly changed from these more innocent times