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.
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A under-rated classic of early desert exploration
Ralph Bagnold was quite an exceptional guy and Libyan Sands must be the best Saharan yarn written by a Brit (although at the time Brits did not consider this the 'Sahara' but the separate 'Libyan Desert' covering eastern Libya, western Egypt and northern Sudan). It describes his motor-car adventures and explorations while stationed with the army in Cairo in the 1920s and early 30s. Using Model T Fords loaded down at times with 150 gallons of fuel, Ralph and his chums spent every spare moment of leave exploring the Libyan Desert of Egypt out past the Gilf Kebir plateau and Jebel Uweinat mountain into northern Sudan. His enthusiasm for (often literally) pushing the spindly, steaming Fords and later heavy trucks across uncharted sand seas helped develop the desert driving techniques we still use today such as sand plates and reduced tyre pressures. If you're into desert driving, it all began with Bagnold, Clayton and others who recognised the potential of a motor-car as a means of long range desert travel.What is striking is that Bagnold's passionate attraction for the desert is almost contemporary, while his drive and curiosity led, among other things, to 'The Physics of Blown Sand', the first scientific account of sand formations and features (for geology graduates only). Later, as WWII set in he was involved with establishing the Long Range Desert Group and comes across in the much-admired mould of the self-effacing Brit hero, never complaining or boasting of his achievements while enacting extraordinary feats of exploration. It is interesting then to compare him with his contemporary and rival, the Hungarian Laszlo Almasy (on who the 'English Patient' character was very fictionally based). He also explored the region by car (his book from that era 'Unknown Sahara' is available in English as a bootleg pdf).Libyan Sands includes Bagnold's potted history of the exploration of the Libyan Desert up to that time, as well as a prescient spin on the enduring Zerzura legend. This is an underrated classic so it's great to see it back in print.
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Top reviews from other countries
Jim Burk
Extraordinarily detailed, wonderfully written
Reviewed in Canada on June 29, 2013Mr. I. Hampson
An interesting read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 3, 2013