Overview

During years of travelling through North Africa, author Barnaby Rogerson has encountered a handful of stories so complicated that he could not place them into neat, tidy narratives. These are stories of characters who were neither distinctly good nor noticeably bad, neither malicious nor noble. In Search of Ancient North Africa is a journey into the ruins of a landscape to make sense of these stories through the multilayered lives of six individuals. Rogerson digs into the lives of Queen Dido, who was a sacrificial refugee; King Juba II, a prisoner of war who became a compliant tool of the Roman Empire; Septimius Severus, an unpromising provincial who, as its leader, brought his empire to its dazzling apogee; St. Augustine, an intellectual careerist who became a bishop and a saint; Hannibal, the greatest general the world has ever known; and Masinissa, the man who eventually defeated him. Together these six lives, clouded with as much myth as fact, are characters that represent classical North Africa. Among these life stories, we explore ruins and monuments tell of their lives and see the multiple connections that bind the culture of this region with the wider world, particularly the spiritual traditions of the ancient Near East. In Search of Ancient North Africa sheds new light on a time and place at the crossroads of numerous histories and cultures. It offers the first history of ancient North Africa told through the lives of North Africans themselves. 

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9781912208784

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Reviews

`By helping to bring North Africa's past to vibrant life, he has encouraged and enlivened both the present and the future.'- Country Life; `[...]this is a worthy tribute to places and the stories of that ancient past. The reader will be carried off in their imagination and most likely feel the desire to visit many of the sites. If it inspires a love of the past, of travel and indeed of picnics, then it will have done its job.' -Adrian Goldsworthy, Literary Review; `This books is an example of a dazzling erudition worn lightly.'- Astene Bulletin

Author Information

Barnaby Rogerson is an author, critic, television presenter and publisher. He has written extensively about the Muslim world, including a biography of the Prophet Muhammad, and numerous travel guides. His recent books include The Last Crusaders (Little, Brown) and Book of Numbers: The Culture of Numbers from 1001 Nights to the Seven Wonders of the World (Profile). He is the Publisher of Eland Books, the renowned publisher of classic travel writing.

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