num_pages: 161
description: The Tuareg are the best known inhabitants of the Sahara; desert people where the men wear the veil not the women. Among Westerners the mystique of these nomads engenders a romantic allure but in Mali Niger Libya Burkina Faso and Algeria  the five countries which encompass their homeland  they are often regarded with hostility and contempt especially since some forged links with al Qaida or ISIS. Dutch journalist Gerbert van der Aa has traveled in Tuareg lands for 30 years and was himself once kidnapped at gunpoint. He meets daredevil smugglers humble gardeners ageing mercenaries and jaded politicians in a quest to unravel the regions complex politics. Also available in paperback. More info at: www.vanderaa-publishing.com About the author: Gerbert van der Aa (1968) is a Dutch historian and journalist specializing in North and West Africa. He published four book and works freelance for several newspapers magazines and TV news channels. In Search of the Tuareg his first book in English is a modified updated and substantially expanded version of an earlier book Terug naar Timboektoe published in Dutch in 2014. Van der Aa was twice nominated for the Bob den Uyl Prize a Dutch award for travel writing.
language: None
title: In Search of the Tuareg: The Veiled People of the Sahara
publisher: Vanderaa Publishing