In Search of Ancient North Africa - A History in Six Lives

Barnaby Rogerson has traveled across North Africa for 40 years, exploring the region's complex and fascinating history. This book is a journey into the ruins of a landscape to make sense of these stories through the lives of five men and one woman, including a sacrificial refugee, a prisoner-of-war, an unpromising provincial, an intellectual careerist, the greatest General, and the Berber Cavalry General who defeated him. The destinies of these North African figures remain highly relevant today, with their descendants facing the same choices as their ancestors.

\n Format: Paperback / softback
\n Length: 480 pages
\n Publication date: 25 May 2021
\n Publisher: Haus Publishing
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For forty years, Barnaby Rogerson has traversed North Africa, unraveling the intricate and captivating history of the region as both a writer and a guide. Throughout this span, certain narratives eluded his ability to neatly package them into tidy stories, ones that fell into distinct categories of good or bad, tragic or pathetic, selfish or heroic, malicious or noble. This book, neither a work of history nor travel writing, instead embarks on a journey into the remnants of a landscape to comprehend these enigmatic tales through the lives of five men and one woman. Among them are a sacrificial refugee (Queen Dido), a prisoner-of-war who willingly became a compliant tool of the Roman Empire (King Juba), an unremarkable provincial who, as Emperor, brought the Empire to its dazzling apex (Septimius Severus), an intellectual careerist who transitioned into becoming a bishop and a saint (St Augustine), the greatest General the world has ever known (Hannibal), and the Berber Cavalry General who ultimately defeated him (Masinissa). While the truth behind all six lives is intertwined with myth, their legacies remain profoundly relevant in the present day. Their descendants are faced with the same dilemma: whether to remain true to their own culture and resist the influence of the West, or to study and assimilate this other culture, harnessing its skills. Will it welcome them as allies, only to later own them as slaves? The chosen heroes of this book represent classical North Africa, diverging from the typical narrative of Julius Caesar, Augustus, Trajan, Hadrian, Constantine, and Justinian. Interwoven between these life stories, we explore ruins that bear their own narratives, unveiling the intricate web of connections that bind the culture of this region with the broader world, particularly the spiritual traditions of the ancient Near East. Accompanied by stunning photographs by Don McCullin.

\n Weight: 346g\n
Dimension: 131 x 196 x 36 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9781912208784\n \n