Saharan Frontiers Saharan Frontiers: Space and Mobility in Northwest Africa Space and Mobility in Northwest Africa

The Sahara has long been portrayed as a barrier that divides theMediterranean world from Africa proper and isolates the countries of the Maghribfrom their southern and eastern neighbors. Rather than viewing the desert as anisolating barrier, this volume takes up historian Fernand Braudel's descripti [...]
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The Sahara has long been portrayed as a barrier that divides theMediterranean world from Africa proper and isolates the countries of the Maghribfrom their southern and eastern neighbors. Rather than viewing the desert as anisolating barrier, this volume takes up historian Fernand Braudel's description ofthe Sahara as "the second face of the Mediterranean." The essays recastthe history of the region with the Sahara at its center, uncovering a story ofdensely interdependent networks that span the desert's vast expanse. They explorethe relationship between the desert's "islands" and "shores" andthe connections and commonalities that unite the region. Contributors draw onextensive ethnographic and historical research to address topics such as trade andmigration; local notions of place, territoriality, and movement; Saharan cities; andthe links among ecological, regional, and world-historical approaches tounderstanding the Sahara.