Michael A. Mares. (2002). Harvard University Press.
Autobiographical account of travels and wildlife in the deserts of Argentina, Iran, Egypt and the American Southwest. Nice foreword by Stephen J. Gould.
Richard Hoath. (2003). The American University in Cairo Press.
A comprehensive field guide to every mammal species recorded in contemporary Egypt, from aardwolf to zorilla.
Clive Barlow & Tim Wacher. (2005). Yale University Press.
Excellent resource for Sahelian species across the range. Descriptions and behaviour of birds based on actual fieldwork capture very well essential traits of many species.
Hollom, P. A. D. et al. (1988). T. & A. D. Poyser.
Covers over 700 species, with 350 illustrated. A good guide to have along. Illustrations are crisp and clear.
G. W. Murray. (1967). George Allen & Unwin Ltd.
An enjoyable account of Murray’s expeditions in Egypt as government surveyor between the 1920s and 1940s. A few scattered wildlife observations (leopards in Sinai, ibex in the Red Seas Hills) but most importantly, a comment on cheetah and addax from the Qattara Depression (p. 166).
“On a later day, when our line of levels had crept down the pass called Naqb Abu Dweis into the depression, I walked across the great marsh and found that, owing to the intense evaporation, it had become covered with a thick crust of dry salt and blown sand firm enough to bear a man, and in places, a car. On the far side was a brackish spring where young Wanis found a tamarisk big enough for a bird to nest in. He told me that here, thirty years before, his father ’Iwani had seen four ’wild cows’ (addax antelope) running together. Horns of Barbary sheep lay in the marsh, but nowadays, both the addax and the sheep have vanished from the Egyptian desert scene. The cheetah remains and though we never saw the animal itself, its tracks were common enough. One winter when the heavy rains had brought the herds of gazelle eastward, I saw fresh footprints of a cheetah just one hundred miles west of the Great Pyramid.”
In a footnote, Murray writes “Abu Fideil killed the last addax in Egypt by running it down with his car near Sheb while on Clayton’s 1931 expedition.”
Riemer, H., Förster, F., Herb, M. & Pöllath, N. 2009. Heinrich Barth Institut.
Proceedings of an interdisciplinary workshop dealing with the status, economic significance, and cultural reflection of desert animals in antiquity. Foreword by John Newby, Director of the Sahara Conservation Fund.
Marco C. Stoppato & Alfredo Bini. (2003). Firefly Books.
An excellent, comprehensive and well-illustrated guide to the geology, climate and natural history of deserts around the world. Strong emphasis on the Sahara. Originally published in Italian. Also available in French.
Tome 1. Poissons-Amphibiens-Reptiles. Michel Le Berre. (1989). Editions Raymond Chabaud-Lechevalier.
Tome 2. Mammifères. Michel Le Berre. (1990.) Editions Raymond Chabaud-Lechevalier.
Very useful and comprehensive field guides.
A.-C. Benchelah et al. (2000). Ibis Press.
Excellent and informative guide to the plants and ethnobotany of the Tassili region of southern Algeria. Colour plates of many plants and good chapters on the geography and people of this fascinating region.
Exequiel Ezcurra (Editor). (2006). UNEP.
Excellent thematic assessment of the world’s deserts and part of UNEP’s contributions to the 2006 International Year of Deserts and Desertification.
Nik Borrow & Ron Demey. (2004). Delachaux et Niestlé.
The premier guide to West Africa’s birds, available in English and French. Useful for many Sahelian species and migrant birds. Best used in conjunction with guides with more specific coverage of the Sahara.
Roland Baumhauer & Jürgen Runge (eds.) 2009. CRC Press.
Useful collection of papers relating to environmental change in the Sahara - climate, soils, vegetation, etc..
Abdallah & Rabéa Sahki. (2004). Editions Esope.
Great little pocket-sized guide to the plants of the Hoggar region of southern Algeria. Colour plates of many plants make it a useful companion to other parts of the Sahara. French language only.
Bruno Doucey (Editor). (2006). Robert Lafont.
A superb mini-encyclopedia on all aspects of deserts (travel, science, literature, spirituality, etc.) with a special emphasis on the Sahara. Unfortunately, only available in French.
Lars Jonsson. (2006). Nathan.
Excellent and comprehensive field guide covering not only Europe but North Africa and the Middle East. Essential resource for the Sahara’s palaearctic migrants.
Available in English and French.
K. Kowalski & B. Rzebik-Kowalska. (1991). Ossolineum, Polish Academy of Sciences.
Excellent source of information on Algeria’s mammals, with many hundreds of historical references pertaining to distribution, abundance, conservation status, etc. Distribution maps for all species.
Sherif Baha El Din (2006). The American University in Cairo Press.
An excellent guide focusing on the reptiles and amphibians of Egypt that can be used in many other Saharan countries.
Rocco Ravà. (2002). ClupGuide.
Another excellent, pocket-sized book with a strong emphasis on the Central Sahara. Extensive information on early desert exploration and litterature. For the moment only available in Italian.
Gustav Nachtigal. (1980). Volume II. Kawar, Bornu, Kanem, Borku, Ennedi. Translated by Allan G. B. Fisher and Humphrey J. Fisher. (1980). C. Hurst & Company, London.
Gustav Nachtigal’s seminal work on his trans-Saharan voyages undertaken between 1869 and 1874. While crossing from Bilma to Lake Chad, Nachtigal encountered vast herds of addax in the same area, Tin Toumma, SCF is working to protect the very last examples of this amazing desert antelope.
Michael Welland (2009). Oxford University Press.
Michael Welland weaves together the many facts of sand - its science, its art, its music, its metaphorical power. In every grain of sand there are many worlds.
David Ward. (2009). Oxford University Press.
This book offers a concise but comprehensive introduction to desert ecology and adopts a strong evolutionary focus. The emphasis is on desert organisms, with theoretical and experimental aspects as well as conservation and desertification.
