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THE SLAVES OF TIMBUKTU, written and photographed by Robin Maugham, hardcover with unclipped dust jacket, stated first edition, 1961. BOOK CONDITION: good. The text block and illustrations are in fine condition, with no tears, dog ears, or marks. The top edge is somewhat foxed. No signature or bookplate of prior owner. The endpapers are age-toned. Not a library book or remainder. The red cloth boards are in good condition (bumped spine). The dust jacket is in fair condition (edge chipping, some tears on bottom edge). 8 ½ x 6, 237 pages, 16 ounces XX Lured by the mystery of an ancient city, as dozens of adventurer-explorers had been before him, and by reports that slavery still flourishes in Western Africa despite civilization and its laws, Robin Maugham made a journey recently to Timbuktu, and this is the story of that trip through little-known desert country, among tribes little touched by the forces of modern life. It is a narrative of extraordinary interest, timely and at times shocking for its revelations, valuable also as a footnote to history. For this is a part of the world which has long fired Western man's imagination and beckoned him on to adventure both fool-hardy and glorious. It was first explored by such colorful men as René Caillié, Mungo Park, Major Laing, and Heinrich Barth; and Lord Maugham borrows from their experiences and observations to enrich his own. The trip was made by Land Rover and river boat, over a distance of three thousand miles, with two companions, one a young African of the Wolof tribe. It was Lord Maugham's intention to explore the slave traffic as it exists today, in the hope of stirring up forces that could lead to its abolition. He learned much from the slavers and travelers before him. He learned more from the Tuareg nobles and slave owners Salehoun and Mehdi; from Saba, the pimp; from Assali, the ex-slave; from slaves themselves who put the tribal bonds above laws imposed by outsiders. Beyond question of doubt, he found, slavery exists and is accepted and will in all likelihood persist in defiance of law until the people practicing it have reached a higher state of development. Finally - a strange and memorable experience - he bought a male slave from Tuareg masters, owned him briefly, and set him free. Robin Maugham is an excellent reporter and raconteur, with a novelist's eye for character and the dramatic incident. XX Robin Maugham, born in 1916, was educated at Eton and Trinity Hall, Cambridge. A nephew of Somerset Maugham and son of the late Viscount Maugham, he has succeeded his father in the House of Lords and recently made his maiden address there. During World War Il he fought in the Western Desert campaigns with the Eighth Army, and later worked with the Middle East Intelligence Center until he was invalided out of the army in 1944 with the honorary rank of captain. Schooled in literature and the law, he chose to be a writer when for reasons of health it was impossible for him to practice at the bar. In the years since 1946 he has traveled extensively and written constantly - novels, books of travel, plays. His writing is invariably colored by his taste for adventure. Seller Inventory # 002837
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Bibliographic Details
Title: The Slaves of Timbuktu
Publisher: Harper & Brothers, Publishers
Publication Date: 1961
Binding: Hardcover
Illustrator: Maugham, Robin
Condition: Good
Dust Jacket Condition: Fair
Edition: 1st Edition
