Skeletons on the Zahara
Hardbook Edition cover
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| Author | Dean King |
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| Country | United States |
| Publisher | Little, Brown and Company |
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Publication date
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February 16, 2004 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover, paperback), audio cassette |
| Pages | 368 pp (first edition, hardcover) |
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Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival is a 2004 nonfiction book written by maritime historian Dean King. It is based on two of the survivors' journals, primarily Captain James Riley's memoir Sufferings in Africa. To research the book, Dean King embarked on a National Geographic Society sponsored expedition to retrace the horrific journey of Riley and his crew across the Saharan ("Zahara") desert. A screenplay adaptation was in 2010 reportedly being written by Roman Bennett for Independent studios.
King was first inspired to research the subject matter in 1995 when he was in the New York Yacht Club library researching Harbors and High Seas, which he would publish in 2000. He spotted an old leather-bound book on a shelf with the title Sufferings In Africa. Originally published in 1817 and sub-titled An Authentic Narrative of the Loss of the American Brig Commerce, the book is a first-hand account written by Captain James Riley, an American sea captain wrecked off the coast of Africa when his ship Commerce went down. After narrowly escaping capture by nomadic Arabs plundering the wreck, Riley and his crew made a futile attempt at sea in a longboat, and upon return to shore were forced into slavery by Arab tribesmen.
King did extensive research on the misadventure, often using the libraries at the University of Richmond and the Library of Virginia, and even the Science Museum of Virginia. He soon discovered there was a second first-hand account written by Archibald Robbins, another surviving member of Riley's crew. Knowing sailors are notorious for embellishing their histories, he crosschecked the accounts, something no academic had yet done. King found that Archibald's A Journal: Comprising an Account of the Loss of the Brig Commerce was accurate to Sufferings in Africa in most significant details.
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