Library
In Search of the Forty Days Road – Adventure with the Nomads of the Desert (1984)
” An old- fashioned real life adventure and for whole time I was reading it, I was sea-transported into the desert. It is the story of the young Michael Asher’s growing fascination with the desert and the nomad peoples. The author writes well and has the knack of drawing the reader into the events – thus you watch him take a first camel ride and tentatively purchase his first camel, worry about his being taken seriously by nomad tribesmen when he asks to accompany them, experience his anxiety and pity for the camels and their ability to last out until the next waterhole, or whether Asher himself can cope with the physical demands of his exhausting treks with tribesmen. And his pleasure at having finally succeeded in his ambition to travel the Forty Days Road. His descriptions of the people he met along the way are extremely well-drawn in the style of T.E. Lawrence. I was very sorry indeed to reach the end of this book and have no hesitation in giving it 5 stars”. Search of the Forty Days Road – Adventures with the Nomads of the Desert. (1984) – Amazon Review
A Desert Dies (1986)
In a time of unprecedented drought, Michael Asher went to live with the Kababish nomads of the western Sudan, as one of them. Dressing as they did, speaking their language, riding camels, working as a herdsman and caravaneer, he discovered a culture without modern technology, almost totally unaffected by industrial civilization. The lessons he learned among them changed him forever.
“This is a gripping personal account of the devastating drought in the Sahara. During three years of teaching in Sudan, Asher spent most of his free time traveling in the desert with peoples of the Sahel and the desert fringes. But he wanted to go further – to experience the daily life and culture of the traditional nomads. In 1982, he resigned his job to live among the Arabic-speaking Kababish who roamed the Northern third of Sudan, West of the Nile. Over the next four years he made eight journeys with the tribe, joining a northward migration, a salt caravan, a trek to Egypt (where he was arrested); he searched for a fabled oasis and made a final journey to see a dead land. Despite hardships and the continuous struggle for survival in the inhospitable environment, Asher succumbed to the spell of the desert. He gives us vivid portraits of a dying culture, of a people besieged by forces beyond their control, while his descriptions of desert travel are the equal of classics in this genre. A first-rate adventure.” —Goodreads Review.
Impossible Journey – Two Against the Sahara (1988)
The experts said it was impossible. No westerner had ever succeeded in crossing the Sahara from West to East by camel. When Michael Asher and Mariantonietta Peru arrived in Mauretania to begin their 4500-mile trek across the world’s greatest desert there was an added complication – they had been married for just five days. They were virtual strangers to each other and the harsh desert world soon exposed the flaws in their relationship, yet their commitment bound them irreversibly. Struggling through withering summer heat and the freezing winds of winter, always thirsty, hungry and tired, they pushed themselves to the limit of human endurance. In return, they came to know the desert in all its guises—its sights, sounds, smells, textures, its secret life and illusions, in a way impossible except on foot. Travelling close to the earth, they came to feel so much at home in the wilderness that on arriving at the Nile in Egypt, 271 days after setting out—and having completed the first recorded west-east Sahara crossing in history—they wanted nothing other than to go on.
Shoot to Kill – A journey through Violence (1990, 2003)
After leaving school, Michael Asher served in two elite military units and a special police squad. It was a period of initiation and challenge—successive rites of passage that spanned the gap between youth and adulthood, during which he learned about courage, endurance and determination that would last for the rest of his life. In this book, Asher reveals what he went through to join Britain’s elite Parachute Regiment and then the SAS. From the agonies of selection and ‘P’ Company to action in Northern Ireland at the height of the troubles, this is a unique account of one man’s encounter with violence in its many forms.
Thesiger – A Biography (1994)
Michael Asher spent four years researching and writing this biography of the man whose book Arabian Sands irrevocably changed his life. Travelling thousands of miles in Thesiger’s footsteps from the Awash river in Ethiopia to the Hadhramaut in Yemen and the Empty Quarter of Arabia, Asher recorded conversations with many of Thesiger’s former Bedu companions in Arabic. His journeys ended in a wooden cabin in Maralal, Kenya, in extended interviews with the man himself. The result is a critically acclaimed biography of the 20th century’s greatest explorer – Old Etonian, Oxford boxing Blue, big-game hunter, colonial administrator, wartime SOE agent and SAS officer, medical amateur, photographer, poetic writer, Arabist, friend of sultans and emperors, honorary game warden, and traveler extraordinary – one of the most remarkable and complex men of his age.
The Last of the Bedu – In Search of the Myth (1996)
For generations of English explorers, the Bedu—nomads of the Arabian desert—were a race apart, proud, brave, generous and noble. Michael Asher previously lived with a nomad tribe in Sudan whose ways were unchanged since ancient times. In this book, he focuses mainly on encounters with Bedu in Arabia and the Middle-East who, in the last decade of the 20th century, are struggling to adapt to the post-modern world. He finds Bedu nostalgic for the old days, Bedu embracing education, health care and job opportunities – even Bedu addicted to soap-operas. His journey in search of the myth takes him on a month-long trek by camel to Selima oasis in the Sudan; by camel across the still pristine Great Sand Sea and Western Desert of Egypt with a Bedu companion; to Petra; Wadi Rum; the bazaars of Damascus, and the mud skyscrapers of Shibam in Yemen. A classic of travel-writing, Last of the Bedu has been described as ‘the best sort of “traveler-who-writes’ book – literate, intelligently atmospheric, historically intriguing and genuinely gripping” (Independent)
Sahara (with Kazuyoshi Nomachi) (1996)
Michael Asher wrote the text and captions that accompany Nomachi’s photographs in this classic book on the Sahara. Spanning twenty-years of journeys in the desert, including many ‘now and then’ shots, Nomachi presents breath-taking landscapes and portraits that capture the essence of human experience in the world’s greatest desert. Drawing on his own experience as a desert explorer, Michael Asher’s writing complements Nomachi’s pictures, describing the Sahara’s evolution from a lush green savanna to the harsh, arid terrain seen today. Populated as far back as Neolithic times by tribes of hunter-gatherers and roaming herds of cattle, Asher explains how the many and varied tribes of people adapted to the changing environment, from hunters and farmers to the desert nomads that roam the Sahara now.
Pheonix Rising – The United Arab Emirates, Past, Present & Future (with Werner Foreman) (1996)
Few nations on earth have experienced more complete and far-reaching change over the past few decades than the United Arab Emirates. Today a land of six-lane highways and glittering streams of motorcars, where space-age cities of ivory-white and crystal glass emerge like a mirage from the haze of desert and sea, this federation of seven ancient Emirates—Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ras al-Khaimah, Umm al Qawain, Ajman and Fujairah—is not only the world’s fourth largest oil-producer, but also its richest state per head of population, and the new commercial hub of the Middle East. Yet only fifty years ago, when oil-exploration started, there was no electricity, no plumbing or telephone system, not a single public hospital nor modern school, no bridges, no deep-water harbour, no metaled roads, no more than a handful of cars and scarcely a building more impressive than the crumbling mud-brick forts and watchtowers of Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Where now high-rise stacks, gilded domes and minarets tower over wide boulevards, where cascades of water are flaunted with conspicuous opulence, and where acres of shrubs burgeon on the desert shore, stood sleepy settlements of reed, coral and mudbrick houses, sweltering on sand spits and islands in the most ferocious summer heat. 1996 is the twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the United Arab Emirates. In Phoenix Rising, the photographer Werner Forman explores in a series of superbly evocative images, themes of continuity and change in a country with a long and ancient history, taking as much delight in its abundant treasures and old ways as in its dynamic new architecture and drive towards the future. Michael Asher’s text provides an admirably clear account of the history of the region, the resilience of its people and of its phoenix-like ability to reinvent itself in adversity.
Lawrence – The Uncrowned King of Arabia (1998)
T.E. Lawrence—‘Lawrence of Arabia’—began the Great War as an unknown map-clerk entirely without military training, and ended it as one of the greatest military heroes of the 20th century. He altered the face of the Middle East, helped to lead the Arabs to freedom after five hundred years of domination by the Ottoman Turks, formulated modern guerrilla warfare almost single-handedly and became one of the most celebrated men of his time. Yet he refused any honours for his achievements, and spent much of the rest of his life in the ranks of the army and the RAF in near obscurity. Lawrence was more than a military hero. He was a brilliant propagandist, rhetorician and manipulator who deliberately turned his life into a conundrum and set out to mystify those who came after him, assuring his place as a mythical cult-figure for posterity. Lawrence has affected all of us alive today, but who was the real man? Michael Asher, desert explorer and Arabist, set out to solve the riddle of his childhood hero. Retracing many of Lawrence’s desert journeys—some of them by camel—he gained startling new insights into his character. The result, combining elements of detective story, travelogue, epic history and high drama, attempts both to clear away some of the false trails Lawrence laid across time and to capture the authentic atmosphere of the Arab Revolt. In this major biography, Michael Asher discovers a hero whose greatness owed as much to his weaknesses as his strengths: who was indeed a charlatan, but also a genuine performer.
The Eye of Ra (1999)
Egyptologist Omar James Ross receives an unexpected message from his friend and mentor, Julian Cranwell, in Cairo. Cranwell is obviously terrified of something, but Ross is too late to discover what: by the time he arrives in Egypt, Cranwell is dead. All Ross knows is that his friend’s mysterious death has something to do with Howard Carter and Orde Wingate, and with the undiscovered tomb of Akhnaton – a pharaoh of the 16th Dynasty. Ross begins to piece together connections between Carter and Wingate, Akhnaton and his son, Tutankhamen, who lived many centuries apart. Every informant he contacts vanishes, though, and he begins to fear for his own safety. Threatened, almost friendless, Ross turns to his mother’s people, the desert-dwelling Hawazim tribe. It is only with their help that he can solve the mystery of The Eye of Ra.
Firebird (2000)
The key adviser to the US President is murdered in Cairo. No witnesses, no motive: political heat. The last word heard was Firebird. Sammy Rashid, Cairo’s maverick detective, is assigned the hopeless case: a political hot potato made even worse by his FBI counterpart who continually harasses him. The only clue to the murder is a charm connected with Cambyses III – a Persian king whose army disappeared in the Egyptian desert two and a half thousand years ago. How could that be relevant now? Unless the charm is actually being used as a symbol by an Islamic fundamentalist group. And the killings continue … Cairo is seized by the fear of the unidentified killer.
The Real Bravo Two Zero – The Truth Behind Bravo Two Zero (2002)
Bravo Two Zero was the codename of the ill-fated SAS operation during the Gulf War, a mission where almost everything that could go wrong, did. An eight-strong SAS team was tasked to find Scud missiles in Iraq, but after mistakes, failure and sheer bad luck three of the team died, four were captured and one escaped. Their story became the stuff of legend – and two bestselling books. But grave doubts emerged about the Bravo Two Zero story. Michael Asher went to Iraq to find out what really happened. A fluent Arabic speaker who has himself served in the SAS, he retraced the footsteps of the patrol. The story he uncovered is very different to previous accounts and now, finally, the truth behind Bravo Two Zero can be told.
Rare Earth (2002)
Michael Asher is known for his highly atmospheric thrillers and Rare Earth brings the sights and feel of the desert and the simplicity of its nomadic people against global business interests brilliantly to life. Sudan: an archaeologist uncovers a modern corpse, his pack laden with samples of rare earths. This discovery plunger Dan Truman into a world unlike any he has ever known. Or at least, as strange encounters and references accumulate, any that he remembers …Rare Earth is a dramatic, fast-paced contemporary thriller combining international piracy with the romance and harshness of
Sandstorm (2003)
1946. A plane crashes in the deserts of North Africa. Fourteen-year-old Billy Sterling regains consciousness to find himself alone among the wreckage. He soon finds the body of the pilot, a celebrated war hero, and on it a cryptic map, more like a pirate’s treasure map than a serious navigational tool. But there is no sign of the plane’s co-pilot. Billy is confident someone will come for him. Someone does, but not anyone he expects… Seven years later, a mysterious stranger contacts Billy’s grieving father, George Bridger Sterling, claiming to be the lost co-pilot. Only a few hours later, this sinister informant is found brutally murdered. Armed with the information that Billy’s plane did not go down where he was told it had, Sterling sets out to discover the truth. Why did the plane take a different route? And why was Billy on board at all? Along with an eccentric private investigator, Eric Churchill, Sterling travels into the vast and dangerous desert, forced to rely on strangers for his own survival. But he is not the only one still looking for Billy after all these years…
Get Rommel – The Secret British Mission to Kill Hitler’s Greatest General (2004)
In summer 1941, Erwin Rommel was Hitler’s favourite general; he had driven the British out of Libya and stood poised to invade Egypt. He seemed unbeatable, and was even popular among the rank and file of British troops. So, the British command decided to kill him. Landed by submarine, a specially-trained commando team marched deep into the hills of Cyrenaica to attack Rommel’s headquarters at Bayda. At the same time, sabotage teams from the newly formed SAS parachuted into the desert to destroy Axis aircraft on the ground. Michael Asher reveals how these daring raids were practically impossible from the start. But the poor planning and incompetence in high places was matched by the fantastic bravery and brilliant improvisation of soldiers which enabled a handful of survivors to escape back to British lines to tell their story. Classic real-life adventure, written by best-selling desert expert and novelist Michael Asher.
Khartoum – The Ultimate Imperial Adventure (2005)
The British campaign in Sudan in Queen Victoria’s reign is an epic tale of adventure more thrilling than any fiction. The story begins with the massacre of the 11,000 strong Hicks Pasha column in 1883. Sent to evacuate the country, British hero General Gordon was surrounded and murdered in Khartoum by an army of dervishes led by the Mahdi. The relief mission arrived 2 days too late. The result was a national scandal that shocked the Queen and led to the fall of the British government. Twelve years later it was the brilliant Herbert Kitchener who struck back. Achieving the impossible, he built a railway across the desert to transport his troops to the final devastating confrontation at Omdurman in 1898. Desert explorer and author Michael Asher has reconstructed this classic tale in vivid detail. Having covered every inch of the ground and examined all eyewitness reports, he brings to bear new evidence questioning several accepted aspects of the story. The result is an account that sheds new light on the most riveting tale of honour, courage, revenge and savagery of late Victorian times
Sands of Death – An Epic Tale of Massacre & Survival in the Sahara (2007)
In 1880, a French expedition attempted to map a route for a railway that would cross the Sahara and connect Paris with Timbuktu in six days. Naively, the French expected little native opposition. Though armed with modern rifles, their column was lured to destruction by the lords of the desert, Tuareg tribesmen. Four months later, a handful of emaciated survivors staggered into a remote outpost on the edge of the desert and made headlines around the world. Michael Asher recounts the story with the energy and excitement of a great novel and provides insight into what happens when the hubris of modern colonialism collides with an ancient society that had dominated a region for millennia.
The Last Commando – Death or Glory 1 (2009)
Libya, 1942: Rommel’s Afrika Korps is sweeping across the desert. Ragged Allied forces are being torn apart in brutal fire-fights on the scorched sands. A desperate message to the Prime Minister is entrusted to First Officer Madeleine Rose, WRNS. Her codename: Runefish. When GHQ hears that Runefish’s plane is lost behind enemy lines, they send for battle-hardened Sergeant Tom Caine. Caine is a first-class soldier who nearly always does what he’s told. He will lead a squad of specialist commandos into the heart of enemy territory and either rescue or execute Runefish. If he refuses to take this near-suicide mission, he faces court martial. Now the outcome of the war depends on his following orders. Death or glory beckons.
The Flaming Sword – Death or Glory 2 (2010)
Egypt, October 1942. The battle for North Africa rages fiercely along the length of the Egyptian coast . . . Punching their way deep behind enemy lines, the newly formed SAS—under the enigmatic Lt Col David Stirling—carries out daring raids against the Germans. Lt Tom Caine leads a small squad of SAS men on a desperate mission far into hostile territory. His brief: to sabotage a terrible weapon being secretly developed by the Nazis in the desolate Libyan hills . . . If he fails the Axis forces will almost certainly be unstoppable. Caine faces the full force of the German military might, but what he doesn’t know is that there is a traitor among his own men. Ultimately, his fate will rest in the hands of one woman, Special Ops agent Betty Nolan. Only one thing is for certain in this war – who dares wins
High Road to Hell – Death or Glory 3 (2012)
Tunisia 1943: the Allies’ advance is halted by determined Axis forces. The 8th Army has no choice but to outflank the enemy along their impenetrable Mareth line in the hellish Matmata hills. On a mission to safeguard this movement, Captain Tom Caine’s SAS patrol is diverted by a strange emergency signal that draws them to a derelict aircraft and a mysterious black box. Besieged by a Nazi Death’s Head unit intent on retrieving the box and betrayed by a comrade who steals it, Caine must make a choice. Should he pursue the stolen object or stick to his original task and face almost certain death? The entire campaign rests on his decision. Michael Asher’s third Death or Glory novel, Highroad to Hell, will have you gripped to the very last page
Code of Combat – Death or Glory 4 (2004)
Italy, 1943: SAS Captain Tom Caine is being held captive by Nazis forces. While imprisoned he befriends another member of the SAS – one who has heard a rumour. The operative knows the location of an ancient codex; a codex he claims will lead them to the location of the original texts of Tacitus’s Germania. Caine is deployed by the Nazis to find the codex and retrieve the texts on a mission that will most certainly bring about his death, and refusal is not an option. Caine has little choice but to begin his most deadly campaign yet. Michael Asher combines seamless historical accuracy with the pace and action of a modern SAS thriller
The Colour of Fire – Death or Glory 5 (2018)
London, May 1945. Captain Tom Caine knows he should be out with the throngs of revelers, celebrating Victory in Europe. But instead of elation, he only feels anger. He cannot forget the horrors of the past six years and the friends he was unable to save. And what about Celia ‘Red’ Blaney, the flame-haired ex-Field Security Officer turned SOE agent, who parachuted into France in 1944, and is reported MIA? Then Caine receives an offer to become part of a war crimes investigation team, tasked with uncovering the fate of service men and women who went missing in France. But his team quickly finds that Allied forces and the Military Police, the very people who should be supporting their endeavour, are inexplicably obstructing their progress. Is there something they don’t want them to know? Something connected to the missing SAS men …and Blaney
The Regiment – The Definitive Story of the SAS (2018)
On 4th May 1980, seven terrorists holding twenty-one people captives in the Iranian Embassy in London’s Prince’s Gate, executed their first hostage. They threatened to kill another hostage every thirty minutes until their demands were met. Minutes later, armed men in black overalls and balaclavas shimmied down the roof on ropes and burst in through windows and doors. In seconds, all but one of the terrorists had been shot dead; the other captured. For most people, this was their first acquaintance with a unit that was soon to become the ideal of modern military excellence – the Special Air Service regiment. Few realized that the SAS had been in existence for almost forty years, playing a discreet, if not secret, role almost everywhere Britain had fought since World War II, and had been the prototype of all modern special forces units throughout the world. In The Regiment, Michael Asher—a former soldier in 23 SAS Regiment—examines the evolution of the special forces idea and investigates the real story behind the greatest military legend of the late twentieth century.