The Sahara and Its People

School Library Journal

Gr 4-8-An effective overview of the region, emphasizing the dry belt south of the desert called the Sahel. Visual variety is provided by different sized full-color photographs and drawings. Maps are effectively used, and all illustrations are adequately captioned. The organization is appropriate to the topic, and the style is straightforward, with a concreteness that makes complex concepts understandable. Scoones describes the natural environment, including climatic changes that have occurred over the last 5,000 years. He gives an overview of trade across the desert, but does not consider changes over time in the routes and what was traded. The remainder of the book gives a simple but clear discussion of the impact of commercial farming on the environment, population pressures, the use of the limited water resources, the exploitation of mineral resources, the relationship between political conflict and famine, and the human and natural causes of desertification. With a very few exceptions (e.g., referring to the nomads who maintained the caravan routes and collected tolls as sometimes acting like ``gangsters''), there is a warm appreciation for the wisdom of traditional ways, local people's openness to practical new ways of doing things, and their key role in constructive change.-Loretta Kreider Andrews, Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore