Skeletons on the Zahara
Encyclopedia
Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival is a 2004 nonfiction book written by maritime historian Dean King. Based directly on Captain James Riley's memoir Sufferings in Africa, Amazon.com
listed Skeletons on the Zahara as their #6 Best History Book of 2004. To research the book, Dean King embarked on a National Geographic sponsored expedition to retrace the horrific journey of Riley and his crew across the Saharan desert. A screenplay adaptation is currently being written by Roman Bennett for Independent studios.
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.
Both autobiographies had been international bestsellers upon their release, and Riley and Robbins were national heroes in their own time. When he was a boy, Abraham Lincoln
read An Authentic Narrative of the Loss of the American Brig Commerce and would later cite it as one of the books that most influenced him, and he would often refer to it during his presidency. After his experiences, Riley had been a staunch abolitionist. The adventure story also influenced James Fennimore Cooper and Henry David Thoreau
.
After his initial research, King had written a proposal and already signed a $750,000 contract with Little, Brown and Company
for the book project.
magazine paid part of the cost, and the rest came from an advance from King's publisher. The trip was scheduled for the week after the September 11, 2001 attacks, and King and his crew landed in Casablanca
the day the United States
started bombing Afghanistan
. From Casablanca they flew to Western Sahara
, a disputed territory now controlled by Morocco
, where the nervous military police occasionally hindered their attempts to follow Riley's exact route.
Also on the team were neighbor Ted Lawrence and Lawrence's wife Claudia D'Andrea. Both had experience doing peacekeeping work in East Timor
. J.P. Kang served as their technology specialist and Remi Benali served as their National Geographic photographer. Their guides were Ali and Mohammed el Arab.
Journey by camel
They traveled more than 100 miles across the western Sahara Desert on foot and by camel in order to experience a similar journey to Captain Riley. While they tried avoid dangerous extremes of dehydration, starvation, and sunburn, King claims they experienced eerily similar events to Riley, King even falling off his camel in an identical way. King subjected himself to running barefoot across burning sand and sharp rocks, and scaling dangerous cliffs. He also endured the camel's torturous gait, called "the rack". "It was brutal," King says. "After [riding for] 20 miles, I was bleeding through a hole in my back. It was like sitting on a jackhammer."
King was surprised to see that much of the land had stayed relatively unchanged since 1815.
By April 2004, the paperback edition was on the San Francisco Chronicle
s non-fiction bestseller list at No.6, and was climbing the New York Times Extended Bestseller List at No. 20. By May 22 of 2005, that number had reached 18. In the non-fiction
category the book was #13 on the Book Sense
national bestseller list, #5 on Southeast Booksellers AssociatioN list, #15 on the Mountains and Plains Booksellers Association, #11 at the Northern California Booksellers Association, #13 at the Southern California Booksellers Association, and #10 at the New Atlantic Booksellers Association bestsellers list.
In November 2004, Amazon.com listed Skeletons of the Zahara as their #6 Best History Book of 2004.
, The Times
, The Seattle Times
, The San Diego Union-Tribune
, the Minneapolis Star, San Francisco Gate, Time Magazine, The Pittsburgh Tribune, The Washington Post
, Daily Mail
, Publishers Weekly
, The San Francisco Chronicle, Variety.com, The Richmond Times-Dispatch, The Los Angeles Times, and Entertainment Weekly
. In February of 2004 National Geographic Adventure Magazine
included a write-up of King's travels in Africa.
Entertainment Weekly wrote that "King is almost pornographic in his description of physical pain: skin bubbles, eyeballs burn, lips blacken, and men shrivel to less than 90 pounds…It's sensational stuff."
and Carlo Bernard, writers of the 2005 film The Great Raid
, were behind King's project since they first saw his book proposal in 2001. They wrote a screenplay based on King's proposal, and with King's blessing they shopped it around to Hollywood Studios. Intermedia
executive Alex Litvak brought the book to his company in 2001, and they optioned the rights. In April 2004 it was announced that Steven Speilberg's film production company DreamWorks
had bought the movie rights from Intermedia. DreamWorks was set to co-finance the project and provide distribution, while Intermedia was set to produce with Paula Weinstein and Barry Levinson
. Shooting was intended to begin before the end of 2004, though a director and crew were never decided upon.
In September 2010 it was announced that Roman Bennett, the screenwriter for Public Enemies, is writing a new script based on the book. The London
-based sales company Independent is developing and producing. Previously responsible for the film Moon
, Independent has not named a cast or director, though they claim to be seeking a prominent American actor to play Captain Riley.
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
listed Skeletons on the Zahara as their #6 Best History Book of 2004. To research the book, Dean King embarked on a National Geographic sponsored expedition to retrace the horrific journey of Riley and his crew across the Saharan desert. A screenplay adaptation is currently being written by Roman Bennett for Independent studios.
Research
King was first inspired to research the subject matter in 1995 when he was in the New York Yacht ClubNew York Yacht Club
The New York Yacht Club is a private social club and yacht club based in New York City and Newport, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1844 by nine prominent sportsmen. The members have contributed to the sport of yachting and yacht design. The organization has over 3,000 members as of 2011. ...
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
James Riley (Captain)
James Riley was the Captain of the United States merchant ship Commerce.-Sufferings in Africa:Riley led his crew through the Sahara Desert after they were shipwrecked off the coast of Western Sahara in August 1815, and wrote a book on their ordeal detailing his memoirs...
, an American sea captain wrecked off the coast of Africa when his ship Commerce
Commerce (ship)
The Commerce was a Connecticut-based American merchant sailing ship that ran aground in 1815 at Cape Bojador, off the coast of what is now Western Sahara...
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
University of Richmond
The University of Richmond is a selective, private, nonsectarian, liberal arts university located on the border of the city of Richmond and Henrico County, Virginia. The University of Richmond is a primarily undergraduate, residential university with approximately 4,000 undergraduate and graduate...
and the Library of Virginia
Library of Virginia
The Library of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia, is the library agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia, its archival agency, and the reference library at the seat of government. The Library moved into a new building in 1997 and is located at 800 East Broad Street, 2 blocks from the Virginia State...
, and even the Science Museum of Virginia
Science Museum of Virginia
The Science Museum of Virginia is a science museum located in Richmond, Virginia.-History:In 1906, the Virginia General Assembly approved funds for the construction of a simple "exhibits center" to display mineral and timber exhibits being assembled for the Jamestown Exposition of 1907. After the...
. 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.
Both autobiographies had been international bestsellers upon their release, and Riley and Robbins were national heroes in their own time. When he was a boy, Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
read An Authentic Narrative of the Loss of the American Brig Commerce and would later cite it as one of the books that most influenced him, and he would often refer to it during his presidency. After his experiences, Riley had been a staunch abolitionist. The adventure story also influenced James Fennimore Cooper and Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau was an American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, and leading transcendentalist...
.
After his initial research, King had written a proposal and already signed a $750,000 contract with Little, Brown and Company
Little, Brown and Company
Little, Brown and Company is a publishing house established by Charles Coffin Little and his partner, James Brown. Since 2006 it has been a constituent unit of Hachette Book Group USA.-19th century:...
for the book project.
Travels with National Geographic
In order to more fully understand the travails of the sailors, King decided to personally retrace their struggles through the desert. He planned the trip for a year. The trip cost about $20,000, by King's estimate. National Geographic AdventureNational Geographic Adventure
National Geographic Adventure, formerly known as Adventure One but now commonly known as Nat Geo Adventure, is a subscription TV channel part of National Geographic Channels International and News Corporation...
magazine paid part of the cost, and the rest came from an advance from King's publisher. The trip was scheduled for the week after the September 11, 2001 attacks, and King and his crew landed in Casablanca
Casablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...
the day the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
started bombing Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
. From Casablanca they flew to Western Sahara
Western Sahara
Western Sahara is a disputed territory in North Africa, bordered by Morocco to the north, Algeria to the northeast, Mauritania to the east and south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Its surface area amounts to . It is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world, mainly...
, a disputed territory now controlled by Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, where the nervous military police occasionally hindered their attempts to follow Riley's exact route.
Also on the team were neighbor Ted Lawrence and Lawrence's wife Claudia D'Andrea. Both had experience doing peacekeeping work in East Timor
East Timor
The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, commonly known as East Timor , is a state in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor...
. J.P. Kang served as their technology specialist and Remi Benali served as their National Geographic photographer. Their guides were Ali and Mohammed el Arab.
Journey by camel
They traveled more than 100 miles across the western Sahara Desert on foot and by camel in order to experience a similar journey to Captain Riley. While they tried avoid dangerous extremes of dehydration, starvation, and sunburn, King claims they experienced eerily similar events to Riley, King even falling off his camel in an identical way. King subjected himself to running barefoot across burning sand and sharp rocks, and scaling dangerous cliffs. He also endured the camel's torturous gait, called "the rack". "It was brutal," King says. "After [riding for] 20 miles, I was bleeding through a hole in my back. It was like sitting on a jackhammer."
King was surprised to see that much of the land had stayed relatively unchanged since 1815.
Publishing
The book was published by Little, Brown, & Co. on February 16, 2004.By April 2004, the paperback edition was on the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
s non-fiction bestseller list at No.6, and was climbing the New York Times Extended Bestseller List at No. 20. By May 22 of 2005, that number had reached 18. In the non-fiction
Non-fiction
Non-fiction is the form of any narrative, account, or other communicative work whose assertions and descriptions are understood to be fact...
category the book was #13 on the Book Sense
Book Sense
Book Sense was a marketing and branding program of the American Booksellers Association, in which many independent bookstores across North America participated in order to better compete with the large book chains. Bookstores participating in the Book Sense program were expected to display the Book...
national bestseller list, #5 on Southeast Booksellers AssociatioN list, #15 on the Mountains and Plains Booksellers Association, #11 at the Northern California Booksellers Association, #13 at the Southern California Booksellers Association, and #10 at the New Atlantic Booksellers Association bestsellers list.
In November 2004, Amazon.com listed Skeletons of the Zahara as their #6 Best History Book of 2004.
Media coverage
The book garnered reviews in hundreds of publications such as The Sunday TimesThe Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
, The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times is a newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, US. It is the largest daily newspaper in the state of Washington. It has been, since the demise in 2009 of the printed version of the rival Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle's only major daily print newspaper.-History:The Seattle Times...
, The San Diego Union-Tribune
The San Diego Union-Tribune
-Predecessors:The predecessor newspapers of the Union-Tribune were:* San Diego Sun, founded 1861 and merged with the Evening Tribune in 1939.* San Diego Union, founded October 10, 1868.* Evening Tribune, founded December 2, 1895.-Ownership:...
, the Minneapolis Star, San Francisco Gate, Time Magazine, The Pittsburgh Tribune, The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
, Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
, The San Francisco Chronicle, Variety.com, The Richmond Times-Dispatch, The Los Angeles Times, and Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
. In February of 2004 National Geographic Adventure Magazine
National Geographic Adventure Magazine
National Geographic Adventure was a magazine started in 1999 by the National Geographic Society in the United States. It focused on adventure travel and included "Next Weekend" where it featured good weekend trips from all across the U.S., "First In" where it wrote recent adventure travel news,...
included a write-up of King's travels in Africa.
Entertainment Weekly wrote that "King is almost pornographic in his description of physical pain: skin bubbles, eyeballs burn, lips blacken, and men shrivel to less than 90 pounds…It's sensational stuff."
Film version
Screenwriters Doug MiroDoug Miro
Doug Miro is an American screenwriter based in Los Angeles. Miro studied screenwriting at the USC School of Cinematic Arts and graduated with a degree in English from Stanford University.- Life and career :...
and Carlo Bernard, writers of the 2005 film The Great Raid
The Great Raid
The Great Raid is a 2005 war film about the Raid at Cabanatuan, adapted from William Breuer's book of the same name. It tells the story of the January 1945 liberation of the Cabanatuan Prison Camp on the Philippine island of Luzon during World War II. It is directed by John Dahl and stars Benjamin...
, were behind King's project since they first saw his book proposal in 2001. They wrote a screenplay based on King's proposal, and with King's blessing they shopped it around to Hollywood Studios. Intermedia
Intermedia
Intermedia was a concept employed in the mid-sixties by Fluxus artist Dick Higgins to describe the ineffable, often confusing, inter-disciplinary activities that occur between genres that became prevalent in the 1960s. Thus, the areas such as those between drawing and poetry, or between painting...
executive Alex Litvak brought the book to his company in 2001, and they optioned the rights. In April 2004 it was announced that Steven Speilberg's film production company DreamWorks
DreamWorks
DreamWorks Pictures, also known as DreamWorks, LLC, DreamWorks SKG, DreamWorks II Distribution Co., LLC, DreamWorks Studios or DW Studios, LLC, is an American film studio which develops, produces, and distributes films, video games and television programming...
had bought the movie rights from Intermedia. DreamWorks was set to co-finance the project and provide distribution, while Intermedia was set to produce with Paula Weinstein and Barry Levinson
Barry Levinson
Barry Levinson is an American screenwriter, film director, actor, and producer of film and television. His films include Good Morning, Vietnam, Sleepers and Rain Man.-Early life:...
. Shooting was intended to begin before the end of 2004, though a director and crew were never decided upon.
In September 2010 it was announced that Roman Bennett, the screenwriter for Public Enemies, is writing a new script based on the book. The London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
-based sales company Independent is developing and producing. Previously responsible for the film Moon
Moon (film)
Moon is a 2009 British science fiction drama film about a man who experiences a personal crisis as he nears the end of a three-year solitary stint mining helium-3 on the far side of the Earth's moon. It is the feature debut of director Duncan Jones. Sam Rockwell stars as the employee Sam Bell, and...
, Independent has not named a cast or director, though they claim to be seeking a prominent American actor to play Captain Riley.
External links
- Skeletons on the Zahara at Amazon.comAmazon.comAmazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
- Skeletons on the Zahara at Barnes & NobleBarnes & NobleBarnes & Noble, Inc. is the largest book retailer in the United States, operating mainly through its Barnes & Noble Booksellers chain of bookstores headquartered at 122 Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron District in Manhattan in New York City. Barnes & Noble also operated the chain of small B. Dalton...
- King's 2005 records of the trip
- Dean King Lecture by The Virginia Historical Society