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.