Frank H. (perryfran) reviewed on 2/12/2019 + 1215 more book reviews

This is the true story of Captain James Riley and his crew from the brig Commerce who were shipwrecked on the coast of western Africa in 1815 and taken as slaves by desert nomads. The crew is beaten, nearly starved to death, traded among various Arab groups, and forced to march untold distances while barely maintaining enough nourishment to survive. The captives drank both human and camel urine as a means of staying somewhat hydrated and on occasion were given the intestines of slaughtered camels to eat complete with undigested grain still in them. During the ordeal, the captives lost significant body weight -- Captain Riley going from 240 lbs to a mere 90 lbs while some of the other crew were reduced to only 40 lbs! Eventually Riley and four others of his group are freed and then later two others are also rescued from captivity. Riley writes a memoir of his experiences which is widely read and was even an inspiration for Abraham Lincoln. In fact, Riley later became an abolitionist but he also suffered from PTSD as a result of his ordeal and died at a relatively young age.

King uses Riley's memoir and another by seaman Archibald Robbins, who was one of the later rescued, as a basis for his book. He also gives some other history and geography of the region throughout the book. I found the descriptions of the nomads behavior and customs to be fascinating while their treatment to the men was often brutal. It was noted several times that the Arab women were much more severe in their treatment to the survivors than were the men. Although this narrative was for the most part engrossing, I thought it was sometimes repetitious and a little dry as King described the tedium of the everyday struggle to survive in great detail but overall it did a good job of telling this forgotten story of survival.

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