�An extraordinary and ambitious anthology. . . . In selection after selection, deserts serve to define the limits of humankind�the place where civilization ends and the real wild begins. Indeed three of the book�s most poignant sections�a Nazi solder�s account of his struggles for survival in the wastelands of Africa during World War II, Andrei Platonov�s short story about a disastrous forced relocation of Turkmeni tribespeople during the Stalin era, and Robert Scott�s final journal entries about Britain�s tragic 1911 Antarctic expedition�illustrate that not even the great empires can conquer the desert. . . . As this fine anthology makes clear, the desert will always have a place in human society, swirling through our imaginations like a fierce, fiery sirocco.��Outside Magazine
�A marvelous grab bag of short stories, folk tales, poems, songs and travelogues. . . . a joy to thumb through.��Los Angeles Times
