Product Details

• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: A&E Home Video
• DVD Release Date: December 19, 2006
• Run Time: 180 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000HBK07U
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #63,419 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

At once a vast expanse of mesmerizing desolation and the crucible of human history, the Sahara Desert has been both the battlefield of empires and the haunted wilderness at the margins of the known world for thousands of years.

Shot on location, this exhilarating documentary brings to life the Sahara's cruel history and the conflicts that still plague its people. THE SAHARA recounts the story of kings who once led caravans of 30,000 people across the desert, bearing riches beyond imagination. It tells of Roman death squads that exterminated the citizens of the Empire's most bitter rival and how the Foreign Legion crafted a legend out of last stands and lost causes. From the fabled metropolis of Timbuktu to the shores of Tripoli, THE SAHARA is an illuminating exploration of this unforgiving and remote land of myth and mirage.

Also included is a bonus disc that examines the lives of two men--T.E. Lawrence and Erwin Rommel--who shaped the desert's modern history and were themselves forever changed by the Sahara.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Worthwhile, though a bit pricey, December 15, 2007

By 

M. Broderick "mikebinok" (Oklahoma City, OK USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Sahara: The Forgotten History of the World's Harshest Desert (History Channel) (DVD)

This is a short program apparently done originally for History Channel Broadcast, though I don't recall seeing it there. The secondary disk with biographies doesn't add much if the Sahara is your prime interest, but the primary program has several short, relatively self-contained segments on relevant topics, including the climate changes that created the desert, Carthage, the camel, a bit about the Romans (mainly featuring some decent footage and interviews with local experts on the amphitheater at El Djem plus some footage of the desert fort at Tisavar), a good segment on the Ksours, a segment on the American attempt to intervene in Tripoli (Libya) in the early 1800s, and other stuff. Image quality is good, production values are good, and they have some nice reenactments of things like Tuareg caravan ambushes and the Roman destruction of Carthage. I wince slightly at the price, but the program is a good one.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From the History Channel description about this item:, October 4, 2008

By 

Derek Dunbar "first_chance" (Sacramento, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Sahara: The Forgotten History of the World's Harshest Desert (History Channel) (DVD)

A certain mystique lingers in the very name... It is a haunting and hostile arena with a past as captivating as its landscape. In this desert blanketing eleven nations in Northern Africa, nature has crafted a world of mesmerizing desolation. And across its scorching sands, from the Stone Age to the 21st century, humanity has dared to carve history.

Here, 40,000 Persian warriors were swallowed by a titanic sandstorm kings led caravans of 30,000 bearing riches beyond imagining Roman death squads exterminated the citizens of the Empire's most bitter rival a brash American led the Marines on a perilous mission "to the shores of Tripoli" and the misfits of the Foreign Legion forged a legend in last stands and lost causes.

Our cameras explore a land of mirage and myth from a mountain fortress of ancient freedom fighters to a vast stadium filled with gladiators gore to the vibrant chaos of a camel auction to the fabled metropolis of Timbuktu.

Historians chronicle how a devastating climate change turned a lush savanna into the world's harshest desert how a charismatic Saharan priestess led her people in a desperate war of resistance against Arab invaders how slaves from Africa's interior perished during nightmarish marches in the sweltering heat and how the German army's brilliant tactician Erwin Rommel bedeviled British forces in the desert during World War II.

DVD Features:

* Behind-the-Scenes Featurette
* 2 episodes of BIOGRAPHY - Erwin Rommel and Lawrence of Arabia
* Interactive Menus
* Scene Selection

0 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Historical Fact should be re-checked by the "History Channel", May 6, 2008

By 

K. RIMANE - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Sahara: The Forgotten History of the World's Harshest Desert (History Channel) (DVD)

Like most History Channel documentaries, this one doesn't impress one bit. I felt like watching a cheap documentary with historical lies repeated over and over.
Luckily, I didn't buy it. and I urge those who want to learn real historical facts about the sahara to avoid this DVD set.