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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing Book From One Of My Favorite Writers, October 16, 2003
I'd previously read, and enjoyed, both "Barrow's Boys" and "Killing Dragons." So, I fully expected to enjoy "The Sword And The Cross." Alas, it was not meant to be. The first hundred pages or so held my interest. After that, I just kept reading for the sake of finishing the book. Not a pleasant experience. So, what happened? Mr. Fleming wanted to tell us about the history of the French colonial experience in Algeria and the Sahara. He chose to do this by primarily concentrating on two people: Charles de Foucauld and Henri Laperrine. Unfortunately, the first fellow was so bizarre that it was impossible to sympathize with him. He was a hedonist turned religious fanatic. He was a masochist. Where others travelled by camel in desert temperatures of 120 degrees farenheit, Foucauld chose to walk. He ate almost nothing. He refused to indulge himself with creature comforts. He longed for death. (I'm not guessing about this or playing armchair psychiatrist. Fleming quotes several times from Foucauld's journal concerning his lifelong deathwish.) Foucauld wanted to convert Moslems to Christianity and set himself up as an example of a person living a Christian life. However, he really had no interest in other people and longed for solitude. Not surprisingly, he failed to gain converts. Despite espousing Christian principles, he was very inconsiderate of his long-suffering manservant and he spent much of his lifetime gathering intelligence to pass on to the French military. Mr. Fleming quotes many people who looked upon Foucauld as a holy-man. It is clear that, in person, he possessed "a certain something" which caused people to look upon him that way. Unfortunately, it doesn't come across on the page. One gets only the impression of an egocentric, unhappy, and self-destructive "nut." We wind up not caring about what he does or what happens to him. With Laperrine we have a different problem. Not much is known about him and he wasn't big on self-publicity. Hence, he floats in and out of the narrative and we never get a handle on who he is and what he wants, other than that he wanted France to be successful in the colonization of the Sahara. One of Fleming's major themes is that the French really had no compelling reason to be in the Sahara. It was sort of, "well, everybody else has colonies, so we want some too...even if we are talking about thousands of miles of desert." At one point, Fleming enjoys writing about one "native notable" who agreed to go to France for a visit. Upon returning home to Africa, he was mystified as to why people who "had Paris" would want to come to the desert. Fleming's point is that there was no point - after the initial contacts, the French presence just sort of snowballed. The book is filled with numerous trips through the desert by the French military, as they try to prove to the Arabs and Tuaregs that they are in control. But, since the whole thing is so pointless, we wind up not caring about any of this. Frankly, it is monotonous and boring to read about. I am a Francophile, and Mr. Fleming is a very good writer, but I couldn't get worked up about any of this. I suppose that if you are French, this background to what became the "Algerian Nightmare" of the mid-20th century (a military quagmire with terrorist attacks, to boot) might be of some scholarly interest. Otherwise, for the general reader, I just can't recommend this book.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An account of the wasteland of Africa, November 7, 2003
An interesting book on an extraordinary topic. When the French began to penetrate the Sahara in the 1830s they had no idea how much of a wasteland it was. The Sahara in fact is so big it could swallow the United States whole. In the last 19th century explorers and military adventurers began to venture into the vast wasteland, usually the expeditions originated from the south. Charles de Foucauld and Henri Laperrine star as the main characters in this historical account of colonialism and adventure. One is a wandering womanizer turned saint, a fanatic whose insane ideas knew no bounds. The other is a strict military officer. The only characteristic the two men had in common was devotion and strict discipline. They became fast friends as the fanatic led the soldier across the desert in search of empire and national redemption. The author details in great photographic text the many stories and adventures these two men had, one of which included the creation of a camel corps to explore the desert wasteland where no man could survive. This book is perfect for anyone interested in survival/adventure stories, anyone interested in the Sahara and life in the desert as well as colonial enthusiasts. This is not an overview of the French colonial experience in Algeria, although many of the subjects, like the rise of Muslim fundamentalism are touched upon, this book looks at the French colonial experience through the eyes of two very eccentric if typically French individuals. An important book on an oft not covered subject.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Uncharacteristically dull, August 24, 2005
Usually, Fergus Fleming books make for very good reading; he writes in an accessible manner, and the enthusiasm for the subject matter shines through. This is what I have found about the previous books I have read by this author, Barrow's Boys and 90 Degrees North. However, this time, Fleming's knack for snagging me as a reader and pulling me into the story has deserted him. The Sword and the Cross, which should have been a riveting tale of Saharan exploration, ended up being dull and listless, and it was a relief to finally finish the book. The Sword and the Cross is nominally about two Frenchmen - Henri Laperrine, a career soldier, and Viscomte Charles de Foucald, once a Parisian layabout, but now a fanatical monk, having divested himself of all his world possessions and trappings, both men forging reputations in the Algerian desert. The backdrop to the tale of these two characters is set against the French colonization of Algeria, which later fell apart in the 1950s as Algeria sought independence from its French masters. It is an interesting premise to contrast the differing motivations behind the lead characters. Laperrine is a dedicated military man, who established a French Camel Corp to combat the native Taureg raiders in the desert. Foucald tried to spread Christianity through his wanderings of the desert, although he was remarkably unsuccessful, attracting only one member to his harsh order. Together, each man played significant roles in establishing the French colony, Foucald as a spy who provided intelligence on the leading Arab personalities, and Laperrine as the enforcer and soldier. Part of the problem for me with the book is that Foucald, as revealed through his writings and subsequent events, is actually a rather unpleasant character, given to constant bouts of moaning. It is extremely difficult to empathize with him through his self inflicted hardships. The enduring perception of the man is that it seems that he was closer to lunacy than to God. Not much is revealed about Laperrine as an individual, as there is nowhere as much literature about him as there is about Foucald. Another niggly aspect is the lack of plates in the book - although there are portraits of Foucald and Laperrine on the endpapers, there are no other photographic images provided which is a shame. There are a couple of maps for the reader covering the regions traveled. Whether it is the story itself, the characters (which I feel is the main failing), or the writing, The Cross and the Sword unfortunately does not capture and enthrall the reader in the same manner as Fleming's past books have. Despite this, the book is a useful addition to the history and exploration of Northen Africa. If you are interested in this subject, then you may still find The Cross and the Sword worthwhile reading. But if you are looking for an enjoyable and interesting story of human challenge and endurance, this is not it.
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