features are so close to the coast in the vicinity of Cairo and Tripoli that it makes more sense to include all the areas that try to edit those more specifically a desert. The bad news about publishing a map of this part of the world at this time is that Islamic militancy is very much evident throughout the region and travel to Libya in particular is not recommended. However, this is a short-term reality that does not deter from the value of such a map, showing as it does the three great north-south passageways through the desert to the sub-Saharan countries. I used the western route many years ago, through Morocco and Mauritania, to Senegal. The other well-travelled route is through Algeria, through Tamanghasset, to Nigeria, and the route gaining favour being the Cairo to Cape route through Sudan.