King weaves a gripping tale of Captain James Riley and the men of the merchant ship Commerce, shipwrecked, captured and sold into slavery in 1815. King relies on published journals and his own travels to recreate the drama and hardship of the four-month trek across the Sahara. The men were eventually ransomed in Morocco, their survival nearly miraculous. Captain Riley's dramatic account of the ordeal, often reprinted over the years, was wildly popular in the 1800s.  (NAF16, $14.99)

Mauritania