Updated to cover recent events in Libya and elsewhere in North Africa, this guide to the history and culture of Morocco, Tunisia, Libya and Algeria covers the region from its earliest beginnings to life today. North Africa is surrounded by the Mediterranean, the Atlantic and, to the south, the sands of the Sahara. It has seen waves of invasion, from the Carthaginians to the French in the 20th century. Its peoples have assimilated what suits them and remained aloof to what does not. Onto this complex background, Barnaby Rogerson weaves a cast of memorable characters from Dido to Hannibal and St Augustine, alongside local heroes such as the Berber queen Kahina and the horseback Muslim conqueror Oqba Ibn Nafi'. North Africa includes a chronology of major events, a historical gazetteer cross-referenced to the main text, and historical maps.