"The Daily Telegraph (U.K.) called The Sword and the Cross. ""an extremely enjoyable and illuminating read, full of crazed schemes and desperate acts. There can be no doubting Fleming's passion or his diligence, while his lucid style keeps driving the story forward."" At the end of the nineteenth century, the Sahara Desert remained largely unexplored by Europeans. The Sword and the Cross is the story of two friends who set out to tame the desert-Charles de Foucauld, a layabout sensualist and womanizer turned monastic saint; and Henri Laperrine, a stern career soldier whose exploits in the desert became legendary. This is a haunting narrative of a forgotten period in Europe's colonial crusade, a story of selfsacrifice and cruelty, hatred and friendship, discovery and delusion."
