Western Sahara/Bibliography

Hodges, Tony. Western Sahara: The Roots of a Desert War. Westport, CT: Lawrence Hill, 1983. A history of the territory from its earliest settlement, with emphasis on the opening phases of the current conflict.

Mercer, John. Spanish Sahara. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1976. Although now dated, Mercer's study is the single most comprehensive introduction to the territory's geography, natural and human history, and culture as it existed up to the Spanish withdrawal.

Pazzanita, Anthony G. Western Sahara. Oxford; Santa Barbara, CA: Clio Press, 1996. Pazzanita identifies and annotates over 600 bibliographical items, emphasizing the territory's recent political history. A useful supplement to Sipe, below.

_____ . Historical Dictionary of Western Sahara. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2006. 3rd ed. An A-Z consideration of history, culture and especially politics. The dictionary's first edition (1982), by Tony Hodges, devotes greater attention to the territory's pre-colonial and colonial periods.

Shelley, Toby. Endgame in the Western Sahara: What Future for Africa’s Last Colony? London; New York: Zed Books, 2004. Shelley has talked to all sides in the conflict, and suggests, probably too optimistically, that a solution to the situation in the territory is within reach.

Sipe, Lynn F. Western Sahara: A Comprehensive Bibliography. New York and London: Garland, 1984. A compilation of over 3300 entries, the most important of them briefly annotated. Although now dated in terms of the territory's current situation, this bibliography remains the starting place for studying any other aspect of Western Sahara.