Michael Asher (explorer)

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Michael Asher FRSL (born 1953) is an English desert explorer, writer, historian, and storyteller. He has been acknowledged as one of the world's leading experts on the desert and its nomadic peoples. [1] He has travelled and lived in the Sahara and the Arabian desert, published both non-fiction and fiction works based on his explorations and encounters, and presented several documentaries based on his published works.

Contents

Early and personal life

Michael Asher was born in Stamford, Lincolnshire, where his father, Frederick Asher was a chartered surveyor; his mother, Kathleen Asher, was a State-Registered Nurse. Asher attended Stamford School, then a direct grant grammar school. He later graduated from the University of Leeds, [2] where he studied English Language and Linguistics. As a young man he served in the Paras, the SAS, and the RUC Special Patrol Group. [3] He has spent much of his adult life in Africa, [2] and speaks Arabic and Swahili. He is married to Arabist and photographer Mariantonietta Peru, with whom he has a son and a daughter. [2]

Career

Military experience

During his training in the Parachute Regiment in 1971, aged 18, Asher's best friend, Steve Parkin, also 18, was mortally wounded next to him during a "live firing exercise", and died the same night. This experience had a lasting effect on Asher, who was a pall-bearer at Parkin's funeral. He later wrote about it in his book Shoot to Kill - A Soldier's Journey Through Violence and in The Oasis of the Last Story. After passing selection, he was posted to the 2nd Battalion, and saw three tours of duty in Northern Ireland. During this time, he was shot at, and saw eleven comrades killed by radio-controlled bombs. He was awarded the General Service Medal. [4] Later, while an undergraduate at the University of Leeds he passed SAS selection, and served in B Squadron, 23 Special Air Service Regiment (Reserve), based in Leeds. The day he was presented with the sand-coloured SAS beret, he said, was, up to that point, 'just about the best day of my life'. [5] Asher subsequently served as a police constable in the Blue Section of the Special Patrol Group of the Royal Ulster Constabulary - a mobile unit whose main task was anti-terrorist patrols. Disillusioned with the military and law enforcement paths, he resigned after less than a year, to become a volunteer teacher in the Sudan. [6]

Desert travels and life with desert nomads

In 1979, Asher went to the Sudan to work as a volunteer English teacher. [2] In his first vacation he bought a camel and travelled about 1500 miles across Kordofan and Darfur, joining up with a camel-herd being taken north to Egypt along the ancient trade-route known as the Darb al-Arbaʿīn (Forty Days Road). [7]

He later transferred to al-Gineina, on the Chad-Sudan border, a small town without electricity or running water, where he lived in a mud cabin, kept his own camels, and made frequent solo journeys by camel in Darfur, covering more than a thousand miles – experiences that formed the basis of his first book, In Search of the Forty Days Road, which he wrote on a mechanical typewriter in his hut in Gineina. He recounts how he returned home one day to find that a cow had broken into the hut and was in the act of chewing part of the first draft, most of which he never recovered. [8]

In 1982, Asher went to live among the Kababish nomads of the western Sudan, with whom he stayed for most of the next three years. This experience, which became the subject of the book, A Desert Dies, focuses on the way of life of these people, and their decimation by a drought that began in 1984. [2] On a visit to Khartoum in 1985, Asher was asked by UNICEF Sudan to organize a camel caravan in the Red Sea Hills to take aid to Beja people cut off by drought and famine. [9]

During this expedition, Asher met Italian photographer and Arabist Mariantonietta Peru, with whom he subsequently embarked on a 4,500-mile West-to-East trek across the Sahara on foot and camel-back, [2] a trip that became the subject of the book, Impossible Journey. The idea for the trek was influenced by the work of British author Geoffrey Moorhouse who had unsuccessfully attempted the crossing in 1972. [10] Setting off from Chinguetti in Mauritania, in August 1986, with three camels, Asher and Peru passed through Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad, and the Sudan, and finally arrived at the Nile at Abu Simbel in southern Egypt in May 1987, having made a journey of 271 days and 4,500 miles (7,200 km) by camel, the first recorded crossing of the Sahara from west to east by non-mechanical means. [11] It was perhaps the first great journey of African exploration to be achieved by a man and a woman together.

In 1988, Asher began work as Project Officer for the Joint WHO/UNICEF Nutrition Support Project (JNSP) among the Beja nomads in the Red Sea Hills of eastern Sudan.. He ran the project - a rural rehabilitation programme - from Port Sudan, but travelled frequently in the hills, talking to nomads and staying in their camps. [12]

In 1991, Asher crossed the Western Desert, by camel, from Mersa Matruh on the Mediterranean coast, to Aswan in southern Egypt - a distance of 1,000 miles (1,600 km). He travelled for two months with a single Bedouin companion, and for the first month they saw no other human beings. Two of Asher's five camels died on the way. [13]

In 2002 Asher began to lead commercial treks by camel in the Bayuda Desert of the Sudan, working with Exodus Travels UK. He continued to lead these treks regularly until 2014. [14] He also led regular camel treks for Exodus in the Hammada du Draa and Erg Chebbi, Morocco, from 2001 to 2010. [15]

In 2008, Asher returned to Darfur, western Sudan, with a team of researchers, under the aegis of UNEP, to make a study of the Janjaweed horsemen-militias who had been involved in the civil war. He was a co-author of the paper the team subsequently produced. [16]

The Real Bravo Two Zero

In 2000, Asher was commissioned to go to Iraq with a film-crew to investigate discrepancies between the books Bravo Two Zero by 'Andy McNab' and The One That Got Away by 'Chris Ryan' - members of the SAS patrol Bravo Two Zero in the first Gulf War of 1990. One of Asher's aims was to discover the truth about Sgt. Vince Phillips, who had died during the operation and had been blamed for its failure. The book Bravo Two Zero, billed as 'a true story of the SAS in action' sold over 1.7 million copies. Following in the patrol's footsteps in the Iraqi desert, speaking to eye-witnesses in Arabic, Asher's discoveries suggested that much of the material in both books was fabricated, and that, in particular, there was no evidence that the patrol had killed any Iraqi troops. [17] Asher also found direct evidence from eye-witnesses to show that Vince Phillips was not a coward and was not responsible for what went wrong. Phillips' family, who had suffered "11 years of torture" due to the calumnies poured on him by 'McNab' and 'Ryan', received an official letter of exoneration from the MOD as a result of Asher's work. [18] Asher's book The Real Bravo Two Zero and his documentary of the same name caused a storm of controversy. [19] The book reached No 5 in the Sunday Times best-seller charts in both hardback and paperback.

Education and deep ecology activism

In 2010, Asher became an activist in the deep ecology movement, and began writing a column on deep ecology and related environmental issues in the Kenyan national daily newspaper The Star. [20] The theme of his writing was summed up in a piece entitled Stop Ruining Nature or Join the Dinosaurs '...the Earth is sacred... nature isn't there for mankind to plunder, but is of intrinsic value in itself' ...'Nature not technology, is the true source of our wealth. If we are to preserve the biosphere - and ourselves - the 'development' process has to stop.' [21]

From 2014 to 2019, Asher taught English literature and language - including creative writing - at Hillcrest International School, Nairobi, Kenya. In co-curricular activities he headed the debate society, coached fencing, and ran a survival club with the help of indigenous people. [22]

Documentary films

Published works

Asher is the author of ten novels and fourteen non-fiction works, various of which are published in thirteen languages including Arabic, Chinese, Hungarian, Lithuanian, and Korean. The non-fiction books include works of travel about his journeys and experiences with nomads in the desert, historical works such as Get Rommel, about Operation Flipper, the British attempt to assassinate Erwin Rommel in Libya in 1941, Sands of Death, about the Flatters expedition of 1881 and the Tuareg, and Khartoum, the Ultimate Imperial Adventure, the story of the fall of Khartoum, the Gordon Relief Expedition and the reconquest of the Sudan. He has written two biographies: Thesiger - A Biography - a life of explorer Wilfred Thesiger - and Lawrence - The Uncrowned King of Arabia, a life of T. E. Lawrence.

Asher's most recent book, The Oasis of the Last Story - Tales from the Desert, is a major break from his previous work. He began writing it after what he described as a 'near death experience' in 2020. The book is a web of tales within tales set in the desert, connected by a narrative of adventure and unexpected encounters. A 'fictionalized autobiography', based on Asher's actual experiences but condensed into a single journey, the book tells the story of a former SAS soldier, who goes in search of a legendary lost oasis, and, after a series of rites of passage, undergoes a spiritual rebirth.

Asher's writing has appeared in many newspapers and magazines, including the Star , Guardian , Daily Mail , Mail on Sunday , Washington Post , Daily Telegraph Observer , Scotsman , Scotland on Sunday , Sunday Times , Sunday Telegraph , Conde Nast Traveler , Geographical , World , New Scientist , Reader's Digest , African Business , Hello! , and others.

Novels

Stories

Non-fiction

Philosophical essays

Awards

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References

  1. ↑ 'Livelihoods, Power & Choice - The Vulnerability of the Northern Rizaygat, Darfur, Sudan' Feinstein International Center, Tufts University, 200 Boston Ave., Suite 4800, Medford MA 02155 USA January 2009 P98
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Asher, Michael 1953-present". encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  3. ↑ Reynolds, Pauline (12 July 2008). "SAS hero shoots down elite myth". The Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  4. ↑ 'The Sandman - Action Man and illustrious author Michael Asher FRSL is our greatest explorer' by Damien Whitworth. Leeds University Alumni Magazine Spring/Summer 2009 P20
  5. ↑ 'The Sandman - Action man and illustrious author Michael Asher FRSL is our greatest explorer' by Damien Whitworth Leeds University Alumni Magazine Spring/Summer 2009 P22
  6. ↑ 'After Leeds, Mike spent an unhappy nine months in the Royal Ulster Constabulary, before answering an advert seeking English teachers in the Sudan.' 'The Sandman - Action man and illustrious author Michael Asher FRSL is our greatest explorer' in Leeds Alumni magazine Spring/Summer 2009 P21
  7. ↑ 'Asher's first book, In Search of the Forty Days Road , describes the author's search for a legendary trade route through the Sudan. A critic for the Washington Post Book World called Asher's story 'intruiging' and the author 'an artist' Arts Educational Magazines. Asher Michael 1953 -
  8. ↑ 'I spent 2 years in Gineina ... and wrote my first book 'In Search of the Forty Days Road' there. I borrowed an old typewriter and wrote it ... by the light of an oil lamp.' Kenya Past and Present. Issue 34 2003 Esmond Bradley Martin & Lucy Vigne 'Author & Explorer, Michael Asher' P25
  9. ↑ 'he [Asher] was contacted by Unicef to organize a camel expedition into Sudan's Red Sea Hills to take aid to nomads struck by drought and famine.' Leeds University Alumni Magazine 'The Sandman - Action Man and illustrious author Michael Asher FRSL is our Greatest Explorer' by Damian Whitworth Alumni Spring/Summer 2009 P23
  10. ↑ "I had always had a dream about crossing the Sahara from west to east ... Geoffrey Moorhouse had managed to get half way in 1972, and I had read his book, The Fearful Void". Kenya Past & Present Issue 34 2003 'Author & Explorer Michael Asher' by Esmond Bradley Martin & Lucy Vigne: see also Moorhouse, Geoffrey, The Fearful Void
  11. ↑ Hanbury-Tenison, R. & Twigger R.(eds) The Modern Explorers (2013) ISBN   978-0-500-51684-3
  12. ↑ 'a while later I got a job with UNICEF as project officer for the joint WHO/UNICEF nutrition support project in Port Sudan, for a year ... I ran the whole thing and travelled around the Red Sea Hills ...' from 'Author & Explorer Michael Asher' by Lucy Vigne and Esmond Bradley Martin in Kenya Past & Present Issue 34 2003 P22
  13. ↑ 'In 1991 [Asher] crossed the Western Desert of Egypt' Leeds University Alumni Magazine Spring/Summer 2009 P22
  14. ↑ ' ...'Sudan veteran and African explorer Michael Asher ... leads the trip' realtravel magazine - dangerous places WORLDWIDE - Sudan - 'Exodus runs its two-week camel trek' P84
  15. ↑ 'Cover image: Arab tribesman in the Erg Chebbi. Destination of Michael Asher's current 10-day camel-treks with clients in southern Morocco.' Leeds Alumni magazine Spring-Summer 2009 P1
  16. ↑ 'Livelihoods, Power & Choice - The Vulnerability of the Northern Rizaygat, Darfur, Sudan' By Helen Young, Abdal Monium Osman, Ahmad Malik Abusin, Michael Asher and Omar Egemi 2009 Feinstein International Center, Tufts University, 200 Boston Ave, Medford MA 02155 USA. P98 Annex 2: Researcher Profiles - Michael Asher
  17. ↑ The Guardian 25 May 2002 - 'Asher says that, despite accounts of a series of bloody firefights with Iraqi troops, the SAS troopers did not come up against substantial numbers of soldiers and claims that 250 Iraqi soldiers were killed are false.
  18. ↑ 'The conclusion he comes to is simple: Vince Phillips was not a coward and he did not com-promise the patrol ... he suggests McNab and Ryan deserve criticism for breaking the SAS code of honour, denigrating a fallen comrade and for exaggerating their exploits to boost sales of their respective books' "The truth that Vince wasn't Gulf War coward". The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald. 7 May 2002.
  19. ↑ The Guardian 25 May 2002.
  20. ↑ 'Asher is an internationally known writer, award winning explorer, and deep ecologist' 'The Star, Kenya 20/2/2010
  21. ↑ The Star, Nairobi. 9/3/2010 P 15 'Stop Ruining Nature or Join the Dinosaurs' by Michael Asher.
  22. ↑ 'We caught up with Michael Asher, a teacher in the English Department at Hillcrest International School, to bring you his thoughts about writing. 'Michael Asher 21st Century Author' by Eunice Muthama, in Hillcrest Magazine 2015 P83
  23. ↑ "In Search of Lawrence (1997)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  24. ↑ "The truth that Vince wasn't Gulf War coward". The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald. 7 May 2002. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  25. ↑ "Medal winners 1970-2021". Royal Geographical Society. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  26. ↑ "Mungo Park Medal". The Royal Scottish Geographical Society. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  27. ↑ "The Lawrence of Arabia Medal – The Royal Society for Asian Affairs" . Retrieved 20 October 2021.
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