Deserts make up a third of the planet's land surface, but if you picture a desert, what comes to mind? A sandy wasteland? A drought-parched dust bowl? An alien landscape devoid of all life forms? In this marvelous Very Short Introduction, geographer and popular science writer Nick Middleton reveals that deserts are places of immense natural charm and rich biodiversity. Typified by drought and extremes of temperature, they can be harsh and hostile,...

“Every catastrophe begins with a little problem that doesn’t get fixed.” So says Pauline Green, president of the United States, in Follett’s nerve-racking drama of international tension. A shrinking oasis in the Sahara Desert; a stolen US Army drone; an uninhabited Japanese island; and one country’s secret stash of deadly chemical poisons: all these play roles in a relentlessly escalating crisis. Struggling to prevent the outbreak of world...

Over the course of two days, Odd Thomas, his soulmate Stormy Llewellyn, and an assortment of allies make their way through a dark, terrifying world in which past and present, and life and death collide as they try to avert a cataclysm.

"In the classic literary tradition of Bruce Chatwin and Geoff Dyer, a rich and exquisitely written account of travels in six deserts on five continents that evoke the timeless allure of these remote and forbidding places. One-sixth of the earth's surface is classified as desert. Restless, unhappy in love, and intrigued by the Desert Fathers who forged Christian monasticism in the Egyptian desert, Will Atkins decided to travel in six of the world's...

"Imagine over three million square miles of sand dunes that are as tall as a ten-story building. That place is real -- it's the Sahara Desert! Vast, yes! And home to fascinating creatures such as ostriches and fennec foxes as well as amazing plant life. Readers will also learn about the famous trade routes of the past with caravans of up to 10,000 camels, European explorers to the region (some very unlucky ones), and native populations like the Imazighen"--...

"[A] diverse group of non-professional runners ... attempt to complete the most difficult desert ultramarathon series on Earth. Their intense journey takes them to the driest, windiest, hottest and coldest deserts in the world: the Atacama in Chile, the Gobi in China, the Sahara in Egypt and finally, Antarctica"--Container.

A prospector discovers a waterhole after being left for dead in the desert by his double-crossing partners. When his ex-partners visit the well, a surprise awaits them.

The desert biome can be found all around the world. Land in this biome is dry and often hot. How do animals in deserts find water? And what kinds of plants thrive in deserts?

When her peaceful village of Lagusa is attacked by a Mistress sent to do the bidding of the power-hungry Sothpike and his army of undead monsters, Naira Khoum forms a resistance to stop the Mistress before Lagusa is beyond saving.

A poetic depiction of the desert as the provider of comfort, food, spirit, and life.