L’auteur est allée à la recherche de l’origine géographique des premiers Berbères de l’Afrique du Nord, s’attachant à reconstituer le peuplement du Sahara, notamment celui du Tassili des Ajjer, depuis l’aube de l’histoire jusqu’à la veille de l’islam.

In a part of North Africa where the backdrop can change dramatically within miles, from snow-blasted mountains to wind-scoured dunes, live the Berber people of the Atlas Mountains. The lives and remarkable arts of the Berber women are based on centuries-old traditions but, as modem times and warfare in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia have encroached, the old ways are being eroded - Imazighen: The Vanishing Traditions of Berber Women is a record of a rapidly disappearing way of life.

As in her two earlier books on African women, world-renowned photojournalist Margaret Courtney-Clarke captures the spirit of the Berber women by experiencing their world from season to season and by respecting their values and traditions. Through photographs, interviews and observations, the author documents their difficult lives - from long journeys by mule to sell their handmade day pots in crowded souks to stoically carrying water and firewood on their backs across miles of rocky terrain. And she records the beauty they have magically produced in their lives through their spinning and weaving and their carefully coiled pottery - a metaphor for survival and creativity.

Thoughtful essays on the struggle of existence among the Berbers are written by Geraldine Brooks, who accompanied Courtney-Clarke on her last trip to North Africa, and are complemented by a glossary of Berber terms and a detailed map of the region. Handsomely illustrated, Imazighen not only celebrates the arts of the Berber women, but provides a remarkable record of a people yielding to the pressures of the twentieth century.

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