I had no particular interest in Morocco, but this looked interesting, and so it was. The author was the Times correspondent to the country in the late 19th and early 20th century so this is an eyewitness account of the last years of its independence.

He knew several successive Sultans personally and in the first half of the book he describes the court and its workings and dysfunctions. He says that the system of government was unchanged for hundreds of years. I could well believe it. Despite the differences of culture and geography I noticed a number of interesting parallels between the Sultanate and the Medieval English kings.

In the second half of the book he moves to a number of different subjects and stories. Perhaps most interesting is his account of the time he spent as a hostage. What he has to say about Morocco often reveals a country dark and disturbing, but always interesting. And he’s a dab hand at telling an amusing story.

The Eland edition is a nice one. The usual well-made paperback with good paper. There’s a good photograph of the author looking incredibly camp in a sexy black off-the-shoulder number. Also a very good afterword that discusses how much of the book is true. Apparently Harris was known at school as the Liar. ( )