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Set in the medieval city of Marrakesh and the majestic kasbahs of the High Atlas mountains, `Lords of the Atlas' tells the extraordinary story of the Madani and T'hami el Glaoui, warlord brothers who carved out a feudal fiefdom in southern Morocco in the early twentieth century. Quislings of the French colonial administration, they combined the aggression of gangland mobsters with the opulence of hereditary Indian princes, and ruled with a mixture of flamboyance and terror. On returning from the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, T'hami ordered the severed heads of his enemies to be mounted on his gates. Yet in 1956, when the French left Morocco, the Glaoua regime toppled like a pack of cards.
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LibraryThing member nandadevi
In one sense this story of the evolution of the State of Morocco is a by-water of history, and Maxwell does a great service by filling in the gaps. At another level though, Maxwell weaves a story of personal ambition against a backdrop of tribal, national and colonial rivalries that were still
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being resolved late in the 20th Century. Maxwell tells the story well, such that the unfamiliar and labryinthe tribal relationships become - almost - familiar and the reader develops some sense of attachment to the characters and lifestyle that were ultimately doomed. Maxwell without making a big thing of it, reveals that he is not just an observer, but was party to the events in later years. This gives him great veracity, and inevitably great sympathy with his subject. For anyone who thought Maxwell was simply an observer of animals this is an eye-opener. It is certainly worth the struggle to initially come to grips with the cast of characters and tribes, but it is a much easier read as it goes along. Show Less
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Original publication date
1966