SHAW, W. B. Kennedy The Long Range Desert Group Collins, London, 1945 The definitive history of the LRDG from the time of it's conception to the end of the North African campaign.
	EPPLER, John Rommel's Spy Macdonald & Jane, London, 1977 Eppler was one of the spies taken by Almásy across the Gilf Kebor to Assiut in 1942 in the Operation Salaam. Eppler was a colorful character, and the book reflects this. The accuracy is very questionable, Jane Howard noted (in a letter to Bagnold) that the German and French versions (the English translation was based on the latter) have significant differences. Having met Eppler, his comment was "I never thought someone would read both". There is a chapter on the Salam kommando with Almásy.
	O'CARROLL, Brendan The Kiwi Scorpions Token Publishing Ltd., Devon, 2000 A large format book focusing on the New Zealanders in the LRDG, full of personal details and many never before seen or published personal photos. An invaluable resource for the early days of the LRDG, when action centered on the Libyan Desert.
	MORGAN, Michael The Sting of the Scorpion Sutton Publishing Ltd., Phoenix Mill, 2001 Another book based on the personal memories of LRDG veterans, this time those living in the UK.
	Special Forces in the Desert War 1940-43 Public Records Office, London, 2001 The PRO published the official history of the special forces associated with the 8th Army, including unedited transcript of the War Diaries of the LRDG, SAS and other smaller units. It is a goldmine of detailed information.
	KELLY, Saul The Hunt for Zarzura John Murray, London, 2002 Despite the name, the book is more focused on WWII military history than exploration itself. It is very well researched, digging deep into the archives, and there are a number of details on persons and events that have been previously suspected, but not supported by documents. Overall the book is a very good summary of all events leading to the formation and exploits of the LRDG, and Almásy's wartime activities with the Afrika Korps. Perhaps the most valuable part of the book is the uncovering of the truth behind Almásy's intercepted radio messages during Operation Salaam, and the seemingly inexplicable story of why in this case the Brits did not catch him. All this finally supported by archives documents, not just interviews and hearsay.
	O'CARROLL, Brendan (ed.) Bearded Brigands Ngaio Press, Wellington, 2002 The personal diary of Trooper Frank Jopling, who was with the LRDG from the first sortie, and gives a superb first hand account of the daily activities. The diary was edited by Brendan O'Caroll, and contains 125 photos from personal collections. The book is available through the Ngaio Press website.
	PITTAWAY, Jonathan and Craig Fourie LRDG Rhodesia Durban, 2003 The story of Rhodesians in the Long Range Desert Group, including many personal stories of troopers from the desert operations, and 600 photos !   NEW Revised Edition Coming Fall of 2007 AANA Member / Co-Author and for more titles his website:   www.dandy.co.za

DESIO, Ardito et al. Missione Scientifica della Reale Accademia d'Italia a Cufra (1931-IX), Vol. I - III Reale Accademia d'Italia, Roma, 1934-39 Italian geographer, Ardito Desio (who later led the first successful assault on the second highest mountain in the world, K2) led a geological and paleontological expedition to Southern Tripolitania, that covered the Kufra group, Arkenu & Uweinat, then continued to the eastern Fezzan via Wau Namus. The results were published in a three volume series, detailing the geology, mineralogy and paleontology of the traversed regions. This is the first published account of the Wau Namus volcano.

BAGNOLD, Ralph A. The Physics of Windblown Sand and Desert Dunes Methuen, London, 1941 During 1935-36 Bagnold made a serious study of the physics of sand motion, and made a number of corroborating experiments in the Libyan Desert during the 1938 expedition. This work culminated in the publication of this book, which remains to this day the definitive textbook on the physics of sand movement in air. It's very detailed and technical, but Bagnold's superb style enables even a non specialist to enjoy much of the book, especially the second part that explains the creation, evolution and movement of the major types of desert dunes. (The book is very hard to find these days. Click here to read a paper by John Mangimeli on the Geology of Sand Dunes for a summary of the main concepts, all taken from Bagnold's book)

László Almásy: "The Unknown Sahara"

Almásy wrote three books about his travels and explorations in North Africa. All appeared in The Hungarian Geographical Society Library series, edited by Jeno Cholnoky. (The series reproduced in Hungarian many important foreign books on exploration and travel, alongside the works of Hungarian travelers & explorers).

Autóval Szudánba (With Motorcar to the Sudan) Budapest, 1927	Az ismeretlen Szahara (The Unknown Sahara) Budapest, 1934	Levegöben, homokon (In Air, on Sand) Budapest, 1937

The first book, "With Motorcar to the Sudan" described a motorcar trip (the first with an ordinary automobile) from Alexandria to Southern Sudan, via Cairo and Khartoum in the company of Prince Antal Eszterházy.

The second, and most significant, "The Unknown Sahara" described his explorations in the Libyan Desert between 1929 and 1934, and formed the foundation of later French and German versions.

The third book, "In Air, on Sand" (which is very rare, I have only seen one real copy in the library of the Geographical Museum near Budapest) contains more chapters on the early explorations and aviation feats, plus some chapters on the explorations in the Libyan Desert in 1935-36.

In 1936, Almasy published an abridged version of "The Unknown Sahara", "Recentes Explorations dans le Desert Libyque", focusing primarily on the discovery of "Zarzura", and the rock art sites, complete with a chapter on the more recent explorations in Cairo in French language. (This became the standard reference book on Almásy's discoveries in the scientific literature.)
 

Recentes Explorations dans le Desert Libyque Cairo, 1936

Some years later Almásy published "Unbekannte Sahara" in German, which was a shortened combined version of "The Unknown Sahara" and "In Air, on Sand", containing about 66% of the chapters of the two works. I have recently discovered, that an abridged paperback version containing only the 'Darb el Arbain' and 'Waddan' chapters was published by Brockhaus in 1943 titled "Die Strasse der Vierzig Tage".

A new edition of "Unbekannte Sahara" was published in Vienna in 1997 as "Schwimmer in der Wüste", including the missing chapters from "The Unknown Sahara", but not those from "In Air, on Sand". It also included a re-translation of Almásy's wartime diary of Operation Salaam.
 

Unbekannte Sahara Leipzig, 1939	Die Strasse der Vierzig Tage Leipzig, 1943	Schwimmer in der Wüste Vienna, 1997