In the spring of 1850, three Europeans, all well aware of the risks ahead, set out by caravan from Tripoli to cross the still unexplored and unmapped Sahara Desert. Under the auspices of the British Government, the explorers were charged with establishing diplomatic relations with the rulers and princes of desert tribes, finding the best trade routes into the heart of Africa, and negotiating commercial treaties wherever possible. The leader of the expedition was James Richardson, a young Englishman who had previously made several journeys into the interior of the desert. His fellow explorers were both Germans, Dr. Adolf Overweg, a geologist who also acted as physician, and Dr. Heinrich Barth, an explorer with a will of iron and an incredible endurance.

After nine weary months and more than two thousand miles of loneliness, suffering, and hair-raising adventures, they finally reached their goal, the Sudan. From beginning to end, theirs is an exciting adventure that actually happened, a chronicle of the outstanding human achievement and heroism of the first white men to record every track, well, and village in the first north-to-south map of the Sahara Desert.