Desert Showcase

This showcase looks at exploration in three of the world’s great deserts – the Taklamakan Desert of Central Asia, the Arabian Desert and the Western or Libyan Desert of North Africa. The period covered is roughly 1870 to 1950.

During this period desert exploration benefited from a number of technological advances, two of which involved the invention of the petrol engine – motor cars and aeroplanes.

Many of the explorers’ names are well known, a number of them were awarded the Society’s gold medals for their exploits. Their stories are all remarkable.

  View the Desert Showcase in Google Earth*

  Download & install the latest version of Google Earth (v 5.0) to view the showcase