"When the oil-rich Kingdom of Libya descended into corruption and irresolution, a young Libyan army officer named Muammar Gaddafi seized power in a brilliant coup on 1 September 1969. Under his rule Libya became a pariah state, harbouring terrorists from nearly every dissident group in the world and accumulating an enormous arsenal of lethal weaponry. Gaddafi was autocratic and cruel, and his people finally rose up against him in February 2011. But how did he survive for so long? In this book John Oakes traces Libya's colourful history and details the events which shaped Gaddafi's personality, the influences which moulded his career, the security apparatus which kept him in power and the human rights violations he committed. It is a story of Roman legions, Barbary pirates, slave traders, camel caravans and Ottoman Beys. Of Italian colonists, Bedouin tribes, Texan oil barons, the Lockerbie disaster and mass murder in the Abu Salim jail. Foremost, it is the story of the human cost of freeing Libya from Gaddafi"--Publisher's website.

The Greeks, the Romans and the Garamentes -- The Arab invasion : the true Bedouin arrive -- Ottomans and Turks : the slave trade, the Barbary corsairs and the four-year war with the USA -- Italian Libya : the battle for the sword of Islam -- Second World War in Libya : the Desert Rats, the Desert Fox and the Free French -- Independence : a child of the United Nations -- The Kingdom of Libya : the shepherd king and the oil barons -- Gaddafi I : companions of the tent -- Gaddafi II : the pariah state and human rights issues -- Gaddafi III : weapons of mass destruction, the IRA, St James's Square and Lockerbie -- Challenging Muammar Gaddafi -- Afterword.