Vanier College teacher writes about deserts

The desert – mysterious, threatening, rich in natural resources, site of spiritual inspiration and source of deadly confrontations – is the subject Viviane Bouchard explores in her latest book, Les Déserts, témoins de l’histoire du monde. “The desert is about emptiness and death, misery and distress, survival and ingenious adaptation”, she says. The history professor at Vanier College adds that “it’s also about folklore, sand dunes, camel races, adventure and challenges.”

With this book, which is chock full of illustrations, photographs, maps, texts and comments in the book margins, Viviane Bouchard has created an easy-to-read work that can appeal to all types of readers and that goes beyond run-of-the-mill notions about the desert. Put together as a series of questions and answers, Les Déserts, témoins de l’histoire du monde piques the reader’s curiosity. What happened to the nose and the beard of the Sphinx? When was oil first discovered in the desert? Viviane Bouchard finds answers to these intriguing questions. Les Déserts, témoins de l’histoire du monde is Viviane Bouchard’s second book. In her first publication, Che Guevara, un héros en question, she combined two of her other interests: history and Latin America. (Source: Collège Vanier)