The complicated and factious situation in West Africa, now centered in the former French colony Mali, has been difficult to fully understand without a background in the long history and politics of West and North Africa, its people (especially the Tuareg) and the emerging network of terrorist groups, some of which are connected to al-Qaeda. Having a good map is helpful, too. Beyond a recent acquaintance with the Tuareg, a vague notion of the location of Mali’s famous Timbuktu, a mental imag...