author
1869–1933
An English explorer and travel writer, he brought the Libyan Desert to life for readers through firsthand journeys into regions that were still little known to outsiders. His books mix adventure, observation, and a strong curiosity about the people and landscapes he encountered.
William Joseph Harding King (1869–1933) was a British explorer and writer whose work focused on North Africa, especially the Sahara and the Libyan Desert. Records at The National Archives describe him as an explorer and writer, and they show links to correspondence with the Royal Geographical Society as well as photographs connected with his desert work.
He wrote A Search for the Masked Tawareks, first published in 1903, and later Mysteries of the Libyan Desert in 1925. The latter grew out of several journeys made between 1909 and 1912 in the Libyan Desert, where he traveled by camel from the Egyptian oases and wrote about geography, desert travel, and the communities he met along the way.
His reputation rested on careful field observation as much as on adventure. The 1925 title page of Mysteries of the Libyan Desert notes that he was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and that he had been awarded the Society's Gill Memorial in 1919, a sign of the respect his exploration work had earned.