Unfortunately, this book was never translated in English or French: as a consequence it is basically unknown to the majority of the modern Almásy fan boys. Luckily it was printed in many copies and it can be easily purchased from the German out-of-print dealers. I got my original copy for few euros. I took the pain to translate some paragraphs with Google-translate: it was worth the effort of retyping its pages originally printed in old-styled Gothic fonts! I think it is a book every desert lover should try to get in the original edition before it start to became too much expensive.

Here following a Google-translated excerpt (from page 170). Esch describes his arrival at the Italian garrison of Ain Doua (Jebel Uweinat):

Als ich vor einer Woche von meiner ersten Erkundungsfahrt zur dune zurückkehrte, hatte ich den Eingang zur Schlucht verfehlt, und dieser Irrtum hätte beinahe verhänganisvolle Folgen gehabt. Der abessinische Ausguckposten, der mich in etwa einem Kilometer Entfernung vorbeifahren sah, hatte nichts Besseres zu tun gewusst, als kurzerhand durch ein paar Schüsse das Lager zu alarmieren. Der Capitano hatte sich gerade von seiner nachmittäglichen Siesta erhoben und war noch nicht binreichend erwacht, um sich meiner zu erinnern und die Alarmschüsse  mit meiner Erkundungsfahrt in ursächlichen Zusammenhang zu bringen. So hatte er in der Annahme, dass der böse Feind in Anmarsch sei, seine Mannen zwischen den Felsen in Stellung gehen lassen. Als ich kurz darauf gemerkt hatte, dass ich zu weit gefahren war, und umdrehte, war ich wenig erstaunt, am Eingang der Schlucht die Lagerbesatzung in grimmer Gefechtsbereitschaft anzutreffen. Parola hatte mich damals in begreiflicher Bestürzung gebeten, in Zukunft vorsichtiger zu sein, da bei seinen Abessiniern die Kugel recht locker im Lauf sitze. Seitdem pflegte ich bei der Annäherung an das italienische Lager meinen Kurs Stets mit besondere Sorgfalt zu berechnen, um den Kampfesmut der abessinischen Scharfschützen nicht aufs neue zu entfachen. Die Askaris stammten übrigens durchweg aus der westlichen Erythräa, dem einzigen teil Abessiniens, der damals italienisch war.

"When I returned one week ago from my first investigation travel to the Arkenu dune, I had missed the entrance to the ravine, and this mistake would have had almost terrible consequences. The Eritrean guards of the lookout post, which saw me driving past in approximately a kilometre distance, had not known anything better to do to alarm than short hand by a few shots the camp. The Capitano had risen straight from its afternoon Siesta and had not awaked yet be-handing, in order to remember mine and to bring the alarm shots with my investigation travel into causal connection. Thus it had let its colonial soldiers between rock go in the acceptance that the bad enemy was in advance, into position. When I had shortly thereafter noticed that I had too far driven, and turned, was I few surprised to find at the entrance of the ravine the camp crew in grimmer combat-ready shank. Parola had at that time asked me in understandable confusion to be in the future more careful since with its Eritrean soldiers the ball sat quite loosely in the run. Since then I maintained during the approximation to the Italian camp mean course with special care to always compute, in order not to kindle the combat courage of the Eritrean snipers on the new. The Askaris originated by the way throughout from the western Erythräa, the only part Abessiniens, which was Italian at that time."