The story of a million European slaves in north Africa, as recently as two centuries back, is compulsory reading to understand the muslem rulers' traditional mindset, petty and cruel, as is the Bible for those wishing to understand today's Middle East. It took Wilberforce 20 years in parliament, based on his christian conscience, to put an end to the slave trade in the British Empire, including that of North Africa. It is reassuring that good overcomes evil.