Atlas of the World's Deserts (Middleton)

Atlas of the World's Deserts was written by Nick Middleton and published in 2002. It surveys arid regions around the planet rather than focusing on one continent.

The book examines how deserts form, their ecology, human settlement, and environmental challenges. It combines geographic reference material with discussion of the people and ecosystems that survive in dry environments.

Yes, its subject is the world's deserts, so the coverage extends beyond the Sahara to arid regions in Asia, Australia, the Americas, and elsewhere. Comparing those regions shows that deserts differ in climate, geology, biodiversity, and human use.

No, a desert is defined mainly by very low precipitation, not by high temperature. The atlas's global scope includes cold and polar deserts as well as hot deserts such as the Sahara.