Explorers of the Nile: The Triumph and Tragedy of a Great Victorian Adventure

Description

Between 1856 and 1876, five explorers, all British, took on the seemingly impossible task of discovering the source of the White Nile. Showing exceptional courage and extraordinary resilience, Richard Burton, John Hanning Speke, Samuel Baker, David Livingstone and Henry Morton Stanley risked their lives and their reputations in the name of this quest. They journeyed through East and Central Africa into unmapped territory, discovered the great lakesTanganyika and Victoria, navigated the upper Nile and the Congo, and suffered the ravages of flesh-eating ulcers, malaria and deep spear wounds. Using new research, Tim Jeal tells the story of these great expeditions, while also examining the tragic consequences which the Nile search has had on Uganda and Sudan to this day. Explorers of the Nile is a gripping adventure story with an arresting analysis of Britain's imperial past and the Scramble for Africa.

Tim Jeal is the author of acclaimed biographies of Livingstone and Baden-Powell. His memoir, Swimming with My Father, was shortlisted for the PEN Ackerley Prize for Autobiography. His biography of Henry Morton Stanley, Stanley: The Impossible Life of Africa's Greatest Explorer, was published in 2007 and was named Sunday Times Biography of the Year.

"[A] wonderfully entertaining and authoritative account of the search for the Nile and its consequences...There is something intensely moving about the way in which Jeal has sought to restore Speke's reputation."--John Preston, "Sunday Telegraph"--John Preston "Sunday Telegraph " ""Explorers of the Nile" is a brilliant, scholarly and at times almost unreadably vivid account of the two decades in the middle of the 19th century when the search for the Nile's source in central Africa was at its height."--Ben Macintyre, "New York Times Book Review"--Ben Macintyre "New York Times Book Review " "Elegantly written and skillfully crafted...The greatest strengths of this highly enjoyable and readable book are Jeal's passion for his subject and his mastery of personalities as complex as the geography they battled to understand."--Diane Preston, "Washington Post "--Diane Preston "Washington Post " "Epic in proportion...An absorbing adventure and a thought provoking morality tale."--Peter Burton, "Daily Express"--Peter Burton "Daily Express " "If there is one book about the search for the sources of the Nile to read and keep on the shelf, this is it."--Tim Severin, "Irish Examiner"--Tim Severin "Irish Examiner " "Jeal's lengthy, comprehensive, and revisionist book is exciting reading both about the adventures in the field and about the clash of personalities."--Rob Hardy, "The Dispatch"--Rob Hardy "The Dispatch " "Masterly...One of the fascinations of Jeal's book and his account of this astonishing period of exploration is that it makes great efforts to strip away the accumulated myths and through this process we can begin to see these 'heroic' figures plain, to imagine them as they were to their contemporaries."--William Boyd, "TLS"--William Boyd "TLS " "Masterly...The complicated narrative is well told with exemplary scholarship and great and compelling lucidity...One of the fascinations of Jeal's book and his account of this astonishing period of exploration is that it makes great efforts to strip away the accumulated myths and through this process we can begin to see these 'heroic' figures plain, to imagine them as they were to their contemporaries."--William Boyd, "TLS"--William Boyd "TLS " "Superb narrative . . . Jeal's judicious account is a must-read for anyone hoping to understand the internal dynamics of modern state-building in central Africa."--Brian Odom, "Booklist"--Brian Odom "Booklist " "There are few greater stories than the race to the Nile's source... Tim Jeal gives a fine reprise, bringing together in one well-paced narrative the interlocking Nilotic adventures ... Its place [is] alongside the classics of Victorian explorer history."--Tim Butcher, "Daily Telegraph"--Tim Butcher "Daily Telegraph " "Tim Jeal's gripping book pulls the whole astonishing story together. . . . It's as intricate and unexpected as the source of the river itself. . . All the main players were. . . examples of grit, resourcefulness and courage on a heroic scale. . . . How intimately Tim Jeal knows them all, and brings them back to life for us."--Tom Stacey, "The Spectator"--Tom Stacey "The Spectator " "Tim Jeal's masterly book ... can safely supplant Alan Moorehead's 1960 classic, The White Nile... Jeal also knows how to tell a fabulous story, and he lets old-fashioned epic adventure sit at the heart of his fine book." --James McConnachie, "Sunday Times"--James McConnachie "Sunday Times " "Tim Jeal's wonderful book is filled with anecdotes and brilliant cameos, which keep the narrative fresh and sparklingly alive. His treatment of these legendary figures is authoritative and compassionate."--Alexander Maitland, "Literary Review"--Alexander Maitland "Literary Review " Runner-up for the General Non-fiction category at the Los Angeles Book Festival.--Los Angeles Book Festival "Runner-up General Non-Fiction "