Book 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.
