Book description
When Daily Telegraph correspondent Tim Butcher was sent to
cover Africa in 2000 he quickly became obsessed with the idea of
recreating H. M. Stanley's famous expedition - but travelling alone.
Despite warnings that his plan was 'suicidal', Butcher set out for
the Congo's eastern border with just a rucksack and a few thousand
dollars hidden in his boots. Making his way in an assortment of
vessels including a motorbike and a dugout canoe, helped along by a
cast of characters from UN aid workers to a campaigning pygmy, he
followed in the footsteps of the great Victorian adventurers.
Butcher's journey was a remarkable feat, but the story of the Congo,
told expertly and vividly in this book, is more remarkable still.
Born in 1967, Tim Butcher was on the staff of the
Daily Telegraph
from 1990 to 2009 serving as chief war correspondent, Africa bureau
chief and Middle East correspondent. His first book,
Blood
River
, was a number one bestseller, a Richard & Judy Book Club selection
and was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize. He is currently based
in Cape Town with his family.
