‘This complex, compelling tale is told with simplicity and grace'
- The Times A story of courage and adventure, set against the
backdrop of the race to exploit Africa by the colonial powers. For
millennia the location of the Nile River's headwaters was shrouded
in mystery. In the mid-19th century, Richard Burton and John
Hanning Speke were sent by the Royal Geographical Society to claim
the prize for Britain. Burton spoke twenty-nine languages, and was
a decorated soldier. He was also mercurial, subtle, and an
iconoclastic atheist. Speke was a young aristocrat and Army officer
determined to make his mark, Burton’s opposite in temperament and
beliefs. From the start the two men clashed. They would endure
tremendous hardship, illness, and constant setbacks. Two years in,
deep in the African interior, Burton became too sick to press on,
but Speke did, and claimed he found the source in a great lake that
he christened Lake Victoria. When they returned to England, the two
became sworn enemies. Yet there was a third man on both
expeditions, his name obscured by imperial annals, whose exploits
were even more extraordinary. This was Sidi Mubarak Bombay,
who was enslaved and shipped from his home village in East Africa
to India. When the man who purchased him died, he made his way into
the local Sultan’s army, and eventually travelled back to Africa,
where he used his resourcefulness, linguistic prowess and raw
courage to forge a living as a guide. Without Bombay and men like
him, who led, carried, and protected the expedition, neither
Englishman would have come close to the headwaters of the Nile, or
perhaps even survived.
General
Imprint: |
Swift Press
|
Country of origin: |
United Kingdom |
Release date: |
September 2023 |
First published: |
2022 |
Authors: |
Candice Millard
|
Dimensions: |
198 x 129mm (L x W) |
Pages: |
368 |
ISBN-13: |
978-1-80075-263-4 |
Categories: |
Books
Promotions
|
LSN: |
1-80075-263-6 |
Barcode: |
9781800752634 |
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