The Pale Abyssinian: The Life of James Bruce

by Miles Bredin

How is it that James Bruce is not better known? His is the most extraordinary life story, a tale of adventure and derring-do in the grand old tradition. We think of the 19th-century David Livingstone as a great African explorer but Livingstone himself called Bruce "a greater traveller than any of us", a man who explored the sources of the River Nile a hundred years earlier. Near the beginning of this marvellous biography Bredin summarises his subject's "Bruce had crossed the Nubian Desert, climbed the bandit-bedevilled mountains of Abyssinia, been shipwrecked off the North African coast and sentenced to death in Sudan. He had lived with the rulers of undiscovered kingdoms and slept with their daughters, been granted titles and lands by barbarian warlords and had then returned--more or less intact--to the place of his birth, a small town near the Firth of Forth. So extraordinary were Bruce's adventures that he was widely disbelieved by polite British society on his return and stigmatised as a liar. Yet Bredin has been able, by travelling Bruce's way, to demonstrate just how much of this fantastical adventure story is actually true. Bredin's wonderful enthusiasm for his subject and his subject's odyssey shines on every page of this biography. Some of the emphases perhaps stray a little into the realm of the cranky. His chapter 5, for instance, speculates about the lost Ark of the Covenant, believed by some to be in Abyssinia (Bredin concedes that he has drawn heavily on Graham Hancock's The Sign and the A Quest for the Lost Ark of the Covenant for this section). But in general the reader is swept along by Bruce's overpowering personality and his amazing adventures. -- Adam Roberts

Genres: Travel, Biography, History, Africa, Nonfiction, Ethiopia, Adventure

304 pages, Paperback

First published February 7, 2000

Reviews

[Bettie · Rating 4 out of 5]

So good I read it twice....

[Philip · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating, what a dude. Where is the movie?

[Graham Bear · Rating 5 out of 5]

A forgotten hero. Flawed though he was, this giant of exploration was a truly great Briton. The hardships he endured were formidable. His mastery of half a dozen languages , prodigious. He was a master of travel. I have great respect and admiration for this noble savage. A concise rendition of Bruce's book. I enjoyed it immensely.

[Banbury · Rating 4 out of 5]

The subjects (Sir Bruce and 18th Century Abyssinia (Ethiopia)) are fascinating. The author clearly did careful research and his writing is serviceable. I have a small complaint that there is not enough explanation of the social and political situation of the often confusing cast of of warlords and their minions. The bravery and tenacity of Sir Bruce were remarkable, and the book is worth reading for the extraordinary way he made the harrowing journey through a dangerous and unknown land.

Ethiopia was not then, and is not now, an homogenous country. There are several different cultures and languages within its borders. Off topic, the Nobel Committee might want to wait for several years before determining who is entitled to the Peace Prize--Ethiopia's current Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, won in 2019 for an opening of the border with Eritrea, but now it appears that he has conspired with the Eritrean army to attack Ethiopian Tigrayan civilians in the North of Ethiopia.

[Miike · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book by chance (in a charity shop) because I read the synopsis and thought it sounded interesting. I must admit to buying it because I thought I was unlikely to find it elsewhere, bearing this in mind it lay upon my shelf for a year before I got round to reading it.
As the subject it little known to us in the 'modern era' (he was a well known cad at the time) the author spends a lot of time justifying his personal interest and why more light should be shed upon this adventurous Scot. The book is a basic narrative of both his journey to Abyssinia and the general events that created and subsequently destroyed his reputation. Why Bruce is not better known and put in the ranks of Livingstone and Burton, I do not know, but the author proved here that he is a worthwhile subject for what is a literary tail of Bruce's own work.
I recommend this book to anybody interested in eccentric explorer types, mysterious travel literature and most importantly to anyone interested in the history of Ethiopia. With this last fact in mind it is worth noting that few Europeans had been to this exotic and enchanted corner of Africa so this man and this book should be treasured.
As far as the Ark of the Covenant debate goes I think the author clearly believes that Bruce either saw the site or discovered something of value, however, he does not let this detract from the rest of the book.

[R Heath Foxlee · Rating 5 out of 5]

100 years before Burton and Speke visited the headwaters of the White Nile, Lord Bruce of Kinnaird traveled to the source of the Blue Nile. His 8 year journey was so unbelieveable that no one believed it until Burton and Speke confirmed his story. Lord Bruce was a polyglot and clearly inspired multiple adventures of Sir Richard Burton.

[Tallburt · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fine tale of the British (in this case Scottish) sense of absurd adventure in a time when it was acceptable, nay expected, that blowing holes in the natives was the done thing.

Again, another giant (literally) of exploration whose deeds are now cruelly ignored by his fellow countrymen.