Into Africa: The Epic Adventures Of Stanley And Livingstone

by Martin Dugard

In 1866 Britain's foremost explorer, Dr David Livingstone, went in search of the answer to an age-old geographical riddle: where was the source of the Nile? Livingstone set out with a large team, on a course that would lead through unmapped, seemingly impenetrable terrain into areas populated by fearsome man-eating tribes. Within weeks his expedition began to fall apart - his entourage deserted him and Livingstone vanished without trace. He would not be heard from again for two years.

While debate raged in England over whether Livingstone could be found in the unmapped wilderness of the African interior, James Gordon Bennet, a brash young American newspaper tycoon, hatched a plan to capitalise on the world's fascination with the missing legend. He commissioned his star reporter, Henry Morton Stanley (born John Rowlands in Wales!), to search for Livingstone. Stanley undertook his quest with gusto, filing reports that captivated readers and dominated the front page of the New York Herald for months.

INTO AFRICA traces the journeys of Livingstone and Stanley in alternating chapters. Livingstone's is one of trials and set-backs, that finds him alone and miles from civilisation. Stanley's is an awakening to the beauty of Africa, the grandeur of the landscape and the vivid diversity of its wildlife. It is also a journey that succeeds beyond his wildest dreams, clinching his place in history with the famous enquiry: 'Dr Livingstone, I presume?'. In this, the first book to examine the extraordinary physical challenges, political intrigue and larger-than-life personalities of this legendary story, Martin Dugard has opened a fascinating window on the golden age of exploration that will appeal to everyone's sense of adventure.

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

418 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 20, 2002

About the author

Martin Dugard is the New York Times #1 bestselling author of the Taking Series — including Taking Berlin (2022) and Taking Paris (2021).

Book Two in the Taking series is titled Taking Berlin, covering the final nine months of World War II in Europe. Taking Berlin goes on sale November 1, 2022.

He is also the co-author of the mega-million selling Killing books, the bestselling non-fiction series in history: Killing Lincoln, Killing Kennedy, Killing Jesus, Killing Patton, Killing Reagan, Killing England, Killing the Rising Sun, Killing the SS, Killing Crazy Horse, Killing the Mob, and the upcoming Killing the Killers.

Other works include the New York Times bestseller The Murder of King Tut (with James Patterson; Little, Brown, 2009); The Last Voyage of Columbus (Little, Brown, 2005); Into Africa: The Epic Adventures of Stanley and Livingstone (Doubleday, 2003), Farther Than Any Man: The Rise and Fall of Captain James Cook (Pocket Books, 2001), Knockdown (Pocket Books, 1999), and Surviving the Toughest Race on Earth (McGraw-Hill, 1998). In addition, Martin lived on the island of Pulau Tiga during the filming of Survivor's inaugural season to write the bestselling Survivor with mega-producer Mark Burnett.

Reviews

[Trevor · Rating 3 out of 5]

After a while I stopped noticing how badly written this book was and just went with the flow of the story. Sometimes this was very difficult, as there were lots and lots of adverbs and no noun seemed to ever be deprived of an adjective. No one ever went into a town: rather they rushed or scampered or sauntered or something equally silly. Clearly the writer must have had to read lots and lots of Victorian English to put this book together and this told in his style. Worst of all was the hyperbole about the remarkable achievements of these two men. I don’t know if it is really reasonable to say this was one of the greatest epic stories of all time. You know, it seemed to be basically the story of a couple of blokes more or less lost somewhere they quite frankly didn’t belong in the first place. Perhaps I am being too harsh?

I’ve always had a bit of a problem with ‘Adventurers’. I’ve always been quite sympathetic to the view that huskies should be trained to eat those on their way to the North Pole (either magnetic or true) as soon as the first snow begins to fall or after their 100th call of ‘mush’. I tend to look on in disgust while tax payer money is spent rescuing some fat-arsed English gentleman who doesn’t realise that his yacht should always remain with its sail pointing out of the water. I don’t know much about sailing, but I do know that So, I wasn’t really expecting to feel very much sympathy for any of these ‘lions’.

And so I was as surprised as anyone when I did feel sympathy. The writer cleverly understood that if you want to find the link that will immediately bind all men together in a tight brotherhood you merely require a discussion of the immanent threat of castration or of multitudinous illnesses of the testicles, particularly elephantiasis that ends with the phrase ‘one foot in diameter’ and suddenly I’m using nearly as many adverbs as the writer did and cheering on the boys with the best of them. I’ve even started saying, “There were made of sterner stuff in those days”.

The story of Speke and Burton is the beginning of the homo-erotic aspect of this book – and, let’s face it, all ‘boy’s own’ stories are always guaranteed a homo-erotic element. There was speculation that these two were lovers. Anyway, during their first exploration into Africa they landed in an area where the locals tended to cut off the penises of the enemy they captured. There was a fight in which Burton got a spear through the face (through his cheeks) and Speke was captured and the natives began fondling his genitals while trying to make up their minds about how to remove them in an appropriately painful and humiliating way, when they became distracted and thought that they should save that particular pleasure for a little later. To keep him in his place they ran spears through his legs severing muscles. All the same, (in what I hope taught the African Natives the lesson to never leave until tomorrow what you can do today, Speke evaded them by crawling and dragging himself for three miles to safety. Why am I telling you this story? Well, mostly because of what the author said next that ‘lessor men’ following such an experience might give up exploring, but not these two.

I kid you not! He actually used the phrase ‘lessor men’. As one of those lessor men I was still not convinced that returning to Africa after a tribe has fondled your genitals as a prelude to providing you with a free castration does not necessarily make you a morer man. In fact, I would have said that behaviour like that on behalf of the locals probably means that you aren’t really welcome and that you should probably just take the hint.

I read this book because I was hoping for a description of how we found the source of the Nile. Herodotus whetted my appetite for this subject with his description of his efforts to find ‘the source’ and his speculations on what the source might be. There was then a huge falling out between Burton and Speke after their second African holiday about where the Nile started, and to settle this disagreement between the two of them Livingstone began his touring of East Africa for years. Livingstone wanted resolve who was right, but also, wanted to prove them both wrong and to prove Herodotus right by finding his mythical ‘fountains of the Nile’.

The two main characters of this book are Livingstone and Stanley. Livingstone basically spent years screwing his way across Africa. This proved to be too much for Victorian England who could not believe that their favourite son was engaged in a Touring and Whoring expedition and filling his journals with comments on how beautiful the women where. He was very much the sort of man who figured that you are more likely to get what you want with a teaspoon of honey. He was strongly opposed to slavery and this was part of the reason why none of his letters ever got home, as the Arab Slave Traders that were given his mail destroyed it soon after he left them with them as they were afraid he would encourage the world to try to stop their very profitable business. Livingstone was a bit nutty, but nutty in a good way, and I ended up quite fond of him.

Stanley wasn’t really an American, wasn’t really called Stanley and definitely wasn’t really all that nice. He had a thing for young boys which conveniently continued the homo-erotic theme of this book which you might have thought ended with Speke and Burton. He was also a bastard, in all senses of the word. A very strange man, he may not have spent as much time having sex with the local women as Livingstone seems to (although, he did seem to start to fancy the local women much more as time went on) but rather what he liked much more was beating people for getting sick and not marching quick enough. Despite the fact that he was rather tall, he really did suffer from what is generally referred to as ‘short-man syndrome’. Despite all attempts to make Stanley look human in this book, I still came away not liking him at all. That he later went on to help set up the Belgian Congo pretty much sealed his fate for me.

Livingstone was attacked by a lion at one point in the story and it is described in the book as an epiphany for him – he was never to feel fear again from what I can make out. Now this is very interesting as Livingstone’s view of this experience is much the same as that put forward in Songlines by Bruce Chatwin. Basically, that from the moment a great cat has us in its power we have an evolved trait that makes us relax and not feel pain or fear. Chatwin creates an entire myth around this about an ancient (and now extinct) great cat that hunted and haunted our existence while we were hunter gatherers and this fearless state we feel in the jaws of a great cat is an evolved trait (though how it could have ‘evolved’ is a little hard to explain given you would seem to be about to join the ranks of the Darwin Award Winners). Livingstone comes to much the same conclusion as Chatwin, but instead places the success of this trait as being due to divine grace. Either way, I think it is interesting and would like to know if this has been documented elsewhere as being something we experience while being eaten by great cats.

Like I said, there were many things about this book I didn’t like, the gushing prose not the least. But the book has enough redeeming features to make it worthwhile and some of the historical curiosities and stories do make this amusing.

If you want to see why Simon Winchester is such a good writer a quick comparison between any of his and this one would be a very worthwhile exercise.

[Paul Weiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

This can't be "history"! It was WAY too exciting!

History, of course, can be endlessly fascinating. But one need not canvas very many bored students of history to find that it can also be endlessly dreary and soporific.

The reason for this is quite clear. History (sadly) is for the most part presented as a tiresome list of dates and events. Accompanying analysis is typically written in a technical, scholarly, textbook mode with no attempt to add colour, flair, atmosphere, background, context or the excitement that is history's due. The list of authors that can turn pure non-fiction history with absolutely no fictional embellishment into exciting reading with the page turning force of modern day thrillers is pathetically short. Simon Winchester, Roland Huntford, Jon Krakauer and Canada's Ken McGoogan and Pierre Berton, for example, make it onto my personal short list.

With the publication of INTO AFRICA, the epic adventures of Henry Morton Stanley and Dr David Livingstone and their explorations of colonial Victorian Africa, Martin Dugard has added his name to this short list of skillful authors capable of keeping a history reader awake into the wee hours.

INTO AFRICA presents the unimaginably complex biography of the legendary journalist and African explorer, Henry Morton Stanley, and his search across treacherous African terrain for the missing British hero, Dr David Livingstone. The ending of the story, the anti-climactic meeting in a remote African village and Stanley's utterance of the fabulously understated "Doctor Livingstone, I presume?" is well known. But the story ... my, my, my! INTO AFRICA is a powerful paean to the indomitable, persevering nature of the human spirit of exploration and discovery. Dugard combines disease, danger, treachery, colonial politics, tribal warfare, wild animals, challenging terrain, racism, slavery, greed, love, courage, lust and even blind stupidity into a compelling and endlessly fascinating narrative that begins and then finishes all too quickly.

Dugard has also taken the time to carefully place these events into the context of other events taking place around the world at the same time - the aftermath of the Napoleonic wars in Europe, the American Civil War, Karl Marx's publication of DAS KAPITAL, Franklin's hapless exploration of the Canadian Arctic, the competitive nature of British and American journalism, the appalling state of the slave trade across Central Africa, cameo appearances in America's frontier west by Buffalo Bill Cody and Wild Bill Hitchcock, and, of course, the political shenanigans that drove the otherwise exemplary achievements of the Royal Geographical Society.

I'll wager a fiver against with almost any potential reader that they really had no idea at all of the colourful background and story of Henry Morton Stanley's life before Africa!

Highly recommended.

Paul Weiss

[Howard · Rating 2 out of 5]

When Stanley met Livingstone.

Stanley stepped crisply toward the old man, removed his helmet, and extended his hand …. They wordlessly shook hands, each man appraising the other. Livingstone didn’t know who the young man was, or what he might want. The Arabs and citizens of Uijii crowded around.

Stanley’s heart was beating furiously, and he was striving desperately to say exactly the right thing to such a distinguished gentleman ….

With formal intonation … Stanley spoke the most dignified words that came to mind: ‘Dr. Livingstone, I presume?’

’Yes,’ Livingstone answered simply. He was relieved that the man wasn’t French.

-- Martin Dugard, Into Africa: The Epic Adventures of Stanley & Livingstone

Livingstone learned that an expedition headed by an American journalist employed by the New York Herald had come to his rescue. Well, not quite.

Henry Morton Stanley had reinvented himself as an American, but he had been born in Wales. Furthermore, his real name wasn’t Henry Morton Stanley, it was John Rowlands.

Well, at least with “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?” he was responsible for uttering one of the most famous quotations ever.

But, maybe not.

Livingstone made no mention of being asked this question in his journal and the page in Stanley’s journal describing the initial meeting between the two men was torn out. It is speculated that he fabricated the quote while writing his stories for the Herald, for he did mention it in a couple of dispatches that he sent to the paper. Therefore, he may have torn out the page in order to protect another of his reinventions, that being a newly minted quote.

Not until the epilogue does Dugard get around to enlightening the reader about the quote’s probable lack of authenticity. In his description of the meeting of the two men he wrote as fact the straightforward narrative I included at the top of my review.

One of the major criticisms of Dugard’s book is that all too often he accepts Stanley’s accounts at face value, while knowing that Stanley often exaggerated and even lied about his personal life and his exploits and that key pages were torn out of his journal in order to cover for his later version of events.

Adam Hochschild, the author of King Leopold’s Ghost, a harrowing account of Belgium’s unfortunate and heartless creation of a colony in the Congo, points out a number of factual errors in Dugard’s book. If you are interested, you can read what he has to say here:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...

Wild Bill Hickock, I presume?

I must defer to both Dugard and Hochschild when it comes to the life and times of Stanley and Livingstone (Why isn’t it ever Livingstone and Stanley?), but I’m fairly certain I know more about Wild Bill than either of them do.

For one thing, I know how to spell his name. It is not Hickock; it is Hickok. But how in the world did Wild Bill end up in a book about Stanley and Livingstone?

Earlier in his journalistic career, Stanley covered the Indian wars on the Great Plains. It was there that he met and interviewed two cavalry scouts: Buffalo Bill Cody and Wild Bill Hickok. Both of them enjoyed pulling the leg of the young reporter leading him to report some of their tall tales as fact.

Dugard mentions Hickok three times in his book and misspells it three times. So it isn’t a typo. It should have been caught by either the writer or his editor or maybe even a proofreader. After all, both the hard cover and the paperback were published by divisions of the prestigious Random House publishing company and, furthermore, even my spell check knew it was an error.

It isn’t just the misspelling of Hickok’s name that bugs me, however. Dugard claims that the gunfighter was the sheriff of Hays, Kansas. No, he was the town marshal. A sheriff is a county law enforcement officer. He also writes that Hickok was at one time the mayor of Hays. Wild Bill, a mayor? Of course not.

My point for going into all this is that if this many mistakes were made in discussing an individual who is barely mentioned in the book, how many were made in the extensive accounts of the two principles?

And the reason that I include Hochschild is that in his article he points out Dugard’s factual errors pertaining to Africa, but evidently doesn’t know how to spell Hickok either, for he didn’t mention that glitch.

Alan Moorehead.

One of the good things about reading Dugard’s book is that it reignited my interest in the whole issue of African exploration, particularly the search for the source of the Nile.

I have started rereading what I always thought was the best book on the subject: the late Alan Moorehead’s The White Nile. And I have also ordered a more recent book that received many positive reviews. It is Stanley: The Impossible Life of Africa's Greatest Explorer by Tim Jeal. Jeal also wrote a book about Livingstone, but I find Stanley to be a more interesting individual.

I know Moorehead doesn’t mention Wild Bill and I suspect that Jeal doesn’t either. But if he does, I sure hope he knows how to spell his name.

I'm giving Dugard's book two stars for now. After I finish reading the other two accounts I may raise or lower that rating.

[Jay Schutt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This extensively researched adventure tale was an excellent story. The events took place in the late 1860's and early 1870's in Central Africa. Overcoming constant hardships and dire situations, Henry Stanley searched for the missing Dr. David Livingstone who was on a mission to locate the source of the Nile River. This was during the age of exploration and was quite a story in its time. The scene bounced back and forth between Stanley, Livingstone and other players in the events that took place. This was an eye-opening account of a little known part of history. Highly recommended and much better than I could ever explain.

[Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Doctor Livingstone, I presume?" was the only thing I knew of Doctor Livingstone before this book. Thinking back I’m sure my Geography teacher in high school must have talked about him as some of the place names came back to me, but I wasn’t a very good student and was probably filing my nails or writing love notes to my boyfriend during her class.

Who knew an adventure story of a lone man trekking through Africa in the 1800’s could be so exciting.
Not a spare word in the entire text that takes the reader on a journey through Africa with all the perils and disasters that Livingstone and Stanley encountered.

The author has incorporated world events taking place at the same time as Livingstone and later Stanley were in the heart of Africa fighting for survival.

Other names of note are:
Roderick Impey Murchison head of the Royal Geographical Society and an ardent supporter of Dr. Livingstone.
James Gordon Bennett, Jr. publisher of the New York Herald having inherited the paper from his father. Bennett had employed Stanley as a reporter and when the newspaper and Bennett got into a spot of trouble he had to find a major scoop and what better scoop than to send his young reporter Stanley into the bowels of Africa to locate the supposedly missing Dr. Livingstone.

And as it turns out, as the book informs us, Henry Morton Stanley was a fascinating man in his own right.

Not a lover of adventure stories I have to say this was an exciting read that I couldn’t put down. This one line will give a good impression of this book: “Africa taunted them as they rose before dawn and began the desperate search for food.” (Pg.249)

My GR friend Paul Weiss wrote a glowing review of this book making me want to read it, so a BIG Thank You to Paul because it’s not a book I would have picked for myself. It is a well deserved 5-stars!

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting story filled with the gory details of everything Western adventurers and explorers went through in the 1800s. The arrogance of the time period shows through in astounding ways.

[K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A surprisingly readable book about everything that led up to the famous "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?". I think it's very easy to get the impression that Stanley somehow managed to stumble across Livingstone in the middle of the African jungle and that it's this enormous miracle, but really? Livingstone was just hanging out in a fairly significant African village, one where he was expected to be at some stage because he had supplies waiting there for him.

This doesn't in any way lessen the fact that Stanley trekked nearly a thousand miles through the African jungle and savanna to find the explorer. But it's not QUITE as miraculous a tale as I thought when I first heard about Stanley and Livingstone as a kid.

The book is incredibly well researched, with extensive use of both Stanley and Livingstone's diaries and letters. There are chapters about what was happening back in London and the US, and familiar historical figures pop up throughout the story.

I think my only real gripe would be that there's no map to indicate where the two parties were at any given point. Like, it tells us that Stanley is X number of miles away from Livingstone. But it would have been really nice to have some rough indication of that on a map. Because Africa's a big place, and given that there really aren't any country names mentioned at any point - I think in the epilogue it said that most of the expedition took place in what's now Tanzania?? - it was kind of hard to wrap my head around where they were and how far they'd come. But maybe that's just me.

It did feel a little long at times, but on the whole it was an enjoyable and informative read.

[David Lucero · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ever Read A Book You Wish Did Not End?

Dr. David Livingstone was a common man with dreams of spreading the Gospel of the Lord and discovering the 'source of the Nile River in Africa. He also wished to end the slave trade running rampant throughout the continent. His first trip to Africa brought him fame and fortune, but he had yet to be accepted by the upper-class British society, which frowned upon the common folk. After acquiring the funds to lead an expedition in the heart of Africa, Livingstone leaves his family with the purpose of fulfilling a lifelong obsession. From Zanzibar to Bagamoyo, through rivers, swamps, veldts and savannahs, impenetrable jungle, and villages sometimes with friendly locals, other times with savages and cannibals, Livingstone has embarked on what others would have thought to be a mad attempt of discovery. After running short of supplies, Livingstone is not so much lost in Africa as he is unable to travel forward or backwards because his supplies have dwindled to nothing.

So far as the outside world knows, the explorer-missionary is lost.... But not forgotten.

In the late 19th Century, Africa is the unknown world. It is a place where adventurers travel to make a name for themselves and discover long lost truths about the history of the dark continent. When British society demands to know what has become of Livingstone, a search is requested from none other than Queen Victoria.

Enter Henry Morton Stanley, a hard-at-work journalist looking to make a name for himself. After managing to impress newspaper magnate James Gordon Bennett, Jr., Stanley embarks on a journey to Africa with intention of locating the lost Livingstone first. For the person to provide an exclusive story about what has become of Dr. Livingstone, the stakes are higher than anyone mighty imagine. Stanley does much of the same as Livingstone, acquiring supplies and a caravan with which to travel deep into Africa with the sole purpose of finding Livingstone before the British. The New York Herald funding his expedition demands nothing short of success. As Stanley experiences much of the same troubles as Livingstone, his hope is never diminished, and he presses on with the determination he never knew he had. It is a race of discovery as much as it is for survival.

This novel was an unexpected treasure of a read for me. I did not expect it to be so good. It's the kind of book I wish did not end because the adventures of Stanley and Livingstone are so well-written in the author's book. I read this as part of research for my own books about Africa and I have not been disappointed. I highly recommend this book. It's an adventure, a historical, and somehow romantic novel of the human spirit for exploration.

[Carolyn Walsh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I knew that Stanley found Livingstone, and people are familiar with Stanley's famous quote, "Doctor Livingstone, I presume? I didn't know much about the search and encounter or about either man. Had seen the old drawing representing their meeting. I still fail to understand why the search for the source of the Nile was of such paramount importance for the Royal Geographic Society, and after reading the book still don't know why it was a priority. The true source may not have been found until a century later using aerial photography and satellites, but even that may be in dispute,and it seems people have lost interest.
The search, however, mapped out large area of previously unexplored country which led to the exploitation of its resources and natives by European nations intent on colonizing and claiming most of the African continent.
Although written in gushing prose, this book is more readable than most standard text book histories. It is well researched from writings by Stanley and Livingstone, other adventurers of the time and contemporary newspaper reports. I enjoyed the studio portraits of the main players in the saga. My main complaint was the lack of maps illustrating the travels. This was a distraction as I often had to take a break in my reading to do an Internet search to understand exactly where they were at each stage of their travels,and more about the tribes they encountered. This broke up the narrative. There is one map at the beginning, but it is far from complete, omitting many of the settlements along the way. It shows the paths of Livingstone and Stanley, and some of Speke's but Burton is absent.
Livingstone was first in Africa as a missionary but we are not told how successful he was. He later became regarded as a great hero where he was idolized for walking across Africa. We do know he was admired by most who met him, and was kind to porters and others who accompanied the expedition. It took a special type of man to explore 19th century Africa, determined, even obsessive in their quest. Livingstone was requested by the Royal Geographic Society to settle conflicting reports by Burton and Speke by confirming the true source.
Both the Livingstone and Stanley expeditions endured terrible obstacles: porters who quit and stole supplies, pack animals died, there were deadly tropical diseases, snakes, dangerous predatory animals, biting and stinging insects, heat, swamps, rain storms, hunger, cannibals, warfare between slave traders and cannibals. Livingstone himself had a bone eating bacterial disease, cholera, malaria and dysentery as well as ulcers on his body. Not only were his food and medical supplies stolen, but promised supplies failed to arrive. It was often necessary that he be carried by by porters when he was too sick to walk, but such was his obsession to find the source of the Nile that on this journey he was away from his family for years.
Livingstone hoped to use his celebrity to end the slave trade. His disdain for the practice added to his isolation. He sent letters to Britain describing his travels and passed them on to slave caravans to be mailed home. As the slavers feared bad reports in those mails they threw them away, resulting the Royal Geographic Society and the public and his adoring fans believing he was lost for almost 5 years or dead. As much as he hated the slave trade, he often accepted their hospitality, sometimes traveling with them. This ended when he saw them massacre villagers at a market. In fact, Livingstone was not lost. He knew exactly where he was; convalescing and regaining his strength to continue his explorations rather than returning home.
Stanley was completely different in character and upbringing. He was known as an American reporter sent by the New York Tribune to find Livingstone. His real name was was not Stanley and he was British. His early life was like a nightmare version from Dickens. He fought on both sides during the American civil war. Until he marched into the home of the owner of the Tribune and demanded work as a reporter, he had failed at everything he attempted. He traveled widely for the newspaper before being assigned to find Livingstone. He was disliked by most and became a tyrant while leading his expedition. He beat porters and guides for infractions. Like Livingstone, terrible tropical diseases, including scarlet fever, plagued his workers. He contacted cerebral malaria causing dementia which is often deadly, and also suffered from smallpox and dysentery . Of the two white men accompanying him, one contacted elephantiasis and was left behind to die. The other shot at him during a mutiny. 2/3 of his porters deserted,stealing supplies. Any who were caught were brought back and whipped. At one point they found themselves in the midst of a war between cannibals and slave traders. Although Stanley often had to stop and rest due to illness or be carried by porters, he showed great anger towards anyone else who became sick, accusing them of laziness. He would leave them behind to die if they were unable to keep up. His pack animals died.
When Stanley at last found the starving Livingstone, he found the older man recovered enough to continue exploring. Livingstone refused to go home without reaching his goal. Stanley regarded Livingstone as a mentor and father figure and stayed behind for a month to search for the source of the Nile with him. Stanley returned to England with Livingstone's journals. At first he was reviled as a fraud, since the gentry refused to believe a man of lower class and an American could have accomplished the task as some of their own failed to find the heroic and revered celebrity. The newspapers, especially the Tribune increased circulation, and finally Stanley achieved fame and fortune. He was sent on another expedition and crossed the African continent. Livingstone died in Africa and his body was buried in Westminster Abbey, but his heart was buried in the Africa he had come to love. Stanley helped King Leopold establish the Belgian Congo which darkened his growing reputation as a great explorer. In death he was denied burial in Westminster Abbey.

.

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[Jenny Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was filled with small errors of fact that shook my confidence in the author's knowledge of the period. The author talks about how Ed Fisk attempted to corner the gold market. It was Jim Fisk. And the explorer wears a "balaclava helmet" in his African camp, which is unlikely since a balaclava is a ski mask. There were odd statements made in passing like one about Queen Victoria's botched coronation, and no attempt to explain the media climate in which Stanley's quest took place.

Those errors made me more aware of the way that the author added almost nothing to the story he tells here except what he found in other people's books and the diaries and newspaper reports about the protagonists. Most significantly, we learn nothing about the culture of the peoples of Africa that Stanley and Livingston spend all their time with. That really weakens the story, because we don't get much of a context to help us understand what the explorers were really seeing when they spent their time with these people, only what they thought they were seeing at the time.

There is plenty of scholarship available that could have fleshed this out. As it was, I became bored about halfway through when the story just turned into a paraphrase of the diaries and news reports, which were distinguished by their overblown style and Boys Own Paper spirit of breathless, if somewhat stupid, adventure.

[Vicky Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Lion's Last Bite or A Lion's Inheritance

Another winner from Dugard! I am fast becoming hooked on his work. But, unlike with his book Farther Than Any Man: The Rise and Fall of Captain James Cook I struggled with how to rate this work on the typical 5 point scale. The writing follows a sometimes jumpy timeline, moving back and forth in time as needed to keep a bit of mystique. And, the telling warms up heavily as the story progresses, so that by the time you reach the half-way point you are brimming with questions about what is to come.


Dugard presents some deeply investigated material and handles it with sensitivity as well as historical accuracy and attention to detail. You never lose sight of the events of the day as Stanley and Livingstone's journeys unfold. Dugard does this well. Like with Captain Cook last year, I had read many tidbits alluding to this famous duo's adventures in the books I have read on my Journey Around the World in 80 Books for 2019. So, I was eager to hear the full story. (This was my literary stop in Burundi.)

I read it in the Kindle format with not-quite-whispersynced Audible narrated by John Lee. What stood out to me about the narration was that I couldn't stop smiling about the voices used for Stanley and for Livingstone. One was a distinct American drawl and the other a charming Welsh lilt. I don't recommend it be read in the Audible alone, because it would be difficult to follow without the text... or rather that was my experience. And, wow was that map ever needed to follow the route. But it's right there in the Kindle version, so I just screen-shotted it to keep it handy in splitscreen on my phone.

I will not spoil any of the story at all for you. Ok, so I will probably succumb to leaving a stirring quote or two. But, suffice it to say that this is a must read for anyone who wants to know the rest of the story behind that famous phrase of greeting.

"The former slave died as one of the most accomplished African travelers in history." (Referring to Bombay)

"His body would be returning to England, but Livingstone's heart would always remain in Africa."

[Jovi Ene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cei pasionați de cărți de călătorie, de cărți despre exploratori celebri cunosc deja multe amănunte despre Stanley și Livingstone. Și aceștia, și ceilalți, care știu mai puține sau deloc, vor descoperi o excelentă carte despre aceste personalități, despre aventurile lor și despre felul în care se înfățișa lumea explorărilor (și nu numai) de la mijlocul secolului 19. Locurile prin care Livingstone și, pe urmele sale, Stanley au trecut prin Africa, deschizând noi drumuri sau ajungând la noi comunități și făcând descoperiri, dar și însemnări importante pentru viitorul omenirii, sunt o sursă extraordinară de informații inedite, care ne pot abate gândurile zilele acestea spre arșita Africii, spre animalele și triburile sale. Și ne vor uimi, inclusiv pe noi, exploratorii din fotoliu.

[awesomatik.de · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ich bin letztes Jahr von München nach Venedig gelaufen und diesen Sommer 700 km über die Alpen vom Genfer See bis ans Mittelmeer gewandert. Ich dachte, dass sei krass aber neben den Expeditionen von Stanley und Livingstone wirken meine Wanderungen wie eine Sightseeing-Tour auf dem Segway.

Wirklich unglaublich, was die beiden in ihren verhältnismäßig kurzen Leben alles erlebt haben. Ich war mit der Stanley-Livingstone Story nicht wirklich vertraut aber bin ein Fan von Expeditionen. So ist dieses Buch auf meine To-Read-Liste gerutscht.

Bislang habe ich eher nautische Abenteuer gelesen. Dieses Mal geht es über Land in das Herz von Afrika.

Der britische Missionar und Geograph Dr. Livingstone macht sich um 1860 auf die Suche nach den Nilquellen und geht dabei verloren.
Jahre später wird der Amerikaner Henry Morton Stanley auf dessen Suche geschickt.

Aus Literatur, Tagebüchern, Zeitungsartikeln und dem Besuch der Handlungsorte rekonstruiert Martin Dugard hochspannend die gesamte Geschichte bis zu dem legendären Satz "Dr. Livingstone, I presume".

Die Geschichte ist brutal in jeder Hinsicht. Sklaverei, Krieg, Krankheit, Wilde Tiere. Einfach irre wie diese Expeditionen geführt wurden. Und wenn man sich vergegenwärtigt, dass das alles noch nicht mal 150 Jahre her ist.
Dass unserer Planet vor so kurzer Zeit noch gar nicht vollständig erschlossen war.

Dugard schreibt mit "Into Africa" keine politische Abhandlung über die Kolonialzeit. Hier wird vor allem aus der Perspektive der beiden Forscher berichtet. Aber er lässt auch keine unappetitlichen Details aus. Und so kann sich der Leser selbst ein Bild von der Eroberung Afrikas im 19. Jahrhunderts mit all seinen Gräueltaten bilden. En passant erfährt man auch einiges aus dem Wilden Westen, Amerika und seinem Verhältnis zu Großbritannien.

Stanley hatte eine üble Kindheit. Leider hat er sich später selbst zu einem echten Tyrannen entwickelt. Livingstone schien da eher der Philanthrop zu sein (wenn man sowas über einen Missionaren überhaupt sagen kann)...

Ein Buch, das noch lange nachhallt und zum Weiterlesen- und forschen anregt.

[Otis Chandler · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Dr Livingstone, I presume!"

That phrase was buried in my mind somewhere. It was familiar, yet I knew not how nor who this Livingstone person was. This book explained it, and was very entertaining in the process. Highly recommended if you ever travel to East Africa.

A friend recently wrote an interesting piece about how the types of creative people that rise to be famous have changed over the years. Livingstone was an explorer in the mid-1800's, and was a Michael Jordan of England. He explored much of Africa, often being the only white man in the expedition. He abhorred slavery, which was then rampant, and fought against it. His quest was to find the source of the Nile river, which evidently was a big thing back then (today we just keep looking for 'dark matter' and other such stuff).

But the most interesting part of the book to me was that the reason we know that famous phrase, is that its an early example of newspaper sensationalism. The New York Observer paid a reporter (Stanley) to take ridiculously large and expensive expedition into the middle of Africa that lasted for years, just to be able to have the exclusive on the story. But it was worth it: millions of Americans were entertained for years by the articles on Stanley's quest. And England wasn't happy its superstar was found by an American either, a fact not lost on the Observer.

[Brenton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here is a very engaging narrative tracing the routes of Livingstone and Stanley to their famous meeting in Africa. I'd give it five stars as a good historical narrative. However, I'm not completely resigned (though sympathetic) to the author's downplaying of Livingstone's missionary career. Dugard emphasized Livigstone as a celebrity explorer--and that he was as witnessed by his elaborate funeral. He also emphasized Livingstone's abolitionist efforts.

Stanley is an elaborate character, curmudgeonly, racist, obnoxious, intrepid, daring, relentless. There is some redemption in the end. Africa wears away the rough edges and overcomes some of his white supremicist attitudes. Stanley was orphaned as a child, abused, manipulated by a ship captain into sailing for America, fought on both sides during the Civil War, journeyed out west, toured the world, then plunged into Africa without any experience as an explorer, and managed to move more effectively across the continent than many career explorers.

Dugard grippingly depicts the hardships of exploring Africa in the nineteenth century. Also, he effectively demonstrates that the search for the source of the Nile in the nineteenth century was akin to conquering Everest in the twentieth or circumnavigating the world in the sixteenth.

[Taveri · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing is a mess as the telling jumps around in time and among many characters. Ostensibly about Sanley and Livingstone, it has sections on Speke and Burton, other parts on Murchinson and a host of others with mix of stories on Alaska, the Civil War,
India and what not. The hodge podge of information may be of interest to some but with the continual (ab)use of cliff hangers it got so i didn't care if Stanley found Livingstone. It was certainly a telling we don't get in history classes with the atrocities mentioned. For a while i thought, without all the extranalities, it might make a good movie but neither Stanley nor Livingstone come across as likeable.

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

So what I knew about Stanley and Livington was, apparently, nothing. What an incredible story 'Into Africa' was/is!!! I loved reading about the exploration of Africa, but I loved more the background into the lives of these amazing men. Hard lives, hard living, and a tad hard to read, but persevere and you'll be glad you did.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Into Africa” by Martin Dugard is a fantastic historical account of the exploration of this largely uncharted continent in the mid 1800’s. Dugard compels the reader to consider the many riveting accounts of bravery, persistence and man’s indomitable spirit exemplified by Dr. David Livingstone and Henry Morton Stanley.
Livingstone, a missionary from Victorian England, had spent many years among the native tribes. He had conducted a number of explorations into East Africa in his earlier career as a missionary, but around in his mid- fifties, decides to return to the continent to seek the “Holy Grail” of all European explorers: to find the source of the Nile River. His final mission places him into the deepest jungles of Africa, beyond where any white man had ever ventured. His singularly outspoken views against the slave trade in Africa has put him in danger, because those merchants responsible for carrying out news of his progress are favorable to slavery and have thus cut off his status to the world.
Having “disappeared from the face of the earth” in 1866, a movement for his rescue was first called to action by England’s Royal Geographic Society, but was ultimately bypassed by none other than the brash American newspaper tycoon James Gordon Bennett Jr. of the New York Herald. Bennett hires a rising star in the sensationalist journalism business named Henry Morton Stanley whose own background gives him the impetus needed to locate the missing Dr. Livingstone.
Stanley decides to thrust his way into the darkest interior of Africa, his mission to find proof that Livingstone is still alive. Despite disease, predators, monsoons, warring tribes and scorching sun, he and his entourage are held up time and again by the various tribesmen who command “bribes” of cloth, beads and wire in order to proceed further into the wilderness. Finally, on November 10, 1871, Henry Morton Stanley marched into the village of Ujiji, and upon meeting the frail English explorer in a hut, uttered the famous words, “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”
Dugard has researched his material thoroughly, and based this work upon Stanley’s and Livingstone’s diaries, letters and communications from the Royal Geographic Society archives among an exhaustive collection of other historical records. This is truly a monumental telling of the struggle to find England’s beloved missionary/explorer by a journalist/adventurer who was so committed and determined to overcome every obstacle to do so.

[Rex Fuller · Rating 4 out of 5]

For years I vaguely assumed that Stanley’s effort to find Livingstone was a more or less straightforward trek into the African savannah. Anyone with the money could have done it. No big deal. Thousands and thousands of Americans were doing pretty much the same thing going west in this country at that time. Well!

Malaria and dysentery, both of which Stanley suffered repeatedly and severely. Mutinies and desertions by the porters. Deaths of porters and pack animals from all manner of causes. Extortion and attacks by local kingdoms. Treachery (and kindness) by Arab slave traders, who for centuries plyed the routes into and out of Africa. Skin-ripping grasses, thorns, vines, leaves, and trees. Swarms of insects that filled the tents every night. Temperatures over 120. Monsoon rain flooding and soaking everything unceasingly for weeks bringing chills, fever, and misery, and furnishing crocodiles and snakes immense roaming areas. Dense jungles. Stinking swamps. Blistering deserts. Building walls of stakes or thorn bushes around camp every night to keep lions and hyenas out. Hookworms, driver ants, poisonous spiders, and more, a lot more.

Dugard also shows us Livingstone’s path through life culminating in his all-consuming quest to find the source of the Nile. He suffered even more than Stanley, including an infection by bone-eating bacteria (which I didn’t even know existed).

A wealth of detail presents the story as interesting suspense against the backdrop of the whole picture of the times. It turns out Stanley was a colorful character before he went looking for Livingstone. Born in Wales the illegitimate child of the village whore and the village drunk who last saw his mother, not - as he expected - coming to rescue him from his Dickensian foster home, but instead to drop off his two younger siblings. At first chance, he shipped out on a British merchantman as a cabin boy only to discover he was put in the hell-hole of the regular crew quarters and given death-defying duties at the top of the masts required of all such boys, not the promised captain’s cabin he was recruited with. Jumped ship in New Orleans to escape without collecting his pay - something the ship owners counted on. Fought for the Confederate Army including at the Battle of Shiloh. Was taken prisoner of war and joined the Union Army in order to escape death from conditions in prison camp near Chicago. Then joined the Union Navy. After the war he rafted down the Platte in Nebraska and went to California. Gained notice as a journalist covering the Indian Wars. Went to Turkey, Persia, and Africa. Then talked his way into a commission from the New York Herald to find Livingstone, the two year trek that justly earned his fame.

For sheer adventure you cannot do better than this.

[Virginia Cornelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mi a placut calatoria facuta de Stanley in cautarea lui Livingstone.
Pentru cei nefamiliarizati cu personajele, voi mentiona cateva detalii. In anii 1800 , Africa era putin cunoscuta atat de europeni, cat si de americani. Putinele detalii geografice si antropologice corecte , se impleteau cu fantezia si miturile.
Izvoarele Nilului au fascinat mintile aventurierilor sute de ani. Si azi inca exista dezbateri asupra uneia dintre surse.
Daniel Livingstone a ajuns in Africa ,avand rolul de a impartasi cuvantul Domnului. Se plictiseste la un moment dat , si porneste sa cunoasca continentul si sa le impartaseasca englezilor despre el. Dupa mai multe expeditii incununate cu succes, se va gasi la un moment dat in mijlocul unei dispute asupra izvoarelor, disputa intre Burton si Speke. Astfel, conducatorul Societatii Regale de Geografie il desemneaza sa plece inca o data in Africa si sa elucideze misterul. Reusita ii va pune astfel pe Murchinson si Livingstone pentru totdeauba in cartile de istorie si geografie. Calatoria planificata pe 2 ani, se va extinde la 8. Intrand in inima continentului, din cauza vremii, a razboaielor dintre triburi si lipsei resurselor, lui Livingstone i se pierde urma si este declarat disparut , apoi decedat.
Intr o alta parte a lumii, un jurnalist plin de ambitie, dar lipsit de scrupule va pleca in cautarea doctorului si va inaugura jurnalismul de calatorie.

Mi a placut mult cartea, mai ales prima parte, care este foarte antrenanta. Mi ar fi placut sa aflu mai multe despre Livingstone, dar probabil datorita informatiilor limitate ajunse pana la noi, Dugard se concentreaza mai mult pe Stanley.

Am aflat lucruri despre greutatile unei expeditii in Africa, despre comertul cu sclavi , relatiile dintre triburi si relatiile dintre negri si albi.
Comertul cu sclavi a fost initiat de arabi, dar o data cu dezvoltarea abilitatilor maritime, prin anii 1400, portughezii il vor stapani pentru urmatoarele sute de ani. Livingstone a fost una din primele voci care a adus la cunostinta opiniei publice atrocitatile. Sate intregi incendiate, oameni furati si purtati in lanturi catre coasta, pentru a fi vanduti. Daca se opuneau erau ucisi pe loc.
La polul opus al moralitatii, se va afla mai tarziu Stanley, care, angajat de Leopold al II lea, il va ajuta pe acesta sa colonizeze Africa de Vest, una dintre cele mai crude si mai sangeroase actiuni de acest gen.

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book after reading Tim Butcher's Blood River which was about the author's journey to replicate Henry Mortan Stanley's journey to chart the Congo River in 1874-77. Into Africa does not give details of Stanley's journey on the Congo but is a very engaging telling of his journey to find Dr. David Livingstone in 1871-72. Livingstone was of course the Scottish explorer who with his travels in Africa between 1841 and 1863 shed a light on what was up to that point very uncharted territory of the "Dark Continent.” In 1866, Livingstone set out to find the source of the Nile River after there was a dispute about it based on the explorations of Sir Richard Francis Burton and John Speke. Livingstone and his party disappeared somewhere between Zanzibar and Lake Tanganyika. He was reported as dead at one point but then reports came back that he was still alive in the uncharted area of central Africa.

Newspaper correspondent Henry Morton Stanley was tasked by the New York Herald to try to find Stanley. Stanley set out from Zanzibar and for three years roamed around southeastern Africa on the trail of Livingstone who was rumored to be somewhere near Lake Tanganyika. Stanley fought through disease, native warriors, and terrible terrain and was in despair of ever finding Livingstone. But his perseverance prevailed and of course he did find him on the shores of Tanganyika in the trading post of Ujiji. This resulted in the famous quote "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"

I enjoyed this narrative that really went into a lot of detail on Stanley's quest. The chapters alternate between what is happening to Livingstone and where Stanley is in trying to find him along with happenings from London and New York. This was a huge story at the time, one of the biggest during the Victorian period. I have another book on my TBR shelves that gives a more complete biography of Stanley called Dark Safari by John Bierman that I also hope to read sometime in the near future. I also have some unread books about Sir Richard Burton that I also may read soon. Blood River really piqued my interest in reading more about Africa especially its exploration in the 19th century.

[Kathleen Saad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another story of extreme survival in East Africa, forging forward relentlessly to discover the source of the Nile river. Livingstone is the righteous hero, beginning his journey in Africa as a missionary, but soon caught up in the race to find the source. Tragedy, disease, starvation, thirst, death and war accompany him at every turn. After no word from Dr Livingstone for years, Stanley is coerced by his newspaper to find him and become famous. It is without a doubt, a fabulous story of two determined men to accomplish their dreams in Africa. Stanley is a hero in his own right, pushing through neck-deep swamps infested with malaria, dysentery and smallpox. Covering over 900 miles inland from Zanzibar, in some 200 odd days, he finally reaches Ujiji, where Livingstone has been languishing in disease, poverty and starvation. Wonderfully told, reads like an exciting novel, and packed with precious bites of history untill now that are mostly unknown. Great read. Wonderful writing. Five stars.

[Kathryn · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is impeccably researched and very well written; however, I had to fight every step of the way to finish it, and had a a constant inner moral dilemma with honoring it by reading it at all. I feel so strongly opposed to the explorations of the past that led to the reckless, brutal, and unforgivable colonization and exploitation of the African people, resources, and land that I have an overwhelming physical reaction and anger that wells up in my heart whenever I read about it or relearn it. I have read several books about African history that originally stemmed from reading Barabar Kingsolver's book The Poisonwood Bible when it first came out in 1998. I was given that book for Christmas by my mom, and I remember starting it very early in the morning the day after Christmas and staying with it until I was finished very late that night (or early morning). Kingsolver's extensive bibliography included with that work of fiction lead me on a path of learning everything I could about King Leopold II of Belgium and the other works that had been written that she included. One example was King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild and Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe-the classic novel written from the perspective of a Nigerian man whose life, like so many others, was impacted by the Christian missionary phenomenen that caused so much distruction of African societies and cultures because of the brutality and violence that most often accompanied the imposition of conversion onto the people. In truth, as a child who believed absolutely in Christianity and whose life was completely rooted in my faith, I was always deeply troubled by the missionary aspect of Christianity-it seemed so obvious that people who had never heard of Jesus, or had the opportunity to be baptisized could be condemned to deathand and therefore doomed to a fiery perpetual hell-that was compatible with my understanding of the message of love that Jesus gave us. Anyway, I couldn't stop reading what Barabar Kingsolver had read that informed her writing of that story and even though it has been twenty years since I had that experience, it is still raw, and I am passionate about it. It accounts in many ways for why I am no longer a member of the church in which I grew up.
In this book, Into Africa: the Epic Adventures of Stanley and Livingstone that illuminates and compilies the journals and history of David Livingstone's
obsessive goal of locating the source of the Nile river and the determination of Henry Morton Stanley to find Livingstone, who was missing somewhere in Africa, in order to write a story for the New York Herald, there is so obviously bias in the form of retelling this story of exploration as a glorified act that depicts privileged white men as heroic and inaccurately portrays their "successes" as something that was accomplished because of their extrodinary courage and perseverance. Although there is mention and follow up regarding the other people in their caravans who traveled with them and acknowledgement of the raacist attitudes of Stanley, it is also not at all balanced in terms of crediting those people who carried all of the supplies and equipment through all of the miles and miles of the journeys-the African people who were forced to go along as slaves, or of "paid" workers (those who signed on and weren't allowed to change their minds when it became obviously too dangerous or life threatening becasue of illness, etc.) are still only treated as footnotes in the history of these white men. Their sacrifice and unjust treatment is only mentioned in the most understated way, which makes it seem as though their contribution was merely an obvious expectation since their lives were less important. The aftermath and effect of these explorations that the African continent suffered is just included as a short mention in the epilogue and the fact that the people of Africa, the resources, and economies are still adversely impacted because of it is so understated as to be appalling. It again stirs up so much anger in me that it is difficult to write about, and I doubt that I will be able to talk very calmly about it at book club when we meet. I haven't even covered how they described their disregard for animals with trophy hunting both in the American West and on safari in Africa-the legacy of this continues with the loss of the elephants that are being poached-on and on and on.
The fact that women were what they offered as part of their tribute or payment along with cloth and beads is another dark and dirty aspect of this story that was merely a mention. DON'T READ THIS, PLEASE-unless it will result in your outrage and spur you onward to read all of the accompanying books that give you a fuller and more complete version of this (our) history. If you read it, hear all of the voices that aren't heard, question the writer's decisions about what to include and highlight and what is left out. Think critically about how history is recorded and told and retold-be tireless in your pursuit of the lost voices and stories of those who have been deemed less important or just the accessories to the "real people." Be wary of books written about people and events that are "more deserving" of being remembered and elevated because they are members of dominant culture.

[Dan · Rating 2 out of 5]

An entertaining story, but riddled with small historical inaccuracies

[Donna Pfeiffer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've heard about these heroic men for most of my life but didn't know many details. Livingstone studied at both a medical school and then a seminary. He lived at a time when England was interested in discovering the interior of many of the discovered nations, with Africa at the forefront. Livingstone's interest was piqued to find the source of the Nile, which required the adventure of Africa's interior. Stanley on the other hand had a dysfunctional heritage and was not successful with any of his endeavors until he began to put pen to paper. Once he found his voice through his writings he was hired to write for newspapers, eventually hired by the Herald in N.Y. He actually became the first journalist sent to cover live events around the world. The owner of the Herald sent him to Asian countries first, then as speculation about Livingstone's fate landed his assignment to Africa. England had become concerned about whether Livingstone was still alive after four years with no current sightings. It was amazing what both men experienced as they traveled through a variety of terrain, extreme weather, uncivilized cultures, deadly animals, and life debilitating disease. This venture was also at the time of slaves being taken from the villages they were traveling through, sometimes being caught up in the carnage. As difficult as this experience was, neither man would surrender to their commitment to fulfill their goals; Livingstone's desire to find the source of the Nile, and Stanley's commitment to determine the fate of Livingstone.

[David Holford · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. There is a quote from Bill Bryson on the cover which reads, “One cracking adventure story… will keep you turning the pages well into the night, I promise you.” I would agree, though I might not be as voracious a reader as Bill Bryson. Having recently read two rather old Livingstone biographies - one written around 1930 and the other around 1940 - I thought it would be fun to read something a bit more contemporary, and this book fits the bill admirably. Mind you it is a biography of two very different men, but the contrast makes it all the more interesting. Both were famous explorers, Livingstone a generation older. They each had very different world views, and very different motivations for their explorations of Africa. Their stories are fascinating.

The Livingstone story was especially interesting for me, having just read two other books about him, because it paints a picture of someone extraordinary and yet very human. His faith is handled very sensitively, but he is not painted as a saint, despite the picture that the earlier books tend to to depict. Not only his very genuine spirituality and deep commitment to God is described, but also the sensual side of his personality, and I was surprised to discover that he almost certainly fathered a child with an African woman, though he never wrote about it in his journals, conscious as he was that his journals would be read by all and sundry sooner or later. There are nevertheless journal entries which testify to his appreciation of female beauty he encountered on his journeys, and in almost the next breath his unashamed spirituality as he cries out to God for grace to love Him more and serve Him better.

Indeed this book’s credibility comes from being rooted in the journals, those of Livingstone as well as Stanley’s. The author quotes often from these writings, and builds up a totally believable picture of both men. He also describes with great sensitivity the meeting between the two of them, and the deep though short lived friendship that ensued, for Stanley returned to the West after a few months together, while Livingstone went deeper into Africa to die. Stanley’s tears at their departure are particularly moving. He had found in Livingstone the father he had always longed for, but never known.

Of the three books I have read about Livingstone recently this was by far the most interesting and enjoyable. I would go so far as to say it is inspirational. If you have any interest in the story of Britain’s encounter with Africa in the Victorian age, or any interest in the kind of men who spent so many years wandering across that vast, wild continent encountering the horrors of slavery, warfare and disease, then you will love this book. I certainly did.

[Vivek KuRa · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting subject , but written poorly. Couldn't read past 50 pages .

[Damian Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great to read after River of the Gods by Candice Millard.

[Nancy Kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Dr. Livingstone, I presume." Of course, we all know this famous line from the story of New York Herald reporter Henry Stanley, who was sent out to find the missing African missionary and explorer David Livingstone.

If you read this book carefully, you'll find that Stanley may or may not have actually said these words. And, if you read the New Yorker review of this book (June 2, 2003), you'll find that some of the incidents recounted in this book are probably based on Stanley's highly embellished memoir How I found Livingstone. The New Yorker writer chides Martin Dugard for his broad "pattern of unreliability."

Keep this in mind while you read Into Africa. But don't let it stop you. This is a ripping tale of adventure, heavily dosed with enjoyable biography. It's a winning combination. I love the way the author starts each chapter with a geographical accounting of the miles that stand between Stanley and Livingstone while they are living their separate lives and then while their destiny is becoming intertwined.

Livingstone and Stanley both come across as more noble than they probably were. Stanley's brutality toward the African people and Livingstone's cruel desertion of his family are both downplayed. So, if you want to know more, check out Mr. Dugard's bibliography. If not, just content yourself with knowing more than you knew before about this iconic greeting.

If you want to know more about the travels of missionaries sent out by the London Missionary Society, the agency that first sent out Livingstone, read Tom Hiney's On the Missionary Trail: A Journey Through Polynesia, Asia, and Africa with the London Missionary Society. It's the story of a two-man deputation sent out in the early 1800s to check on the society's first missionaries in remote places around the globe. Another great book.

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

If the continents were graduating high school and were given superlatives, Africa would be voted continent most likely to kill you.

Africa--at least central Africa of the mid-19th century--was a serial killer. Malaria, elephantiasis, sleeping sickness, and small pox all roamed the jungles and plains. If you were lucky enough to escape these delights, there were also lions, leopards, crocodiles, poisonous spiders, and God in heaven, hordes of carnivorous ants. AND if you were lucky enough to survive that, there were also monsoons where food became difficult to find, or drought or desert vistas, where food was also scarce. Apparently in an effort to not be outdone by Mother Nature, humans contributes to the death toll through hostile and often cannibalistic encounters and tribal warfare. And yet like a dangerous but alluring lover, Africa attracted explorers who fell in love with it and returned again and again. Talk about a fatal attraction.

While this book is about the epic meeting of Henry Stanley and David Livingstone, Africa is as much a character as either of them. I found the explorers' indefatigable quest to either explore new regions (Livingstone) or to find a missing explorer (Stanley) fascinating and intriguing. Says the woman who prefers a Marriott comforter to a tent any day. A great book to read from the comfort of your own bed or beach chair.

Before reading this book, I took Stanley to be a sideline to Livingstone's story, but he has his own story in his own right. While Livingstone epitomized the intrepid explorer of the times, Stanley's own life mirrored the world of the mid and late 1800s. Rather Forest Gump like, he often happened to be in just the right place at the right time. And certainly for Livingstone, he was.