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River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile
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Original price was: $18.00.$12.99Current price is: $12.99.
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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The harrowing story of one of the great feats of exploration of all time and its complicated legacy—from the New York Times bestselling author of The River of Doubt and Destiny of the Republic
ABEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: THE WASHINGTON POST • GOODREADS
“A lean, fast-paced account of the almost absurdly dangerous quest by [Richard Burton and John Speke] to solve the geographic riddle of their era.” —The New York Times Book Review
For millennia the location of the Nile River’s headwaters was shrouded in mystery. In the 19th century, there was a frenzy of interest in ancient Egypt. At the same time, European powers sent off waves of explorations intended to map the unknown corners of the globe – and extend their colonial empires.
Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke were sent by the Royal Geographical Society to claim the prize for England. 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, passionate about hunting, Burton’s opposite in temperament and beliefs.
From the start the two men clashed. They would endure tremendous hardships, 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, Speke rushed to take credit, disparaging Burton. Burton disputed his claim, and Speke launched another expedition to Africa to prove it. The two became venomous enemies, with the public siding with the more charismatic Burton, to Speke’s great envy. The day before they were to publicly debate,Speke shot himself.
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 traveled 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.
In River of the Gods Candice Millard has written another peerless story of courage and adventure, set against the backdrop of the race to exploit Africa by the colonial powers.
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Categories: Best Books of 2024 So Far
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River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile
Price:
Original price was: $18.00.$12.99Current price is: $12.99.
amk –
The story is compelling and well written. I was sorely disappointed that as soon as I began reading it I found poor typesetting that made the words wavy and overprinted in places. The photos pages are slowly coming apart and may cause other pages to start falling out soon as well. overall disappointed by the quality of the physical book.
Patricia Murray –
It just wasn’t my cup of tea
C. Hale –
I’ve read quite a few books about African exploration – colonialism… but this is outstanding. Absolutely gripping yet Millard never loses sight of the racism and colonial ambitions of the men who searched for the sources of the Nile.
BM –
This is a truly fascinating tale. The main part of the story revolves around explorer Richard Burton and his expeditions to discover the source of the Nile River, but the scope of the book goes well beyond just Burton and his rival John Speke. The East India Company gets a good deal of attention as does Burton’s wife Isabel who thanks to her diaries we get a wonderful window into the upper crust world of 19th century Britain. This gives the book a great sense of context as we explore Burton’s fascinating life.
What stands out in this book is besides the wonderful writing style is how well this book was researched. We read about little things like how Burton gets shafted on a language exam for the East India Company. We learn how he’s viewed by his contemporaries. All of this leads to a very immersive reading experience and should be a real treat for anyone interested in the history of the 19th century.
Bobby D. –
When I was a teenager one of the things that intrigued me was Explorers, especially those who searched for the source of the Nile. As a result, I have read and collected several books on the topic. It was automatic when I saw Candice Millard had written her latest book on this subject that I would pre-order a copy. I have read and liked her three previous books (especially THE RIVER OF DOUBT). I would recommend that if you have never read another book on this subject her new book is a good starting point. You might even want to find a copy of the 1990 movie that tracks this same story, THE MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON. I thought I would use this review to also mention some of my favorite books on the subject of the search for the Nile.
Millard’s book for the most part only focuses on Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke’s searches (and Speke’s lone discovery of the source). She also elevates the major role played by their African guide Sidi Muarak Bombay, a former slave who co-led other White English Explorers (such as Henry Morton Stanley). Bombay helped Stanley to find Livingston and became the first to cross the entire African continent, sea to sea, from East to West with explorer Cameron. It was not until 2009 that the Royal Geographic Society commissioned a major museum exhibit that recognized native explorers’ contributions.
I still have my first book on the subject of the River Nile. Read some 60 years ago all I can recall is that it was one of those books that amazed its teenage reader. It is Alan Moorehead’s THE WHITE NILE (1960). The book includes the Speke/Burton exploration in addition to Livingston, Samuel Baker with his wife, Stanley and finally covering the Muslim uprising that killed “Chinese” Gordon leading to Kitchener’s British victory. Moorehead wrote a second book, THE BLUE NILE (1962) which includes the history of this major river tributary.
Another book that digs deeper into the amazing person that was Richard Burton (not the actor who borrowed his name). Edward Rice’s CAPTAIN SIR RICHARD BURTON: THE SECRET AGENT WHO MADE THE PILGRIMAGE TO MECCA, DISCOVERED THE KAMA SUTRA, AND ROUGHT THE ARABIAN NIGHTS TO THE WEST (1990). In addition, led with Speke the expedition into the Mountains of the Moon in search of the source of the Nile. Burton spoke 29 languages and was long before Lawrence of Arabia an Englishman who emerged himself in foreign cultures. Like Lawrence Burton was an obsessive writer of great talent and intellect who immersed himself in Araian Muslim culture (who disguised as a Muslim entered Mecca).
More biographies and focus have highlighted Burton over Speke. If you do not know the story it is best I not give it away here except to say Speke did not have the charisma or talent to provide for a lasting legacy. Richard Burton married late in life to a very interesting woman, Isabel. Their relationship and Burton’s story is well told in Mary S. Lovell’s biography, A RAGE TO LIVE, RICHARD AND ISABEL BURTON (1998).
A very entertaining book about a fabulously interesting footnote to the people attracted to the challenge of the search for the Nile’s source is Pat Shipman’s TO THE HEART OF THE NILE, LADY FLORENCE BAKER AND THE EXPLORATION OF CENTRAL AFRICA (2004). Florence’s family was killed in the Hungry revolution which lead to her being kidnapped from a refugee camp and sold into slavery. Trained to be in a harem. At age 14 she was to be auctioned but a wealthy Englishman, Samuel Baker facilitated her escape (perhaps being outbid). Eventually, the two married and through a continued journey to keep Florence’s background hidden settled on an arduous attempt to journey upriver to find the source of the Nile. Instead, they found Lake Albert returning to celebrity in England.
Of all these books one stands out as the most entertaining, well-written, and has become one of my all-time favorites. Tim Jeal’s STANLEY, THE IMPOSSIBLE LIFE OF AFRICA’S GREATEST EXPLORER (2007). Know mostly for his finding (with Bombay) Dr. Livingston famously saying, “Dr. Livingston, I presume?”Stanley’s reputation has been tarnished over decades casting him as an anti-African imperialist caught up in the madness of King Leopold of Belgium’s crimes in the Congo. Tim Jeal’s book does much to rehabilitate Stanley still warts apparent. Stanley’s is an amazing life story, serving for a time on both the South and North side in the American Civil War. In addition to searching for the source of the Nile (finally confirming that Speke’s Lake Victoria theory was correct) he also searched for the source of the Congo River. He was knighted in 1897. (Check this extraordinary book out.)
Following STANLEY Tim Jeal wrote, EXPLORERS OF THE NILE, THE TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY OF A GREAT VICTORIAN ADVENTURE (2011). Jeal, much like Alan Moorhead in THE WHITE NILE covers almost all of the major Explorers that attempted to find the source of the Nile. So when I saw that Candice Millard had chosen this much-told story I wondered why beyond it is one that never bores in its telling. And Millard does the story justice and I enjoyed revisiting all of these interesting stories and characters. My problem with the book is that I did not find a lot that was fresh or new to the story. But that is more my problem than that of the author, as she has written a great book for a new generation. Those who are captivated by this adventure and the conflict between these two strong-willed men should enjoy Millard’s fine telling.
Dave Ansell –
The description of this book given by Amazon should tell people what it is about. It is not meant to be a complete biography of Sir Richard Francis Burton or John Hanning Speke, but some reviewers seem to think this is what they were buying! The book is about the relationship between Burton and Speke resulting from their source for the source of the River Nile.
If you are familiar with this story, then you will find little here which isn’t in other books. There are no new revelations to get excited about. If you are new to this story, then this book is a very good account of it. It is well written and has a lot of detail. It introduces other characters involved and is excellent at putting things in context. Burton could be a difficult person to know – the book clearly illustrates this. Speke was a 19th century cad – the book clearly shows this as well. I feel the judgements made by Candice Millard are fair but the debate as to how bad Speke was is still an issue more than 150 years after the events examined in this book.
Although this is not a biography of Richard Francis Burton, it does give the story of his life, in order to give context. The period after the journey to Lake Tanganyika would suggest that Burton’s life was one of failure and disappointment but this is rather misleading. As Millard says, there is only one biography of Speke and he is somewhat forgotten. There are “more than a dozen” biographies of Burton – in fact, there are over twenty, along with several other works examining different aspects of the man and his life. There are probably more books about Burton than any other African explorer, including the more famous David Livingstone. There are also many works of fiction about him or featuring him.
This book is also about a third person – Sidi Mubarak Bombay. As Millard says, he is “one of the most accomplished guides in the history of African exploration”, and it is to her credit that he finally receives some recognition.
The book has a good choice of illustrations (although one has no caption), and the maps (on the endpapers) are adequate but could be better. Many locations mentioned in the book are not given on the maps and as a former National Geographic journalist, I think we could expect better from Millard.
So as I have said, this is a good introduction to this story of African exploration and controversy, and will suit those unfamiliar with it. Those already in the know, however, may find it not such a good investment even though it is a refreshing re-write. To those who want to know more about the search for the source of the River Nile, I strongly recommend the BBC series The Search For The Nile, available on DVD. Even though it was made in 1971, I feel it is still an excellent production. The film Mountains of the Moon, directed by Bob Rafelson (1989), gives another good account of the story covered in Millard’s book. To know more about Burton, just look at the books on Amazon – this may take you some time – there are 20+ biographies, and he wrote over 40 books!
John Berry –
I’m pretty sure if Candice Millard wrote about the history of the phonebook, I would read it. It is very impressive how she supports her story with supporting quotes so the reader doesn’t have to wonder about any suppositions.
The character John Speke reminds me of Professor Smith in the old television series Lost in Space. While Richard Burton comes across as the always self assured Captain Kirk of StarTrek.
Having said all of the above one needs to understand that successful explorers of this time frame were treated as not just heroes but super heroes. Richard Burton by all descriptions seem to meet the average person’s idea of what a hero and explorer should look like. Perhaps Speke didn’t necessarily meet that visual.
This story doesn’t necessarily take in all the page by page action of her other books. I believe it’s helpful to understand this book is more about the ‘want to be’ Speke and the self assured Burton. Certainly one can easily read and feel the frustration Burton feels when betrayed by Speke. However, it was difficult to fully understand Speke’s jealousy of Burton. I think Ms. Millard did an outstanding job of defining these two personalities with the only similarities of the two, being their strife to be recognized for their accomplishments.
The goal of both explorers was to find the source of the White Nile. While one character actually found the source, his description and mapping were so poor it left the other protagonist with ample opportunity for conjecture.
So the source of the White Nile is finally acknowledged, that’s really not the story.
As stated earlier the story is about conflict that need not have been.
I have read all four of Candice Millard’s books and I even read every word of her acknowledgements. Five years she spent writing this book and I will pre order her next one as well.
Darlene Albright –
Totally not what I expected. Thought there would be more about the adventures then the people. More about people getting the better out of other people. Jeolousy and backstabing. Found the best aspect in the book as the last part of the book. I read it but will not read it again. Does not really put the history aspects together well. I like details and it was more vagueness. Sorry, not my favourite.
Masspecguy –
lessor known heros of european exploration of the dark continent. Who paid for thier zeal with life long health issues . only the govt profited on the results .