Explorers of the Nile: The Triumph and Tragedy of a Great Victorian Adventure

by Tim Jeal Narrated by Clive Chafer

Overview

Nothing obsessed explorers of the mid-nineteenth century more than
the quest to discover the source of the White Nile. It was the planet's most elusive secret, the prize coveted above all others. Between 1856 and 1876, six larger-than-life men and one extraordinary woman accepted
the challenge. Showing extreme courage and resilience, Richard Burton, John Hanning Speke, James Augustus Grant, Samuel Baker, Florence von Sass, David Livingstone, and Henry Morton Stanley risked their lives and
reputations in the fierce competition. Award-winning author Tim Jeal deploys fascinating new research to provide a vivid tableau of the unmapped "Dark Continent," its jungle deprivations, and the courage-as well as malicious tactics-of the explorers.

On multiple forays launched into east and central Africa, the travelers passed through almost impenetrable terrain and suffered the ravages of flesh-eating ulcers, paralysis, malaria, deep spear wounds, and even death. They discovered Lakes Tanganyika and Victoria and became the first white people to encounter the kingdoms of Buganda and Bunyoro. Jeal weaves the story with authentic new detail and examines the tragic unintended legacy of the Nile search that still casts a long shadow over the people of Uganda and Sudan.

Editorial Reviews

Ben Macintyre

…a brilliant, scholarly and at times almost unreadably vivid account of the two decades in the middle of the 19th century when the search for the Nile's source in central Africa was at its height…
—The New York Times Book Review

Diana Preston

…Jeal relates in this elegantly written and skillfully crafted book how a handful of Victorian explorers—Richard Burton, John Speke, James Grant, David Livingstone, Henry Stanley, Samuel Baker and his mistress, Florence von Sass—plunged into east and central Africa to uncover "the planet's most elusive secret"…The greatest strengths of this highly enjoyable and readable book are Jeal's passion for his subject and his mastery of personalities as complex as the geography they battled to understand.
—The Washington Post

From the Publisher

"Jeal recounts each perilous expedition to unlock the secrets of the Nile watershed with an astonishing clarity and depth that brings to life the hazardous environs of equatorial Africa." ---Booklist

http://blog.yupnet.org/2011/10/20/eminent-biography-tim-jeal-on-explorers-of-the-nile/

Read Tim Jeal's essay on the perils of exploration on the Yale Press Log

Sunday Times - James McConnachie

"Tim Jeal's masterly book ... can safely supplant Alan Moorehead's 1960 classic, The White Nile... Jeal also knows how to tell a fabulous story, and he lets old-fashioned epic adventure sit at the heart of his fine book." —James McConnachie, Sunday Times

Literary Review - Alexander Maitland

"Tim Jeal's wonderful book is filled with anecdotes and brilliant cameos, which keep the narrative fresh and sparklingly alive. His treatment of these legendary figures is authoritative and compassionate."—Alexander Maitland, Literary Review

New York Book Festival - History Honorable Mention

Won Honorable Mention in the 2012 New York Book Festival History category, sponsored by the New York Book Festival

Los Angeles Book Festival - General Non-Fiction Award Runner-up

Runner-up for the 2011-2012 Los Angeles Book Festival in the General Non-fiction category

Booklist - Brian Odom

"Superb narrative . . . Jeal’s judicious account is a must-read for anyone hoping to understand the internal dynamics of modern state-building in central Africa."—Brian Odom, Booklist

TLS - William Boyd

"Masterly...One of the fascinations of Jeal's book and his account of this astonishing period of exploration is that it makes great efforts to strip away the accumulated myths and through this process we can begin to see these 'heroic' figures plain, to imagine them as they were to their contemporaries."—William Boyd, TLS

Sunday Telegraph - John Preston

"[A] wonderfully entertaining and authoritative account of the search for the Nile and its consequences."—John Preston, Sunday Telegraph

New York Times Book Review - Ben Macintyre

Explorers of the Nile is a brilliant, scholarly and at times almost unreadably vivid account of the two decades in the middle of the 19th century when the search for the Nile’s source in central Africa was at its height.”—Ben Macintyre, New York Times Book Review

Irish Examiner - Tim Severin

"If there is one book about the search for the sources of the Nile to read and keep on the shelf, this is it."—Tim Severin, Irish Examiner

Daily Telegraph - Tim Butcher

"There are few greater stories than the race to the Nile's source... Tim Jeal gives a fine reprise, bringing together in one well-paced narrative the interlocking Nilotic adventures ... Its place [is] alongside the classics of Victorian explorer history."—Tim Butcher, Daily Telegraph

New York Times Book Review

Brilliant.”—New York Times Book Review

The Spectator - Tom Stacey

"Tim Jeal's gripping book pulls the whole astonishing story together. . . . It's as intricate and unexpected as the source of the river itself. . . All the main players were. . . examples of grit, resourcefulness and courage on a heroic scale. . . . How intimately Tim Jeal knows them all, and brings them back to life for us."—Tom Stacey,  The Spectator

The Dispatch - Rob Hardy

"Jeal's lengthy, comprehensive, and revisionist book is exciting reading both about the adventures in the field and about the clash of personalities."—Rob Hardy, The Dispatch

Washington Post - Diane Preston

"Elegantly written and skillfully crafted...The greatest strengths of this highly enjoyable and readable book are Jeal’s passion for his subject and his mastery of personalities as complex as the geography they battled to understand."—Diane Preston, Washington Post

Guardian

"Splendid."—Bernard Porter, Guardian

Daily Express - Peter Burton

"Epic in proportion...An absorbing adventure and a thought provoking morality tale."—Peter Burton, Daily Express

http://yalepress.wordpress.com/2011/10/20/eminent-biography-tim-jeal-on-explorer

Read Tim Jeal's essay on the perils of exploration on the Yale Press Log

http://blog.yupnet.org/2011/10/20/eminent-biography-tim-jeal-on-explorers-of-the-nile/

Read Tim Jeal's essay on the perils of exploration on the Yale Press Log

New York Book Festival

Won Honorable Mention in the 2012 New York Book Festival History category, sponsored by the New York Book Festival

— History Honorable Mention

Literary Review

"Tim Jeal's wonderful book is filled with anecdotes and brilliant cameos, which keep the narrative fresh and sparklingly alive. His treatment of these legendary figures is authoritative and compassionate."—Alexander Maitland, Literary Review

— Alexander Maitland

The Dispatch

"Jeal's lengthy, comprehensive, and revisionist book is exciting reading both about the adventures in the field and about the clash of personalities."—Rob Hardy, The Dispatch
— Rob Hardy

The Spectator

"Tim Jeal's gripping book pulls the whole astonishing story together. . . . It's as intricate and unexpected as the source of the river itself. . . All the main players were. . . examples of grit, resourcefulness and courage on a heroic scale. . . . How intimately Tim Jeal knows them all, and brings them back to life for us."—Tom Stacey,  The Spectator

— Tom Stacey

Daily Express

"Epic in proportion...An absorbing adventure and a thought provoking morality tale."—Peter Burton, Daily Express

— Peter Burton

Irish Examiner

"If there is one book about the search for the sources of the Nile to read and keep on the shelf, this is it."—Tim Severin, Irish Examiner

— Tim Severin

Daily Telegraph

"There are few greater stories than the race to the Nile's source... Tim Jeal gives a fine reprise, bringing together in one well-paced narrative the interlocking Nilotic adventures ... Its place [is] alongside the classics of Victorian explorer history."—Tim Butcher, Daily Telegraph

— Tim Butcher

Los Angeles Book Festival

Runner-up for the 2011-2012 Los Angeles Book Festival in the General Non-fiction category

— General Non-Fiction Award Runner-up

Sunday Telegraph

"[A] wonderfully entertaining and authoritative account of the search for the Nile and its consequences...There is something intensely moving about the the way in which Jeal has sought to restore Speke's reputation."—John Preston, Sunday Telegraph

— John Preston

Sunday Times

"Tim Jeal's masterly book ... can safely supplant Alan Moorehead's 1960 classic, The White Nile... Jeal also knows how to tell a fabulous story, and he lets old-fashioned epic adventure sit at the heart of his fine book." —James McConnachie, Sunday Times

— James McConnachie

TLS

"Masterly...The complicated narrative is well told with exemplary scholarship and great and compelling lucidity...One of the fascinations of Jeal's book and his account of this astonishing period of exploration is that it makes great efforts to strip away the accumulated myths and through this process we can begin to see these 'heroic' figures plain, to imagine them as they were to their contemporaries."—William Boyd, TLS

— William Boyd

Booklist

"Superb narrative . . . Jeal’s judicious account is a must-read for anyone hoping to understand the internal dynamics of modern state-building in central Africa."—Brian Odom, Booklist

— Brian Odom

Washington Post

"Elegantly written and skillfully crafted...The greatest strengths of this highly enjoyable and readable book are Jeal’s passion for his subject and his mastery of personalities as complex as the geography they battled to understand."—Diane Preston, Washington Post

— Diane Preston

Library Journal

Having authored biographies of individual explorers, e.g., Stanley: The Impossible Life of Africa's Greatest Explorer, Jeal now presents an overall account of the Victorian-era struggle to locate the true source of the Nile through the expeditions of Richard Burton, John Hanning Speke and James Augustus Grant, Samuel and Florence Baker, David Livingstone, and Henry Morton Stanley. These explorers faced disease, harsh terrain, and hostile tribes—and, in some cases, bitter rivalries and fierce public criticism. Jeal gives particular attention to the conflict between compatriots-turned-enemies Burton and Speke, and his subjectivity is evident as he attempts to exonerate Speke of several allegations that ruined his reputation. He also briefly examines the "Scramble for Africa" and the horrific effects of aggressive colonization on the continent and its peoples. VERDICT Jeal's sympathies, particularly toward Speke and Stanley, can overwhelm the text, but for the most part this is a thorough and gripping account of the trials these explorers faced both in Africa and at home. Recommended for readers who enjoy books on African exploration, e.g. Alan Moorehead's classics The White Nile and The Blue Nile, or those seeking a fresh viewpoint on some of the Victorian era's most famous adventurers.—Kathleen McCallister, Univ. of South Carolina Lib., Columbia

APRIL 2012 - AudioFile

It’s difficult for a narrator to do justice to a book like this—a well-written multidimensional look at the efforts of Europeans to discover the source of the Nile River. The actions and attitudes of the explorers were prequels to the rash of colonizations of the “Dark Continent” (as it then was called), from which many effects continue to this day. Narrator Clive Chafer, whose mild British accent fits right in, performs smoothly and keeps the narrative going, but this is not a compelling presentation. It is more like a lecture by a pretty good academic (he’s an adjunct professor, as a matter of fact) and worth listening to. D.R.W. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171268138
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	12/26/2011
Edition description:	Unabridged

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