The Exploration of Africa: From Cairo to the Cape

Dr Livingstone, I presume... Everyone knows Stanley's famous words. But what of the other great explorers of the mysterious interior of Africa? Burton, Speke, Grant, Baker, Kingsley: in the space of barely fifty years these extraordinary men and women travelled to the sources of the Nile and tracked the course of the Congo and Zambezi. Yet their achievements led to commercial exploitation and ruthless colonization. Here are physical horrors endured, euphoric success, and the dramatic consequences of a momentous meeting of cultures.