Into Africa: The Epic Adventures of Stanley & Livingstone

This book tells the intertwined tales of David Livingstone and Henry Morton Stanley. Dugard (the author) puts together a very well written story, giving the reader context to be excited when the culminating moment of "Dr Livingstone, I presume?" comes about. The book provides a begginer on African exploration (such as myself) with a very good understanding of the context in Africa and England, as the Victorian era of exploration is at its best. Characters such as Murchison, Burton and Speke are described in detail as to their accomplishments. The reader also gets a good understanding of the discussion behind the source of the Nile and the difficulties involved in determining it. The personal lives of Livingstone and Stanley are an integral part of the story. The tale how Stanley rose through newspaper ranks in NY and provided scoops on different European wars ahead of european reporters. His dubious character is portrayed in his experiences in Turkey, where he became a robber and was close to losing his life. This is a rather short book -- 300 pages -- which can be read in a few sittings. If you are interested in exploration or would just like to know what these historical characters were up to, this is a very good book. It may drive the reader to the point of such curiosity that you may find yourself picking up a few of the books authored by the characters themselves (of which there are many).

"Doctor Livingstone, I presume?" The formal question, ringing of Victorian propriety, is well known, and when it first became news after it was uttered in 1871, it was a sensation. It represented the climax of global exploration; never again would the world concentrate so on the efforts of men tramping through the unknown. The story of the search for the source of the Nile has been told many times. The current retelling, _Into Africa: The Epic Adventures of Stanley & Livingstone_ (Doubleday) by Martin Dugard, tells the story of two vastly different explorers and the unimaginable hardships they went through on their travels through what was known as "the dark continent." Dugard weaves the stories of the explorers, and those who went before them, their backers, the nationalistic goals of the time, and of course the dangers of the trail, to recount the tale in full. It is still a grandly exciting story.David Livingstone originally went to Africa as a 27-year-old missionary; Dugard points out that this was before missionary work became tainted with imperialism. He was going to save souls, but he got bored, and he was disgusted by the boredom of his converts during public worship. He requested permission to "go forward into the dark interior," and when it was granted, he looked forward to the prospect with "inexpressible delight." In 1886, he set out to find the source of the Nile. He entered the continent, and was lost to the outside world for five years. Speculation about his condition, and rumors about his death, were widespread. The _New York Herald_, sensing a scoop, sent roving reporter Henry Stanley to find him. The treks of both Stanley and Livingstone as jointly recounted here are full of distressing accounts of malaria, dysentery, hookworms, and maggots eating living flesh. Then there are starvation, dehydration, floods, tribal wars, thorns, ants, crocodiles, and much more. Livingstone, evidencing the sort of humorous understatement that must have supported him well, wrote in his journal, "It is not all pleasure, this exploration." After being found, Livingstone did not return to England with his new friend, but died two years later still searching for the authentic source of the Nile. His heart was buried in Africa, and the rest of him in Westminster Abbey. Stanley was a pallbearer.There is plenty of history here, and exciting, often gruesome, adventure, told in a spellbinding prose. We will have no exploration on this sort of epic scale again. There is certainly nothing wrong with exploring strands of DNA or hunting for undersea treasure, but such efforts will always be largely technological. The baldly heroic exploits described here may be of another age, and may come to us now with distasteful colonial and racial baggage, but Stanley and Livingstone could hardly help that. The world was in a frenzy to read news of the famous explorer and his rescuer, and re-living events by means of _Into Africa_ will let readers

With an encompassing narrative, and detailed descriptions of people, circumstances, and places, "Into Africa" is a worthy read for simple entertainment. Learning about Livingstone and Stanley, was engrossing, and learning about their respective journeys through Africa was harrowing and at times defied belief. If ever anyone needed an example of pure determination and pursuit of a goal, and then accomplishment, this book delivers. Showing an emotional aspect, Mr. Dugard demonstrates that attaining a near impossible goal can also result in more intangible rewards, such as Stanley's maturation through his ordeal in Africa to find Dr Livingstone. If you never think history can be exciting, read this book and you will be disabused of that notion. Warring tribes, hostile natives, opportunistic chieftans, Arab slavers, constant disease and inummerable parasites (non-human), all combine to form a formidable obstacle for these intrepid adventurers.

Having extensively read about these two accomplished and highly recognized explorers and having traveled the area where Stanley set out to search for Livingstone, I was both excited and anxious to read Mr. Dugard's book. My expectations were high as I opened the first page. To say the least, Mr. Dugard's excellent narrative, thorough research and personal exploration into the minds of the two heroes truly surpassed my hopes for an interesting and enlightening journey into this well known story. Into Africa is not only a combination of adventure and biography, but Mr. Dugard adds interesting insight into the soul of Stanely and Livingstone. Mr. Dugard's writing is rich and flows with compelling descriptions and details. The read is both educational and very entertaining. Although the subject is historical, the book is not the least bit dry and technical, such as Ambroses' Undaunted Courage. Mr. Dugard's style of writing wisks the reader through the personal lives and adventures of not only Stanley and Livingstone, but many of the important secondary characters who had a great affect on Stanley and Livingstone's successes, (ie Kirk, Murchison, Bennett, etc.). The key element that makes this book a great read is Mr. Dugard's relentess and extensive research. His use of Stanley and Livingstones personal journals, letters, obscure newspaper articles, letters and diary entries of Stanley and Livingstone's associates and his own personal reflections and observations helps provide the reader with an accurate and precise account of what truly led to the utterance of that immortal phrase..."Dr. Livingtsone, I presume."

Here's what I knew (or thought I knew) before I read this book: David Livingstone was a missionary who, after many years of trying, converted almost no Africans to Christianity. He got sidetracked into trying his luck at exploration....and didn't have much luck. He mainly wandered around, not accomplishing much. Henry Morton Stanley went looking for Livingstone as a newspaper "publicity stunt." He had a lot of money behind him and found Livingstone without too much trouble. Later on in life he went back to Africa and debased himself by working for the notorious King Leopold of Belgium, helping to set up the infamous slave-labor colony in the Congo. He was, even before he went to the Congo, a cruel racist. Although maybe I shouldn't admit to my ignorance, that's pretty much what I "knew." Some of the above turned out to be true, some of it didn't, as I discovered after reading this book. It is true Livingstone didn't have much luck with conversions, even though he spent a good portion of the last 30 years of his life in Africa. He was, however, a better explorer than I realized. He was the first white man to walk across Africa, doing so from east to west. From 1841-1851 he explored the deserts, rivers and lakes of Southern Africa. From 1858-1863 he explored the Zambezi river and the area to the north of the river. It is true that he didn't accomplish 2 of the main goals he had set for himself. He hoped, by his explorations, to open up the African interior to economic development which would eliminate the slave trade. This didn't happen during his lifetime. He even compromised his principles and accepted food and hospitality from Arab slave traders as his second goal became his primary goal, and even an obsession- to find the source of the Nile. He was about 600 miles too far to the south, and never found what he was looking for. Indeed, after being found by Stanley, Livingstone remained in Africa and died in pursuit of his obsession. Despite these failures, Livingstone did map quite a bit of Africa and measured the height of, and gave the English name to, Victoria Falls. Stanley, while undoubtedly a racist- he beat his porters for little or no reason- did not have an easy time finding Livingstone. As Mr. Dugard makes clear, Stanley relentlessly made his way through jungles, swamps and savannah, having to deal with crocodiles, lions, hyenas, and tsetse flies along the way. He survived bouts of malaria and dysentery, encounters with cannibals, an attempted rebellion by his men, and porters running off with essential supplies. He also wound up in the middle of a war between Arab slave traders and various African tribes. He was genuinely fond of Livingstone and didn't just stick around to say, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" He spent five months with Livingstone, bringing essential supplies so that Livingstone could go on with his explorations. Stanley later, in 1874, returned to Africa and circumnavigated both Lake Victoria and Lake Tanganyika and foll