Livingstone

I found this book quite interesting but I did think the author fails to fully grasp Livingstone's Christianity. Whereas in the author's excellent biography on fellow African explorer, Henry Stanley, the author seems to have a good deal of sympathy for the time and place his subject occupies, He seems to be overly critical and judgemental when it comes to Livingstone. I wouldn't recommend this book be read without also reading one of the other Livingstone biographies for some balance. My first recommendation would be Seaver's "David Livingstone - His Life and Letters" where the author largely lets Livingstone explain his motivations in his own words.

Jeal's biography became an instant classic upon publication some years ago. It is doubtful that Livingstone will ever be so fully portrayed, "warts and all," as the saying goes. Quite apart from the life depicted, this biography is a work of art. The prose is gorgeous, quite simply among the best biographies of the decade. One is simultaneously gripped and repelled by the author's extraordinary subject. Livingstone is one of the two or three singularly impressive Victorian figures whom contemporaries admired but whom we now regard with dismay. Still, there are no such grand figures in our time, and it is doubtful any will ever emerge again with such courage and daring. He was in so many ways as hateful as his age, but a better man than we in our time who praise ourselves for finding fault with his undeniable accomplishments from the comfort of our little lives.

This is a truly amazing story of dishonesty and brutality. Livingstone fraudulently pretended to be a great missionary after having converted only one person who later rejected the Christian faith. He then used this fraud to make large amounts of money and present a moral and financial argument for British imperialism on a grand scale in Africa. Organizations such as the London Missionary Society do not come off well here as they participated in a giant fund raising scheme to "save" Africa "for Christ". What is particularly damning is the relevation that Livingston originally (and correctly) knew that the destruction of the tribal way of life and its replacement by the Anglo Saxon versions of capitalism and Christianity would seriously endanger African lives. Filled with greed and ambition, Livingstone later deceived himself into believing his own lies. Probably more than any other person in the Victorian age, Livingstone helped create an "Axis of Evil" between big business, big religion and larger British dreams of empire that led to the "scramble for Africa" that caused the whole continent to be on the receiving end of one of the most brutal colonial conquests in history.

This author provided a great, unbiased account of Livingstone without being disrespectful. He also ended the book with a fantastic account of how Livingstone's legacy affected the world. This is a must read for all Christians or anyone interested in 19th century history or African history in general.