The Blue Nile (Paperback)

by Alan Moorehead (Author) "The Blue Nile pours very quietly and uneventfully out of Lake Tana in the northern highlands of Ethiopia..." (more)
Key Phrases: Blue Nile, Muhammad Ali, Red Sea (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From The Washington Post
"Utterly absorbing, sweeping as the mighty river itself...A magnificent, gripping story."

Review
"A Masterpiece." -- --Newsweek

"An Exciting and Unusual Book." -- --New York Times

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (October 17, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060956402
• ISBN-13: 978-0060956400
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #67,015 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #7 in	Books > Travel > Africa > Ethiopia & Djibouti
  #8 in	Books > History > Africa > Ethiopia
  #12 in	Books > History > Africa > Sudan

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The astonishing story of one history's greatest mysteries., November 12, 1998

By	David Seeley ([e-mail]) (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blue Nile (Hardcover)

"The Blue Nile" is the story of one of history'sgreatest mysteries: the search for the source of the Nile. Sincebefore recorded time, it has been the greatest river on Earth. It surges powerfully through thousands of miles of forbidding desert; never ceasing, a giver of life that for millennia held one enduring mystery: where did it come from?

As Moorehead tells us, it was the last great unknown. By the 1850s, maps of the world were accurate from corner to corner-- except for the "Dark Continent" of Africa. Its massive interior was blank; a question mark. No explorer had ever entered it and come out alive. One of the greatest ages of exploration was on: a time of Stanley and Livingston, of astonishing discoveries, of bravery and courage, slavery and horror. A handful of men risked everything to solve the Holy Grail that spurred them on: to find the source of the Nile.

Note: This book was originally published in the early 1960s, I believe, along with a companion book, "The White Nile," which traces the stories, history, and intriguing exploration of the other branch of the Nile within Africa's interior. If you read one, you won't be able to resist the other. END

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting background on 19th century Sudan and Ethiopia, October 9, 2006

By	Steven M. Anthony (Arkansas) - See all my reviews

I have read a lot of history on ancient Egypt and was passingly familiar with Napoleon's conquest of Egypt, however, I had absolutely no background on other aspects of 19th century Egypt and neighboring Sudan and Ethiopia.

This book was extremely enlightening with respect to such subjects as Mamaluke rule of Egypt prior to Napoleon's arrival and the subsequent reign of Muhammad Ali. However, by far the most interesting and educational part of the book was the last half which dealt primarily with the reign of Theodore, Emperor of Ethiopia and the British invasion to secure the release of European hostages held by Theodore. Prior to reading this book, I'd never heard of Theodore nor the British invasion of Ethiopia.

Blue Nile is a companion piece to White Nile, the Blue Nile being the Nile tributary which feeds into the river at Khartoum, Sudan having flowed from its source in the Ethiopian highlands. Moorehead does a very good job in describing the various expeditions which sought the source of the Blue Nile as well as the political and social anarchy endemic to the region.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars no title, January 21, 2006

By	C. L Wilson (Elmhurst, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Totally fascinating book. In particular the saga of the British invasion of Ethiopia merely to rescue a few handfuls of prisoners from the clutches of Theodore, the emperor, would make a terrific movie, but perhaps just now, not too terribly PC, as Theodore does not come off in a very good light (to say the least), and of course he is black. Also charts Napoleon's invasion of Egypt. It is basically a study of the history of the Nile in the 19th century, well only until 1868, when the British left, and a brief epilogue about the Blue Nile in the 20th century until the 70s when the book was revised. The other two expeditions recounted were the one of James Bruce, the Scotsman, and Mohammed Ali's campaigns in the Sudan in the early 1820s. Suberb.