Customer Reviews

Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton: A Biography

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Soldier, spy, swordsman, linguist, proto-anthropologist, adventurer, explorer, eroticist, prolific writer and poet, and seeker after hidden gnosis - Richard Francis Burton was all of this and more. While no single biography can capture the entirety of this amazing life, Edward Rice's book is an insightful, fascinating treatment of this larger than life man, and deserves to be read by all who wish to know Burton.
While Rice's book covers the whole of Burton's life and career, its concentration and strengths are on his period of greatest adventuring and exploring, from his introduction to India and the East as a soldier and spy for the East India Company, through his exploits in Arabia, and his explorations in Africa. Rice lingers long over Burton's wanderings in India, exploring in depth how Burton immersed himself in Eastern languages, customs, religions, and thought until he could easily pass himself off as a native. Burton's most famous exploits - the pilgrimage to Mecca disguised as an Arab, penetrating the sacred and forbidden city of Harar in East Africa (the first European to do so), and his explorations of Central Africa, searching for the source of the Nile, are all covered in depth, with great detail.
Rice takes the time to concentrate on two of the more shadowy aspects of Burton's life - his participation in the "Great Game"; spying for the British Empire, and his personal search after gnosis, the hidden wisdom of life. Often these pursuits were intertwined, as when his initiations into secret Hindu and Sufi sects served both to further his personal quest for gnosis, and to give him cover and openings for his espionage activities.
Also well covered are Burton's greatest literary achievements His superb annotated translation of the Arabian Nights (for which he was knighted), his translation of The Perfumed Garden, and his original Sufi poem, The Kasidah, are given particular attention, but much of his prolific literary production is also noted.
This book has its weaknesses, but they are slight. It starts out rather slowly, as Rice give outstanding background information on the British Empire in India, which while valuable, momentarily distracts the story away from Burton's amazing life. Also, it seems that Rice so admired his subject that he could not bear to show him in any but the best light. In every major controversy of Burton's career, Rice always favors Burton's side, almost to the point of occasionally glossing over some of Burton's very real flaws.
This book is a valuable addition to the Burton literature, and should be required reading for any Burton enthusiasts, or anyone who is a fan of remarkable lives of adventure.

Theo Logos

This is by far one of the best biographies I've read in recent times. Not only is the subject matter astonishing, capturing the life of one of the most exciting figures of the 19th century, the author focuses on the man's profuse writings, thankfully leaving out the once fashionable psychoanalytic approach of interpretation when writing biography. This is the third life history I've read on Richard Burton, and it's certainly the finest written and the most thorough.

Those of you, who are not familiar with R.F. Burton, are in for a thrilling reading experience. This man, probably more so than Byron himself, is the archetypal Byronic figure of the age: a linguist, (29 languages and numerous dialects), scholar of eastern literature and religion, particularly the mystical arm of Islam, Sufi; a practicing mystic; explorer of Africa (co-discoverer of the source of the Nile); a secret agent working for her majesty during England's acquisition of India's wealth, known to historians as 'The Great Game'. He was also one of the first white men, who made the Pilgrimage to Mecca, and as Rice argues, Burton was and continued to be a practicing Muslim, therefore his pilgrimage was deeply religious as well as a journey of danger and adventure. Burton was dashing, an expert swordsman and horseman, and a prolific writer, poet and translator who rank as one of the best of his time.

Burton is known to most as one of the scholars who brought 'The Arabian Nights' to the West...he heard a lot of the tales through the Persian oral tradition; memorized them in their original language, and sat around many a camp fire in the desert, re-telling these wonderful stories to anyone who would listen. Burton was a storyteller in the truest sense. But 'The Arabian Nights' only scratches the surface of his many translations from eastern literature - 'The Kama Sutra of Vatsyaya' and 'The Perfumed Garden of the Cheikh Nefzaoui: A Manual of Arabian Erotology', to name an infamous few...

What impressed me most about Burton was his alarming intellectual curiousity, his exhaustive industry as a recorder of foreign cultures. While other 'gentleman' of his time would rather murder the wildlife to take back to their drawing rooms, to then hang on their walls, Burton preferred to sketch and write about the places and people he came across in his travels to then share with the rest of us. He was an incessant scribbler. The man's thirst for life was daunting and this magnetic soul ensured he did not waste a minute of it...

Edward Rice's ~Captain Sir Richard Frances Burton~ is the definitive biography.

Of the Burton biographies I have read, this is quite by far the best. The research is great, and for a history book, this is a true page turner. I found it fascintating, that while reading this work, I had to keep reminding myself that this guy, Sir Richard Burton, was a real person, and was not some figment of a writer's imagination. Richard Burton led a fascinating life during a fascinating time in our history. The author captures both the time and the man. I highly recommend you read this one, if at all interested in this man and his time and further recommend you add it to your library as you will probably want to give it more than one read.

This was an incredible biography, which was much better than Byron Farewell's much dryer work. This version- all 500 pages of it- reads like an epic novel, full of mind twists and adventures. Picture emerges Burton the what he was, a towering intellectual, an intrepid explorer. A compulsive writer who churned out massively detailed works between his exploits of discovery in the wilds of India, Arabia, and Black Africa, scandalizing Victorian England mostly by his views on female sexual liberation (he translated the Kama Sutra) or to the superiority of Islam over Pauline Christianity- although Rice mistakenly concluded that Burton was a faithful convert to this religion for most of his life (he seems rather to have been a confirmed skeptic). In an age of hypocrisy, he certainly stands out as a not afraid to speak his mind- and he had a lot of opinions.

Sir Richard Francis Burton spoke, proficiently, over twenty languages. A prolific writer and skilled translator, he wrote a very large number of books on the most diverse subjects (history, religion, geography, travel, sexology, ethnography, etc.); introduced the Kama Sutra to the West and translated from Arabic the Book of A Thousand Night and a Night (the Thousand and One Nights). He was also an explorer, soldier, fencing expert and, specially, a secret agent. He visited, a hundred and fifty years ago, some of the farthest corners of India, Africa, and South America, travelling, in most cases, through hostile and uncharted territories. He was one of the few Westerners who entered (and survived) the sacred Islamic city of Mecca, disguised as an Arab, and he was the first one to enter the forbidden city of Harar, in the heart of Africa. With a personal history like this (yes, it is all real, and there is more) it seems to me that even the least competent biographer would write an interesting book. Edward Rice, however, is more than a competent biographer and his book is really good. He describes in detail the adventurous and turbulent life of Burton, providing useful commentaries on the places Burton went to, the nature of the religions he became initiated in and contemporary society in general. Throughout the book it is evident that he researched intensely and that he visited some of the places where Burton lived. He is also objective to his subject, always justifying his statements with information. The book is clearly written and never boring. I am sure it is one of the best biographies of Captain Burton.

The story of one of those peculiar lives that was more like fiction than reality. Rice brings to life the biography of this neglected figure of history. A linguist, explorer, notorious rake and transmuter of eastern literature to the West (the original translator of "The Karma Sutra") Burton was unique and yet a man of his times. For the Victorian era was filled with many flamboyant individuals who went against the moral grain. (Anyone who has studied the complexities of the Victorian era knows that our current usage of the word "Victorian" as synonym for the word "Puritanical" is quite incorrect.) I think his life style would have been a scandal even by today's standards. For example since when is the last time you heard that the best way to study a language is by being the patron of a brothel?
The book is a tome, complete and authoritative, and comes complete with numerous photos including an unforgettable one of Burton being nagged by his wife and of Burton's final resting place, the famous tent grave. However one cannot help feel as though a little more careful editing could have helped to shorten this book to make it more readable and still maintain its integrity. And despite the book being long and well researched one cannot help but think there was even more, much more to this man than is revealed here. Many currently published books often indulge in unnecessary and speculative half-baked psychology. But a little more psychological extrapolation of the subject of this book might have been a good thing and may have made the book more digestible.
However these are minor quibbles. This is a most enjoyable book on many levels.
Recommended.

Jim Connell

Richard Burton - hero, soldier, explorer, geographer, adventurer, swordsman, master of disguise, linguist, prolific writer, poet, lover of women - in no certain order, is the one man in history that I most regret having never met. If there is one person in history that I would have followed to the ends of the earth, Burton is man. I've read many of Burton's works, each one leading me inexorably to the next. For anyone interested in Burton, I highly recommend this biography by Rice. The edition reveals many facts about Burton that I wish I'd known before reading Burton's own works. As I mentioned above, I'd have followed him to the ends of the earth - confident that he'd have gotten us back alive - with fasinating stories to tell!

I believe that I have read all of the Burton biographies - all of them available on Amazon, that is, except Rage to Live, which I am reading now. It started as a keen interest in the subject, and is now just a matter of completing the task. Rice's treatment not only seems to be very correct but is free from editorial. Many other authors feel the need to second-guess the history without the means to do so, or to make him a hero or a villain. For example, his pederastic forays in Hindustan are stated matter-of-factly, with the helpful insight that there is no suggestion he never went back to it. His portrayal of a certain negress royal harem slopping up banana beer, sow-like, on all fours as his own death sentence was imminent can only be called Burtonesque - complete with a lengthy quote from the master himself. If you can only read one, this is it.

This is the way history should be written, as an interesting narrative. The author worked with a tremendous amount of source material to compose this biography of one of history's most important and fascinating characters. Where "facts" were in conflict, the author presneted multiple viewpoints. Suppositions were presented as such and not as facts.

Dick Burton is undoubtedly a larger than life historical figure, however, the author portrays him as human - both his faults and his strengths are exponded upon.

Much of the material is directly quoted from source material, which makes Burton and related individuals voices come alive.

My only criticism of the book is minor. There are some tangents that seem to me to be given too much space in the book. The author sometimes writes mini biographies of somewhat incidental characters. This is simply my opinion, and others may, and probably will disagree.

While this book is a biography, there is historical and thological gold there. Much can be learned about the 19th century Middle east, Africa and the politics of the time. Also, there is a lot of material about Islam and other religions that Burton studied.

My interest in Richard Francis Burton arose from my encounter with "The Book of 1,000 Nights and One Night" otherwise known as "The Arabian Nights". I wanted to learn more about the man who had done one of the several translations of this enormous and wonderful collection of stories into English.

While this is the only biography about Richard Burton that I have read, I get the sense from having read it and from other reviews that it is now the definitive biography about him. The reason for this is that Edward Rice comprehensively covers the adventures but also the intellectual and spiritual development and accomplishments of his subject, all of which were multitudinous. The man traveled all over the world and wrote over 40 books while doing so. And many of these books were long multi-volume works. And he did this in the 19th century without any modern technology. And that wasn't even all he accomplished. The man was truly amazing.

While this biography has an average rating of 4.5 stars, it is clear that some readers have not really liked the book. Some have complained about too many digressions and too much detail. I suspect that this is due to Rice's coverage of the intellectual and spiritual aspects of Burton's life beyond his more physical adventures. I don't mean this in a condescending way; but someone who had heard that Burton was a famous adventurer and explorer could easily view the other material as digressive. For my part, I found it all very interesting. I think the extra material makes Burton a more interesting person. It also gives you a sense of how different he was from his contemporaries. While other Europeans were also explorers, most remained intrinsically western during their adventures. In contrast, Burton embraced the cultural and spiritual beliefs of the peoples he encountered and gained a better understanding of them for it.