First Footsteps in East Africa; Or, an Exploration of Harar (v. 1 & 2) [Paperback]

Richard F. Burton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 10, 2011

One of the great adventure classics. Victorian scholar-adventurer’s firsthand epic account of daring 1854 expedition to forbidden East African capital city. A treasury of detailed information on Muslim beliefs, manners and morals; plus pleasures and perils of the desert. A wealth of geographic, ethnographic and linguistic data.

Editorial Reviews

Book Description

In this book, published in 1856, the British explorer Sir Richard Burton (1821-1890) recounts his journey to Harar, notorious for its slave trade. Burton's visit was believed to be the first by a European, and it resulted in this fascinating glimpse into a then unknown city and culture. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications (November 10, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486254755
• ISBN-13: 978-0486254753
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,203,097 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #53 in Books > Travel > Africa > Ethiopia & Djibouti
  • #60 in Books > History > Africa > Somalia

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First Footsteps in Reading an Exciting Author, July 8, 2000

By 

James Paris "Tarnmoor" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: First Footsteps in East Africa; Or, an Exploration of Harar (v. 1 & 2) (Paperback)

Sir Richard F Burton is one of the most famous of unread authors. Nearly everyone can tell you about his scandalous doings with native women, his marriage to an ultra-Catholic Englishwoman, and the latter's destruction of the author's private papers after his death.

Ever since I read Fawn Brodie's excellent biography, THE DEVIL DRIVES, I have collected some 20 different Burton books and read most of them. If you make allowances for Burton's diabolical thoroughness (involved footnotes, appendices, foreign language quotes, tables, etc.) and his Victorian circumlocutions in dealing with taboo subjects, he is a truly wonderful read.

Although FIRST FOOTSTEPS is not his most famous book, it is probably the best one to start with. The action is not only more focussed, but Burton did feel he needed quite so much of a scholarly carapace to report back to the scholarly organizations back in Britain. And it finishes up with a stirring postscript about an attack on Burton's camp by Somalis in which the author barely escaped with his life.

Perhaps this is a book that Presidents Bush and Clinton should have read before committing U.S. troops to the region: Burton shows us that not much has changed in the region in 150 years. He was in constant danger, and survived only because his knowledge and guts were more than an a match for his enemies.

This is an exciting book and deserves to be better known.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is not the Basis for a Movie!, December 19, 2007

By 

Barry K. Pyne - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: East Africa (Konemann Classics) (Hardcover)

The reviews of some of Richard Burton's books, as well as those of other 19th century explorers, strike me as hilarious. It's as if people expect that these books to be written in a style that would make for some blockbuster Hollywood movie. This is the REAL DEAL people! Burton didn't write this or other books with the idea in mind of entertaining 20th century couch potatoes starved for action. Apparently people's attention spans get seriously taxed when detailed observations about a country's people and culture are brought into play. When in fact, what could be more important in a first hand account of previously unexplored (at least by Europeans) regions? If you want action at every turn and tailor made story lines then stick with Tom Clancy novels or some such. Maybe faketion turns some would be adventurers on, but not me. This book is a truly incredible account of a larger than life adventure!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a true classic, February 9, 2008

By 

Mark bennett "Mark" (portland, OR) - See all my reviews

This review is from: First Footsteps in East Africa or an Exploration of Harar (Hardcover)

Richard Francis Burton is one of the great unknown figures in history. And what people do know unfortuantely are the scandals of his private life. This is an account of what should have been at the time an impossible trip. Burton should never have attempted it and the odds were against him surviving it.

What you get in the book is an extraordinary document of travel into one of the blank areas on the map by a true renassanice man. Its a true adventure story about how far a man can go on a combination of intellect and raw courage. This book is Burton the adventurer and explorer at his best.