Winner of the 2007 National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography
(National Book Critics Circle Award
National Book Critics Circle 20070930)
"A magnificent new life . . . . [Jeal] demonstrates in a way that makes [this] a superb adventure story as well as a feat of advocacy [that] Stanley was probably the greatest explorer ever to set foot in Africa. . . . There have been many biographies of Stanley, but Jeal''s is the most felicitous, the best informed, the most complete and readable and exhaustive, profiting from his access to an immense new trove of Stanley material."—Paul Theroux, front page, New York Times Book Review
(Paul Theroux
New York Times Book Review 20070301)
"Tim Jeal has written a great book—shrewd, perceptive and engaging."—Jane Ridley, Sunday Telegraph
(Jane Ridley
Sunday Telegraph 20070301)
"Tim Jeal’s book is not just an absorbing, sometimes horrifying biography but a feat of advocacy—an ardent, intricate defence of a man history has damned. . . . His subject could not be more topical. . . . For the question at the core of the book is do we have the right to force our idea of civilization on people’s whose culture is abhorrent to us?"—John Carey, Sunday Times
(John Carey
Sunday Times 20070301)
"This powerful and meticulously researched biography. . . . Assisted by a treasure trove of previously inaccessible letters and diaries, Tim Jeal presents the most cogent argument for years in favour of a radical reassessment of the Welsh-born American bastard. . . . This magnificent book is a stirring riposte to his many critics and a blow struck for a more distinguished posterity."—Justin Marozzi , Evening Standard
(Justin Marozzi
Evening Standard 20070301)
"[An] important book."—Giles Foden (Author the Last King of Scotland) Irish Times
(Giles Foden
Irish Times 20070301)
"[A] gripping and scrupulously researched biography . . . unpicks Stanley’s public lies to reveal the . . . injustice of the damage they have done his reputation. . . . As Jeal authoritatively demonstrates, Stanley remained stalwartly humanitarian, ever true to his men."—Tom Stacey, The Spectator
(Tom Stacey
The Spectator 20070301)
"Everything I thought I knew about Henry Morton Stanley was wrong. It is put right in this major biography. . . . Stanley’s life was ''impossible'' in the sense that you cannot believe how much he crammed into it. . . . Stanley’s three great expeditions to the interior are at the heart of the book. There were caravans numbering 200 bearers, armed guards, women and children, half of whom might never reach their destination. . . . His reputation still lies in the shadow of Livingstone’s. But if anything will rescue it, this newly researched, rich, perceptive life may do the trick."—Peter Lewis, Daily Mail (Critic’s Choice)
(Peter Lewis
Daily Mail 20070301)
"Masterly. . . . Tim Jeal handles each of the great expeditions, including the formidable trans-African journey of 1874-7 in which Stanley navigated lethal Congo rapids in the tinpot steamer Lady Alice between close encounters with cannibals, with a panache and momentousness worthy of Kipling or Conrad."—J
onathan Keates, The First Post
(Jonathan Keates
The First Post 20070301)
‘In this stunningly comprehensive biography Stanley himself is run to earth as a figure far more complex, contradictory and chameleon-like than was previously suspected. . . . A rollicking read as well as a moving, incisive study of one man’s restless, evolving character and ambitions. . . . The relationship with Livingstone is brilliantly brought to life, while the later Congo debacle is mapped as never before. . . . [Stanley’s] life seems tailor made for the full-blown Hollywood treatment."—Tom Adair, The Scotsman
(Tom Adair
The Scotsman 20070301)
"It is a wonderful story almost epic in scope. . . . What a biopic it would make!"—Sara Wheeler, The Times
(Sara Wheeler
The Times 20070301)
"[An] exciting and extraordinary tale."—Ann Wroe, Daily Telegraph
(Ann Wroe
Daily Telegraph 20070301)
"Tim Jeal is a biographer as fearless in his genre as Stanley in the jungle. . . . His exhilerating book overturns much of the negative orthodoxy about the man he unhesitatingly calls Africa’s greatest explorer. . . . This is a page-turner. Jeal is a compelling storyteller, and his prose sweeps the reader along on a river of revelations."—Julie Davidson, Sunday Herald
(Julie Davidson
Sunday Herald 20070301)
"Tim Jeal’s absorbing biography . . . impresses for its scope, depth and ambition."—The Herald
(
The Herald 20071007)
“Jeal’s book is a stunning and provocative work, an awesome piece of scholarship executed with page-turning brio. . . . A remarkable reassessment that will send shivers through historians and writers on Africa.”—Kevin Rushby, The Guardian
(Kevin Rushby
The Guardian 20071009)
"Of the many biographies of Henry Morton Stanley, Jeal''s ,which profits from an immense new trove of material, is the most complete and readable."—New York Times Book Review (Editors'' Choice)
(
New York Times Book Review 20070930)
Read the entire New York Times Sunday Book Review of Stanley.
(
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/30/books/review/Theroux-t.html 20071120)
"[A] meticulous biography. . . . Besides rescuing Stanley from an unfair but accepted caricature, Jeal skillfully illuminates Stanley''s work and its morality and separates him from King Leopold''s exploitation and oppression of the Congo. This excellent reassessment of Stanley''s life is essential for all libraries.—Library Journal
(
Library Journal 20071206)
"There have been many biographies of Stanley, but Jeal''s is the most felicitous, the best informed, the most complete and readable and exhaustive. . . In its progress from workhouse to mud hut to baronial mansion, it is like the most vivid sort of Victorian novel. . ."—Paul Theroux, front page, New York Times Book Review
(Paul Theroux
New York Times Book Review 20071223)
Listen to Tim Jeal''s interview on WILL AM, Focus 580 with David Inge. Download the program with Windows Media Player.
(
http://www.will.uiuc.edu/am/focus/default.htm 20071223)
Named one of the 100 Notable Books of 2007 by The New York Times Book Review
(Notable Book of the Year
New York Times Book Review 20071206)
"[An] impressive, revealing, and well written biography. . . . Tim Jeal has had both the good fortune to see [Stanley''s] papers and the skill to construct a new interpretation around them. He recognizes Stanley''s feats and views them in the context of his age rather than ours. Moreover, he adds new layers to his subject''s character."—David Gilmour, New York Review of Books
(David Gilmour
New York Review of Books 20081101)
"Jeal takes an already-fascinating story to new levels. . . . Jeal''s biography is an unalloyed triumph, not only because it is painstakingly researched and eminently readable, but because it never loses sight of the abandoned child in the man, driving him forward, ''able to frighten, able to suffer, but also to command love and obedience.'' Such a personality, Jeal notes, is ''an extinct species, and all the more remarkable for that.''"—Jason Roberts, Washington Post Book World
(Jason Roberts
Washington Post Book World 20080228)
"[T]his commanding, definitive biography . . . is an unalloyed triumph."—Jason Roberts, Washington Post Book World
(Jason Roberts
Washington Post Book World 20080301)
"[An] impressive, revealing, and well written biography. . . . [Jeal] adds new layers to his subject''s character."—David Gilmour, New York Review of Books
(David Gilmour
New York Review of Books 20080418)
"By uncovering the truth behind the myth, Jeal paints a sympathetic portrait of the ultimate self-made man."—Rebecca A. Clay, Wilson Quarterly
(Rebecca A. Clay
Wilson Quarterly 20080512)
Nominated for the 2007 Los Angeles Times Book Prize in the Biography category
(Los Angeles Times Book Prize
Los Angeles Times 20080709)
"A meticulously detailed, thoroughly documented, definitive biography of Henry Stanley. . . . Despite immense fame and extensive writings by and about Stanley, this biography repudiates the conventional perceptions about the explorer. . . . Jeal''s fascinating biography will not be last word on Stanley, but it should be the starting place for years to come. Highly recommended."—Choice
(
Choice 20081103)
“Sympathetic yet balanced, perceptive and full of perspective, this is biography at its best.” —Ross Leckie, The Times (London)
(Ross Leckie
The Times (London) 20081201)
Silver medal winner of the 2008 Independent Publisher Book Award in the category of Biography.
(Independent Publisher Book Award
Independent Publisher )
"Given the great amount of material Jeal used, his book is to be commended for the writing style, which draws the reader in and sustains interest throughout the duration of the narrative."—Steven Fabian, Journal of Historical Biography
