White Nile [Hardcover]

Alan Moorehead (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 23, 1971

The story of the Nile, from the Mountains of the Moon to the Mediterranean. The tale starts with Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke setting out to find the sources of the Nile. It continues with Baker of the Nile and his wife struggling with malaria, and of the famous greeting between Stanley and Livingstone. The book examines the results of their discoveries: the building of the Suez canal; the Khedive Ismail's appointment of Gordon as Governor-General of Sudan; and the story of the last days of Khartoum. The book concludes with Kitchener's military success at Omdurman which made Queen Victoria the ruler of the huge area from Alexandria to the highlands of Uganda and which resulted in the Nile being, for the first tiem, an open highway from Central Africa to the sea.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A noble book about the mightiest river on earth." -- --Saturday Review

"A vivid chronicle, stirring, exciting, important...endlessly fascinating. A superb drama of adventurers whose like can never again be seen." -- --New York Herald Tribune

"Extraordinary, Compelling." -- --New York Times --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Alan Moorehead (1910-1983) was a foreign correspondent for the London Daily Express, where he won an international reputation for his coverage of World War II campaigns, and also served as the chief public relations officer in the Ministry of Defense. He is also the author of many other notable books, including Gallipoli and Darwin and the Beagle. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Hamilton; Revised edition (September 23, 1971)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0241020352
• ISBN-13: 978-0241020357
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7.8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,542,802 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent history on an underreported topic, October 18, 2006

By 

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

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The White Nile (Paperback)

I love reading history and fancy myself to be quite well read on a variety of historical topics, however I'm slightly embarrassed to admit that much of what I read in this book was completely new to me.

This book deals with the Upper Nile region of Sudan and Central Africa, primarily in the latter half of the 19th century. Parts of the book dealing with Speke, David Livingstone and Henry Stanley were somewhat familiar to me, however historical characters such as Burton, Gordon, Emin, the Mahdi and various of the other Pashas and Khedives were new and absolutely fertile ground.

This book is extremely well written and at almost all times captivating. The descriptions of the Sudd region of the Nile raised visions of Humphrey Bogart dragging the African Queen and Kathrine Hepburn through the reed choked channels of another African river. The chapters on the fall of Khartoum and the struggles of Emin in Equatoria were riveting.

I highly recommend this book, if for no other reason than the fact that unless you are a student of central Africa, you have probably never been exposed to much of this history. For anyone seeking a more detailed treatment of specific African explorations, I recommend Into Africa: The Epic Adventures of Stanley and Livingstone by Martin Dugard. Another captivating read from this period would be King Leopold's Ghost, dealing with colonization of the Belgian Congo.

39 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent Must Read, June 2, 2001

By 

Ed Gibbon www.congocookbook.com - See all my reviews

This review is from: The White Nile (Paperback)

Alan Moorehead is one of the finest writers of history books for the lay reader, and "The White Nile" is one of his best books. Moorehead focuses on the period of 1856-1899, telling the story of European discovery, conquest, and colonization of the Nile region. The first part, "Exploration", covers Burton, Speke, Baker, Mutesa, Livingstone, and Stanley. The second part, "Exploitation", covers growing European influence in Khedive Ismail's Egypt and Barghash's Zanzibar in the 1860's, and introduces General Gordon. The third part, "The Moslem Revolt" sees General Gordon defeated by the Mahdi at Khartoum and Emin Pasha rescued by Stanley. The last part, "The Christian Victory" tells of Marchand's march to Fashoda, Kitchener's victory in Khartoum, and the arrival of Thomas Cook cruises. Some may object to Moorehead's emphasis on Europeans, but this is part of the history of the region. It is fascinating history and it is brought to life in this book, which has deservedly become a classic. Well worth reading not only for the history itself, but also for Moorehead's well-crafted prose. Five stars.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars All illustrations and some maps omitted, June 16, 2006

By 

David Griffiths - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The White Nile (Paperback)

Buy the 1967 softcover edition (isbn 0140019332) instead, it has photographs of quite a few of the characters in the text. The stories revealed in the pages of this book are some of the most fascinating I have ever read, just another example that truth overgoes fiction. The tale is five stars. My 1967 edition had become really tattered so I decided to renew it with this edition. I was very disappointed to discover that all the photographs and engravings of the earlier edition, of Kitchener, King Kabarega, Lord Gordon and his Khartoum palace, Emin Pasha and quite a few more, aren't included here. Gone. I think these original photographs really added a dimension to the story and I lament their passing. Several maps in the earlier book didn't make it either.