Customer Reviews

The White Nile

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Don't let political correctness and revisionist history keep you away from this book. This is a fascinating, well written book. Hightly recommended to anyone interested in the exploration and history surrounding the Nile.

I can't believe that I first read this book when I was 16 years old in 1965!! It mesmerized me back then. I did not do my homework I was so engrossed by this book! I bought the book at one of those discount stores, that sold paperback books with the front cover ripped off. I consider this book to be one of the best books I ever read! Last year I bought a mint condition hard cover first edition copy of the White Nile, reading this book again convinces me that Alan Moorehead was one of the greatest popular history writers of all time.Why did he give up writing?

In high school I determined to read everything else Moorehead wrote, The Blue Nile-Fantastic, The Russian Revolution-truly great, Cooper's Creek-outstanding book of early Australian explorers. I wonder how many teenagers were launched into the world of books, literature and history by Alan Moorehead.

Sincerely, Armand

This book and its companion book "The Blue Nile" will not disappoint anyone looking for an interesting story of equatorial exploration, in the days when the interior of Africa was still the "great unknown " to the world at large. This book has fallen into or is teetering on the brink of political incorrectness in some circles, but it is amazing that that is what is drawn from this book. It is one of the best accounts of the exploration for the source of the Nile river. The source was not known by the world at large until a series of explorations and conquests took place. Taking an overall view, armies still clashed with the native inhabitants, explorers still faced hardships and ordeals. A portion of World History took place in this area,.in what was probably the last equatorial "Man against Nature exploration struggles The book is extremely well written. A very entertaining style. I rate the Blue and White Nile together. The White Nile led me to the Blue Nile book and a plan for some follow-up reading on the explorer, Richard Francis Burton. The main point is the shocking realization that that source of one of the world most historic
rivers was not common knowledge until fairly recent times.

If you enjoy history you'd better read Alan Moorehead. He's a historian from a different era. Puts you right there. Introduces you to the some of history's great characters. Always a great story: Gallipoli, Captain Cook, WW2's desert war, and with this gem, the emergence of east africa in the 19th century. No legions of hired researchers, no thousand page tomes, no politically correct revisionism, just a great writer giving us a great story.

Alan Moorehead's pair of Nile historys (the other being The Blue Nile) are, quite simply, wonderful. If history had been like this when I was in school they would never had gotten me out of the classroom! The White Nile tells the story of the search for the fabled source of the Nile River and the subsequent "opening up" of the African interior. An incredible cast of characters is served up, including Speke, Burton, Baker, Gordon, and many others, and their exploits could keep Hollywood in business for years. My only question is, why is this book no longer in print? Find it if you can and if you do, don't let it go

This is one of those books that's hard to evaluate, because of the fact that it was written almost 50 years ago, by an Englishman (though he grew up in Australia) and he exhibits the characteristics of someone of that era. Moorehead was a product of his time, and so his prose with regards to various Africans is not surprisingly condescending and arrogant, at times. On the other hand, he also repeatedly expresses sympathy for them (at least in abstract) and discusses their plight, positioned between Arabs and more distant Europeans, with considerable sensitivity. This makes the book a mass of contradictions for the modern reader: on the one hand you're somewhat revolted by the racism of the author, and on the other hand, he's not racist at all.

The book begins with the explorations into the region in the 1850s by Richard Burton (the explorer, not the actor) and various others, and basically concludes 30-odd years later with the death of General "Chinese" Gordon in Khartoum. There's an extended epilogue that recounts the final conquest of the region, and recounts the fate of the various figures in the narrative, but that's all it is: an epilogue. The heart of the book is the exploration of the region, especially the search for the source of the Nile River.

As an aside, the book makes a good deal of the conflict between the Arabs (mostly slavers, looking for merchandise to export to Arabia or Persia) and the Christians. While Moorehead's descriptions of this conflict can at times look racist, it's worth noting that Arabs, and Muslims generally, have never had the same revulsion for slavery that grew up in the West in the 19th Century, and has only increased since. Saudi Arabia, for those who aren't aware, abolished slavery in *19*63, not 1863. The author makes a great deal out of the contrast between the two cultures, and if modern readers think it's unfair, Moorehead at least didn't invent any of the facts here.

I enjoyed this book a great deal, to be honest, in spite of the fact it's not very politically correct. One has the sense that the author was much more sympathetic to the characters involved than he might be given credit for, and he spends a good deal of time describing the cruelty of the various explorers (Stanley is especially run down, not without reason) and the situation into which the African victims of this confrontation wereh thrust. I would recommend this book to most who are interested in this region of Africa, with the understanding that the book *is* dated, and should be taken in the context in which it was written.

This volume is set in the latter half of the 19th Century, and narrates the quest to discover the source of the Nile, followed by the attempted exploitation of Africa, the struggle for power, sveral wars, and so on. It is a very worthwhile read.

Alan Moorehead is the best writer of documentary literature that I know of. He is a joy to read: informative, funny, entertaining, but still a shrewd intellectual with a profound understanding of history. I particularly enjoyed the exploration part, which brings to life such larger-than-life characters as Livingstone, Stanley, Burton, Speke, etc. These early explorers make even the most intrepid modern daredevils look like couch potatoes.

While reading some parts of the book one cannot help but draw parallels to current events. Many of the events recounted could as well have happened today - including horrific savagery in Central Africa, and moslem fanaticism in the Sudan. Perhaps we have not really come very far in 150 years.