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Tim Jeal

Explorers of the Nile: The Triumph and Tragedy of a Great Victorian Adventure Paperback – Illustrated, August 14, 2012

by Tim Jeal (Author)

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From the best-selling author of Stanley, a riveting account of the explorers who risked everything in their search for the source of the Nile

Nothing obsessed explorers of the mid-nineteenth century more than the quest to discover the source of the White Nile. It was the planet's most elusive secret, the prize coveted above all others. Between 1856 and 1876, six larger-than-life men and one extraordinary woman accepted the challenge. Showing extreme courage and resilience, Richard Burton, John Hanning Speke, James Augustus Grant, Samuel Baker, Florence von Sass, David Livingstone, and Henry Morton Stanley risked their lives and reputations in the fierce competition. Award-winning author Tim Jeal deploys fascinating new research to provide a vivid tableau of the unmapped "Dark Continent," its jungle deprivations, and the courage—as well as malicious tactics—of the explorers.

On multiple forays launched into east and central Africa, the travelers passed through almost impenetrable terrain and suffered the ravages of flesh-eating ulcers, paralysis, malaria, deep spear wounds, and even death. They discovered Lakes Tanganyika and Victoria and became the first white people to encounter the kingdoms of Buganda and Bunyoro. Jeal weaves the story with authentic new detail and examines the tragic unintended legacy of the Nile search that still casts a long shadow over the people of Uganda and Sudan.

Print length

528 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Yale University Press
Publication date

August 14, 2012
Dimensions

5.4 x 1.5 x 8.2 inches
ISBN-10

0300187394
ISBN-13

978-0300187397
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Brilliant.”—New York Times Book Review ― New York Times Book Review

“Explorers of the Nile is a brilliant, scholarly and at times almost unreadably vivid account of the two decades in the middle of the 19th century when the search for the Nile’s source in central Africa was at its height.”—Ben Macintyre, New York Times Book Review -- Ben Macintyre ― New York Times Book Review

"Elegantly written and skillfully crafted...The greatest strengths of this highly enjoyable and readable book are Jeal’s passion for his subject and his mastery of personalities as complex as the geography they battled to understand."—Diane Preston, Washington Post -- Diane Preston ― Washington Post

"Superb narrative . . . Jeal’s judicious account is a must-read for anyone hoping to understand the internal dynamics of modern state-building in central Africa."—Brian Odom, Booklist -- Brian Odom ― Booklist

"Masterly...One of the fascinations of Jeal's book and his account of this astonishing period of exploration is that it makes great efforts to strip away the accumulated myths and through this process we can begin to see these 'heroic' figures plain, to imagine them as they were to their contemporaries."—William Boyd, TLS -- William Boyd ― TLS

"Tim Jeal's masterly book ... can safely supplant Alan Moorehead's 1960 classic, The White Nile... Jeal also knows how to tell a fabulous story, and he lets old-fashioned epic adventure sit at the heart of his fine book." —James McConnachie, Sunday Times -- James McConnachie ― Sunday Times

"[A] wonderfully entertaining and authoritative account of the search for the Nile and its consequences."—John Preston, Sunday Telegraph -- John Preston ― Sunday Telegraph

Runner-up for the 2011-2012 Los Angeles Book Festival in the General Non-fiction category -- General Non-Fiction Award Runner-up ― Los Angeles Book Festival

"There are few greater stories than the race to the Nile's source... Tim Jeal gives a fine reprise, bringing together in one well-paced narrative the interlocking Nilotic adventures ... Its place [is] alongside the classics of Victorian explorer history."—Tim Butcher, Daily Telegraph -- Tim Butcher ― Daily Telegraph

"If there is one book about the search for the sources of the Nile to read and keep on the shelf, this is it."—Tim Severin, Irish Examiner -- Tim Severin ― Irish Examiner

"Epic in proportion...An absorbing adventure and a thought provoking morality tale."—Peter Burton, Daily Express -- Peter Burton ― Daily Express

"Tim Jeal's gripping book pulls the whole astonishing story together. . . . It's as intricate and unexpected as the source of the river itself. . . All the main players were. . . examples of grit, resourcefulness and courage on a heroic scale. . . . How intimately Tim Jeal knows them all, and brings them back to life for us."—Tom Stacey, The Spectator -- Tom Stacey ― The Spectator

"Masterly...The complicated narrative is well told with exemplary scholarship and great and compelling lucidity...One of the fascinations of Jeal's book and his account of this astonishing period of exploration is that it makes great efforts to strip away the accumulated myths and through this process we can begin to see these 'heroic' figures plain, to imagine them as they were to their contemporaries."—William Boyd, TLS -- William Boyd ― TLS

Read Tim Jeal's essay on the perils of exploration on the Yale Press Log ― http://blog.yupnet.org/2011/10/20/eminent-biography-tim-jeal-on-explorers-of-the-nile/

"Jeal's lengthy, comprehensive, and revisionist book is exciting reading both about the adventures in the field and about the clash of personalities."—Rob Hardy, The Dispatch -- Rob Hardy ― The Dispatch

"Tim Jeal's wonderful book is filled with anecdotes and brilliant cameos, which keep the narrative fresh and sparklingly alive. His treatment of these legendary figures is authoritative and compassionate."—Alexander Maitland, Literary Review -- Alexander Maitland ― Literary Review

"[A] wonderfully entertaining and authoritative account of the search for the Nile and its consequences...There is something intensely moving about the the way in which Jeal has sought to restore Speke's reputation."—John Preston, Sunday Telegraph -- John Preston ― Sunday Telegraph

"Splendid."—Bernard Porter, Guardian ― Guardian

Won Honorable Mention in the 2012 New York Book Festival History category, sponsored by the New York Book Festival -- History Honorable Mention ― New York Book Festival Published On: 2012-06-12

About the Author

Tim Jeal is also the biographer of Henry Morton Stanley (National Book Critics' Circle Award in Biography and Sunday Times Biography of the Year 2007), and Robert Baden-Powell, which (like Livingstone) was chosen as a Notable Book of the Year by the New York Times and the Washington Post. In 2011 his Explorers of the Nile was a New York Times Editor's Choice and a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Yale University Press; Illustrated edition (August 14, 2012)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 528 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0300187394
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0300187397
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.2 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.4 x 1.5 x 8.2 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #497,224 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #26 in Sudan History
- #82 in Central Africa History
- #353 in Historical African Biographies (Books)

Customer Reviews:
146 ratings

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5 star		51%
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3 star		12%
2 star		6%
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Top reviews from the United States

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Amazon Customer

A histrory worth reading

Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2014

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An interesting read. Although a relatively long book it details the life and times in a way that shed a completely new light on the way countries such as France, Germany and most importantly England impacted the country, often times for altruistic purposes. The tribulations, the agony and the extreme efforts to explore the Nile is extremely awe inspiring. The tenacity of some of these explorers is beyond imagination and truly defines the term "extreme". Unfortunately, the book also sheds lights on the extremely terrible actions of slave trading, elephant tusk trading and other atrocities that make up the history of the world. A truly sad state of affairs. Maybe countries in their false belief that they know better should stick to their own environments rather than believe they know better and colonize others. Sure, there may be some advantages to the people of another country but what the missionaries did and the sanctioned actions of others on the belief that there may be a way to dominate another weaker country simply to exploit the natural resources of another is totally and completely wrong. We can only imagine how the world would be today if the British had not defined country boundaries they way they did in Africa. Has anything been learned and has anything changed - I don't think so. A good read.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

African exploration revisited

Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2012

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Jeal's latest book is certainly worth reading if you're interested in exploration or African history. As in his other books, Jeal's analysis and opinions are frequently given. The narrative follows the adventures and achievements of each of the prominent British explorers of the Nile sources. Burton comes off the worst by a long shot, Speke is much in favor, Grant seems to be mostly in the background. Sam and Florence Baker get a mixed review tilting toward the negative. Stanley is much appreciated by Jeal as any reader of his highly recommended biography of Stanley will know. Livingston gets grudging respect from Jeal, more than I recall seeing in Jeal's much earlier biography of the man. As other reviewers have noted the closing chapters on subsequent events in the region make for a rather disappointing conclusion. Readers may find it worthwhile to also read Alan Moorehead's "White Nile" for an earlier perspective on much of the same material. While lacking some of the resources currently available Moorhead's books are highly readable and entertaining. See also "Blue Nile" and "Cooper's Creek". For a more balanced (in my opinion) take on Livingstone see George Seaver's "David Livingstone: His Life and Letters" or Andrew Ross "Mission and Empire". If for no other reason, read "Explorers of the Nile" to gain a greater appreciation of John Hanning Speke.

12 people found this helpful

Helpful

Bobby D.

Updates Moorhead's 1960 book "The White Nile"

Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2012

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In 2007 Tim Jeal wrote an outstanding biography STANLEY. It is a most interesting telling of the life of Henry Stanley who also takes up a lot of pages in this Jeal's latest book as one of the Explorers of the Nile. If you have not done so yet, I suggest you read that biography before reading this latest work.

Jeal's objective in EXPLORERS is to update with new research what Allan Moorhead wrote in the popular 1960 WHITE NILE. Tell the story of the Nile explorers and their discoveries. In addition Jeal brings the history of the region up to the present time with concluding chapters that provide a tragic view of the unintended consequences of the discoveries on modern Uganda and Sudan. These final chapters are interesting but for the most part read like they should be part of another book.

Although I enjoyed the EXPLORERS and found much of it most interesting it did not pull me in as Jeal's biography of Stanley had. I think this is due, in part, to the organization of the book and that Jeal spends a good amount of time arguing conclusions based on his new research. The stories of the Nile Explorers and their accomplishments are amazing as stand alone adventures and Jeal's overlaying of analysis tends to undermine the narratives flow. Reading in many sections like a tutorial.

The major focus of the book is based on seven well known explorers, David Livingston (which Jeal leads off with in his first Chapter), Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke, Florence and Samuel Baker, James Grant and Henry Morton Stanley. The big surprise is how badly Burton comes off in the book and how much more credit Speke should have enjoyed in Moorhead's and other previous histories (and movies like the great Mountains of the Moon). This just goes to show what happens in history when those who write the first version can set the `accepted' facts to their advantage. Unfortunately, Speke died early (of an accidental gun shot) while Burton was able to live on and had a wife who wrote to preserve the Burton legacy. (No doubt Burton had a most interesting life and is a noteworthy subject. Just that he did not deserve all the acclaim at the expense of Speke he got for discovery of the source of the Nile.) Jeal also provides credit of the native leaders who accompanied many of these explorers and usually are forgotten to history.

I was a bit surprised by Jeal's telling of Florence and Samual Baker's meeting. Having read Pat Shipman's book TO THE HEART OF THE NILE where Shipman states that Samuel Baker failed to buy Florence, his future wife, at a slave auction and resorted to kidnapping her. Jeal does not mention the kidnapping and only states that Samuel bought her at the slave auction. So who is right on this point? I am not sure but the Shipman version is a lot more romantic and interesting if true.

Overall I would recommend EXPLORES to anyone who knows some of the history of the various explorers and wants a more scholarly update based on more recent research. In many ways the books parts are better than the whole.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Raymond I. Spangler

A must read that should done for the brave Brits who are inside

Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2014

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Read this and ask yourselves if you would have done this for your country. The many things that you learn will push you to give this to a new generation to show that these people should be remembered for these times of improvement and the stoping of slavery. Today we watch an Africa falling apart and this book attempts to explain why this happened--the Brits, French and others left and order, justice and infrastructure fell apart. Read Michelle Wrong books for modern/ recent African tales.

2 people found this helpful

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JLuiz Alquéres

The past explains the present

Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2014

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I agree with the applause to this well researched and magnificent written history of the explorers of the Nile but it is important to add how the understanding of the present state of the affairs in the region could benefit a lot from a careful reading of this book. The essential mistakes appears so naturally that is a pity that some lessons are not learned by people now involved in former Yougoslavia, Ukraine,Syria not to mention many countries in Africa
Tim Jeal made a fantastic job.

One person found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

E Griffith

It shouldn’t be…but it’s boring.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 4, 2021

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I was interested in this book because I’ve been fortunate enough to travel through many of the African countries/areas described and wished to know more. Well the tales are there, and many of them. Like them or not these explorers were privileged but brave men. But this was such a dry book. What could have been such a mesmerising history of the African Nile just went on and on….a bit like the river. I was glad when it finished to be honest. I gave it an extra star for the research and hard work that went into it, but couldn’t recommend this as it makes a fascinating story just boring.

One person found this helpful

autodidact

A Well-Researched History

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 20, 2015

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The Victorian Explorers who ventured into central Africa in search of the source of the White Nile were a driven bunch. Jeal has been back to the sources to update the information we have about Livingstone, Burton, Speke, Baker and Stanley, and has reassessed their roles. In particular he has exonerated Speke from a lot of the attacks upon him following the quarrel with Burton.

During their travels, they were all laid low for a large part of the time by various tropical ailments, and spent a lot of their journeys being carried around by their long-suffering escorts and porters (or not long-suffering; many sensibly ran away with as much loot as they could get rather than face the perils ahead). Arab slave and ivory traders were active in the region (who interestingly did not seem quite so prostrated by the environment), meaning that the local residents tended to be wary of, if not downright hostile to any strangers in the area. So attacks by stones, spears or arrows were all too frequent.

So, a good, well-researched history of the explorations. And a final chapter shows how the final colonisation and somewhat arbitrary land borders drawn up paved the way for some of the humanitarian tragedies of the late twentieth century. Well worth reading.

3 people found this helpful

markr

triumph and tragedy

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 17, 2012

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This is a fascinating account of the incredible efforts made by a small number of explorers in the mid 19th century to discover the source of the Nile. The terrible hardships, dangers, illnesses, and complete exhaustion suffered by all of these remarkably brave people during their journeys into the then unknown are brought to life by Tim Neal in this engaging and and informative book.

The first two thirds or so of the book focuses on the explorers' journeys, characters and motivations, particularly Burton, who does not emerge in an attractive light, Speke, who does not get the credit he deserves for his work or character, Livingston, Stanley, Baker, and Baker's fiancee who was a former slave. All of them hated slavery and some, particularly Livingston and Baker, begged the British government to intervene to bring it to an end, but all had to make compromises with slave dealers in order to progress and to survive The relationships between the explorers and their parties with local rulers and their peoples are engrossing, and brought to life with numerous anecdotes. Neal has carried out extensive research from the writings of the main characters, both public and private, and has used this very effectively to shed new light on their actions, motivations and relationships.

The second part of the book deals with the effects of the explorations, and the subsequent 'scramble for africa', bringing the consequences up to the present day. Whilst very informative and enjoyable, this section of the book seems a little rushed, and could easily have been a book in its own right, rather than almost an addition to the main body of this book.

This is a small niggle though - Tim Neal has given us a highly readable account of these amazing journeys of exploration and the very brave people who undertook them.

Recommended

4 people found this helpful

Anne

Engaging and interesting

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 18, 2012

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This is the story of the Victorian explorers who ventured into darkest Africa to seek the source of the Nile and the consequences of their actions through the years and even up to the present day. It is a book which covers a lot of territory and thus doesn't examine the material in great depth but it certainly gives you plenty to think about.

The author starts with concentrating on the great explorers - their lives, their motives and their actions. We also get to hear about how they treated their wives (and their mistresses), their health issues, their rivalries and the lies they told about each other. The author explains clearly the problems with their expeditions, how many had insufficient supplies, how many didn't make positive relationships with the people whose land they were crossing, and also the physical problems they faced. The great tribal leaders of the time are also introduced to the reader and their preoccupations and ambitions examined to show how they interacted with those who came into their territory.

We get a glimpse into the horrors of the slave trade in Africa at the time and how that affected the native Africans as well as the explorers. The author also looks at the establishment of empires by the great Western powers and how that determined what happened to the African territories at the head of the Nile and how the decisions which were made resulted in conflict even up to the present day.

Whilst the political aspects of explorations were fascinating and revealed to me things which I had not previously realised about these African countries, the most memorable part of the book was the descriptions of the people - the explorers and others; their foibles, characteristics and actions. This continually brought the book back from the wider political aspect to the more human one and helped me to understand the effect of what was happening much more effectively.

I had the Kindle version of this book and found the maps difficult to read on my device so I was a bit lost in the landscape on occasions when journeys were described, but the writing was good enough so that I didn't really suffer a disadvantage. I enjoyed this book very much and am now encouraged to read more detailed biographies of the explorers and some more in depth histories of this part of Africa.

3 people found this helpful

Yet Another Reviewer

The slave trade angle

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 3, 2012

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The book covers the trials and tribulations of staying alive in the depths of Africa when you are the first European to set foot there. The prose feels a bit wordy in places but that does not detract too much from a thoroughly researched book.

Reading this book opened my eyes to the fact, contrary to popular belief, the British did not have a monopoly on brutality in the slave trade.

One of the recurrent themes of this book, apart from the obvious danger, was that a number of the explorers were actively using their exploration to expose the brutality of the slaving raids from the East.

But first they had to dance with the devil and confront the awful paradox that to expose the slavers, they had to attach themselves to the slaving expeditions. This was because the slaving expeditions had made the local population downright hostile to any foreigners so it was just not possible for the explorers to explore certain areas without the protection of the most heavily armed people in the area - the slavers. Not all of the explorers were of the same mindset though. One particularly harrowing passage describes how one of them gave a slave girl he had bought to cannibals so that he could sketch them killing and eating her.

The Kindle edition has maps and photographs.

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