River of the Godsby Candice Millard | |
| Category: |
"Travel" |
|---|---|
| Pages: | 280 |
| Year of Publication: | 2022 |
| Date Added: | 11/29/2021 |
| Date Read: | 06/03/2024 |
| Notes: | Subtitle: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile In the 1850's, nobody knew for sure where the Nile River began. Richard Burton organized an expedition and brought along John Hanning Speke. They had to quit before they got started because they ran out of money. The two men bickered about who had been in charge and who had the right to publish the journals. Then they tried again, traveling to Lake Tanganyika. But again they ran out of money before they could explore everywhere they wanted to go. On the way back, Burton got sick and had to rest up. Speke and an African guide named Bombay traveled up to Lake Victoria, and Speke decided that was the source. Back in England, Burton and Speke bickered again. Burton refused to admit that Speke had found the source. Speke took off again the next year, traveling again to Lake Victoria and, this time, proving it was the source of the Nile. (Or at least the main source. There are various rivers that drain into the lake.) The controversy continued. Speke got depressed and shot himself or maybe it was an accident. Burton got married, traveled a little, and translated dirty books from Arabic to English, then died. |
| My Rating: | 5 |
Reviewed by Roger on 2024-06-03 17:48:39
