Rating: 
Summary: The Grandest of Explorations
Review: "Doctor Livingstone, I presume?" The formal question, ringing of Victorian propriety, is well known, and when it first became news after it was uttered in 1871, it was a sensation. It represented the climax of global exploration; never again would the world concentrate so on the efforts of men tramping through the unknown. The story of the search for the source of the Nile has been told many times. The current retelling, _Into Africa: The Epic Adventures of Stanley & Livingstone_ (Doubleday) by Martin Dugard, tells the story of two vastly different explorers and the unimaginable hardships they went through on their travels through what was known as "the dark continent." Dugard weaves the stories of the explorers, and those who went before them, their backers, the nationalistic goals of the time, and of course the dangers of the trail, to recount the tale in full. It is still a grandly exciting story.David Livingstone originally went to Africa as a 27-year-old missionary; Dugard points out that this was before missionary work became tainted with imperialism. He was going to save souls, but he got bored, and he was disgusted by the boredom of his converts during public worship. He requested permission to "go forward into the dark interior," and when it was granted, he looked forward to the prospect with "inexpressible delight." In 1886, he set out to find the source of the Nile. He entered the continent, and was lost to the outside world for five years. Speculation about his condition, and rumors about his death, were widespread. The _New York Herald_, sensing a scoop, sent roving reporter Henry Stanley to find him. The treks of both Stanley and Livingstone as jointly recounted here are full of distressing accounts of malaria, dysentery, hookworms, and maggots eating living flesh. Then there are starvation, dehydration, floods, tribal wars, thorns, ants, crocodiles, and much more. Livingstone, evidencing the sort of humorous understatement that must have supported him well, wrote in his journal, "It is not all pleasure, this exploration." After being found, Livingstone did not return to England with his new friend, but died two years later still searching for the authentic source of the Nile. His heart was buried in Africa, and the rest of him in Westminster Abbey. Stanley was a pallbearer. There is plenty of history here, and exciting, often gruesome, adventure, told in a spellbinding prose. We will have no exploration on this sort of epic scale again. There is certainly nothing wrong with exploring strands of DNA or hunting for undersea treasure, but such efforts will always be largely technological. The baldly heroic exploits described here may be of another age, and may come to us now with distasteful colonial and racial baggage, but Stanley and Livingstone could hardly help that. The world was in a frenzy to read news of the famous explorer and his rescuer, and re-living events by means of _Into Africa_ will let readers experience the same thrills.
Rating:
Summary: The Grandest of Explorations
Review: "Doctor Livingstone, I presume?" The formal question, ringing of Victorian propriety, is well known, and when it first became news after it was uttered in 1871, it was a sensation. It represented the climax of global exploration; never again would the world concentrate so on the efforts of men tramping through the unknown. The story of the search for the source of the Nile has been told many times. The current retelling, _Into Africa: The Epic Adventures of Stanley & Livingstone_ (Doubleday) by Martin Dugard, tells the story of two vastly different explorers and the unimaginable hardships they went through on their travels through what was known as "the dark continent." Dugard weaves the stories of the explorers, and those who went before them, their backers, the nationalistic goals of the time, and of course the dangers of the trail, to recount the tale in full. It is still a grandly exciting story. David Livingstone originally went to Africa as a 27-year-old missionary; Dugard points out that this was before missionary work became tainted with imperialism. He was going to save souls, but he got bored, and he was disgusted by the boredom of his converts during public worship. He requested permission to "go forward into the dark interior," and when it was granted, he looked forward to the prospect with "inexpressible delight." In 1886, he set out to find the source of the Nile. He entered the continent, and was lost to the outside world for five years. Speculation about his condition, and rumors about his death, were widespread. The _New York Herald_, sensing a scoop, sent roving reporter Henry Stanley to find him. The treks of both Stanley and Livingstone as jointly recounted here are full of distressing accounts of malaria, dysentery, hookworms, and maggots eating living flesh. Then there are starvation, dehydration, floods, tribal wars, thorns, ants, crocodiles, and much more. Livingstone, evidencing the sort of humorous understatement that must have supported him well, wrote in his journal, "It is not all pleasure, this exploration." After being found, Livingstone did not return to England with his new friend, but died two years later still searching for the authentic source of the Nile. His heart was buried in Africa, and the rest of him in Westminster Abbey. Stanley was a pallbearer. There is plenty of history here, and exciting, often gruesome, adventure, told in a spellbinding prose. We will have no exploration on this sort of epic scale again. There is certainly nothing wrong with exploring strands of DNA or hunting for undersea treasure, but such efforts will always be largely technological. The baldly heroic exploits described here may be of another age, and may come to us now with distasteful colonial and racial baggage, but Stanley and Livingstone could hardly help that. The world was in a frenzy to read news of the famous explorer and his rescuer, and re-living events by means of _Into Africa_ will let readers experience the same thrills.
Rating: 
Summary: Compelling
Review: Although to phrase this way will make me sound like a reviewer for People magazine, I'm finding this book compulsively readable. The writing is technically sound and the story moves along swiftly. A good read. Was a little surprised by the one-star review on this site from "Kurtam." Although I disagree with him I'm thankful he made me aware of the New Yorker article/review by Adam Hochschild back in June 2003. As "Kurtam" mentions, it too is a good read.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding!
Review: Dugard's account of Stanley's search for Livingstone is thorough, superbly written and compelling. I found it impossible to put down. This is truly adveture writing at its best! Dugard's descriptions of the horrors of the slave trade are particularly compelling. A great read.
Rating:
Summary: Everyone Knows the Line
Review: Everyone knows the famous line - "Dr. Livingstone I presume". This is the story leading up to the famous meeting and after. Mr. Dugard does a wonderful job relating the biographies of the main characters - Stanley and Livingstone - as well as tangential men who were integral to this saga. He also places the characters well into the historical context of the times. He captures well not only the facts but he captures the characters including their foibles and weaknesses. The best part of this book was getting to know the men involved - thankfully they were all prolific writers themselves. I found some of the recounting of both Livingstone's and Stanley's travels a bit tedious, which is why this is a four star rather than a five. Also the mapping might have been better. All in all, a very good biography of two interesting men of the nineteenth century.
Rating:
Summary: Everyone Knows the Line
Review: Everyone knows the famous line - "Dr. Livingstone I presume". This is the story leading up to the famous meeting and after. Mr. Dugard does a wonderful job relating the biographies of the main characters - Stanley and Livingstone - as well as tangential men who were integral to this saga. He also places the characters well into the historical context of the times. He captures well not only the facts but he captures the characters including their foibles and weaknesses. The best part of this book was getting to know the men involved - thankfully they were all prolific writers themselves. I found some of the recounting of both Livingstone's and Stanley's travels a bit tedious, which is why this is a four star rather than a five. Also the mapping might have been better. All in all, a very good biography of two interesting men of the nineteenth century.
Rating:
Summary: Everyone Knows the Line
Review: Everyone knows the famous line - "Dr. Livingstone I presume". This is the story leading up to the famous meeting and after. Mr. Dugard does a wonderful job relating the biographies of the main characters - Stanley and Livingstone - as well as tangential men who were integral to this saga. He also places the characters well into the historical context of the times. He captures well not only the facts but he captures the characters including their foibles and weaknesses. The best part of this book was getting to know the men involved - thankfully they were all prolific writers themselves. I found some of the recounting of both Livingstone's and Stanley's travels a bit tedious, which is why this is a four star rather than a five. Also the mapping might have been better. All in all, a very good biography of two interesting men of the nineteenth century.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Read!
Review: Having extensively read about these two accomplished and highly recognized explorers and having traveled the area where Stanley set out to search for Livingstone, I was both excited and anxious to read Mr. Dugard's book. My expectations were high as I opened the first page. To say the least, Mr. Dugard's excellent narrative, thorough research and personal exploration into the minds of the two heroes truly surpassed my hopes for an interesting and enlightening journey into this well known story. Into Africa is not only a combination of adventure and biography, but Mr. Dugard adds interesting insight into the soul of Stanely and Livingstone. Mr. Dugard's writing is rich and flows with compelling descriptions and details. The read is both educational and very entertaining. Although the subject is historical, the book is not the least bit dry and technical, such as Ambroses' Undaunted Courage. Mr. Dugard's style of writing wisks the reader through the personal lives and adventures of not only Stanley and Livingstone, but many of the important secondary characters who had a great affect on Stanley and Livingstone's successes, (ie Kirk, Murchison, Bennett, etc.). The key element that makes this book a great read is Mr. Dugard's relentess and extensive research. His use of Stanley and Livingstones personal journals, letters, obscure newspaper articles, letters and diary entries of Stanley and Livingstone's associates and his own personal reflections and observations helps provide the reader with an accurate and precise account of what truly led to the utterance of that immortal phrase..."Dr. Livingtsone, I presume."
Rating:
Summary: The Problem With Presumption
Review: Here's what I knew (or thought I knew) before I read this book: David Livingstone was a missionary who, after many years of trying, converted almost no Africans to Christianity. He got sidetracked into trying his luck at exploration....and didn't have much luck. He mainly wandered around, not accomplishing much. Henry Morton Stanley went looking for Livingstone as a newspaper "publicity stunt." He had a lot of money behind him and found Livingstone without too much trouble. Later on in life he went back to Africa and debased himself by working for the notorious King Leopold of Belgium, helping to set up the infamous slave-labor colony in the Congo. He was, even before he went to the Congo, a cruel racist. Although maybe I shouldn't admit to my ignorance, that's pretty much what I "knew." Some of the above turned out to be true, some of it didn't, as I discovered after reading this book. It is true Livingstone didn't have much luck with conversions, even though he spent a good portion of the last 30 years of his life in Africa. He was, however, a better explorer than I realized. He was the first white man to walk across Africa, doing so from east to west. From 1841-1851 he explored the deserts, rivers and lakes of Southern Africa. From 1858-1863 he explored the Zambezi river and the area to the north of the river. It is true that he didn't accomplish 2 of the main goals he had set for himself. He hoped, by his explorations, to open up the African interior to economic development which would eliminate the slave trade. This didn't happen during his lifetime. He even compromised his principles and accepted food and hospitality from Arab slave traders as his second goal became his primary goal, and even an obsession- to find the source of the Nile. He was about 600 miles too far to the south, and never found what he was looking for. Indeed, after being found by Stanley, Livingstone remained in Africa and died in pursuit of his obsession. Despite these failures, Livingstone did map quite a bit of Africa and measured the height of, and gave the English name to, Victoria Falls. Stanley, while undoubtedly a racist- he beat his porters for little or no reason- did not have an easy time finding Livingstone. As Mr. Dugard makes clear, Stanley relentlessly made his way through jungles, swamps and savannah, having to deal with crocodiles, lions, hyenas, and tsetse flies along the way. He survived bouts of malaria and dysentery, encounters with cannibals, an attempted rebellion by his men, and porters running off with essential supplies. He also wound up in the middle of a war between Arab slave traders and various African tribes. He was genuinely fond of Livingstone and didn't just stick around to say, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" He spent five months with Livingstone, bringing essential supplies so that Livingstone could go on with his explorations. Stanley later, in 1874, returned to Africa and circumnavigated both Lake Victoria and Lake Tanganyika and followed the Congo River all the way to the Atlantic. These were remarkable achievements. Do they absolve Stanley of the sin of helping to establish Leopold's nightmarish Belgian Congo? No they don't....but they were still remarkable achievements. This book works very well as an adventure story, but it is more than that. The author didn't just look at the books that Stanley and Livingstone wrote for public view. He also looked at the journals of the two men. Thus, we are privy to their most inner thoughts and disappointments. Livingstone was guilty about not having spent more time at home in England with his wife and children. (His wife was so lonely she came to Africa to join him in 1861. She died from malaria in 1862.) He also, however, despite his reputation as a "pure of heart" missionary, was very sexually active with African women. He himself estimated that he had enjoyed the favors of 300 natives. Stanley was the result of a liaison between his prostitute mother and one of her customers. He was dumped in a workhouse by uncaring relatives and was sexually abused by his fellow inmates. His journals, unsurprisingly, show a man wracked by insecurity and depression, warding off thoughts of suicide by keeping himself constantly busy. Mr. Dugard speculates that part of the appeal for Stanley in finding Livingstone (and his affection for Livingstone once they met) was his desperate need for a father figure. (Livingstone was about 30 years older than Stanley.) Considering Stanley's upbringing, this speculation does not seem far-fetched. One problem this otherwise fine book does have is that is suffers from a lack of maps. The only map in the book is printed on the inside cover. It is ok but not really detailed, and it is awkward to get to. As most of the chapters get into a lot of detail regarding where Stanley and Livingstone are at any particular moment, it would have been much better to have more maps scattered throughout the book. In any event, after reading this excellent combination of adventure tale/ dual biography, I feel a little less ignorant than before. Not a bad thing!
Rating:
Summary: Adventure and History
Review: I picked up this book after reading a glowing review of it by Bill Bryson. I'm so glad I did. It's a true page turner. The research is original and powerful and balanced, documenting the obstacles and horrors encountered by Stanley and Livingstone. I was amazed that a book packed with that much information could be such a riveting read. As one who has traveled extensively in Africa, I also thought this book captured the epic sprawl of that wonderful continent (and made me realize how brave Stanley and Livingstone were to venture in alone). This is a story I thought I knew, but realized that I knew very little about until reading Dugard's book.
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