Rating: 
Summary: Magnificent Must Read
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Magnificent Must Read
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Danger -- Dragons be here!!
Review: Alan Moorehead's "The White Nile" promises much but delivers very little. Any person with a background in the history of Africa will come away disappointed. Judging from the love affair that most readers appear to have with this book, this review of mine is not likely to be popular.The White Nile is a stylish but relatively superficial overview of the subject that does not challenge any of the conventional history. If that is all it was, I might ordinarily have recommended it to the general reader. It is well written and Moorehead has a wonderful narrative sense. However, I will say that Moore writes in a slightly anachronistic style that I associate more with the 1800s than the 1960s when he wrote his book. But I simply cannot recommend it even to the general reader. This is a deeply flawed book. And here's one reason why -- Moorehead uncritically accepts his source's versions of the events that transpired during their voyages of exploration. Example: "Returning to her hut one day Speke found himself involved in an orgy which ended in the Queen Mother and all of her attendants drinking like swine on all fours from a trough of beer".
Another: "Nothing would keep Mutesa away from his new toys after this. One fine day he would march around his capital, gun in hand, his wives, pages, and courtiers following and a band playing; and if by luck he managed to hit a vulture on a tree he would run forward to the fallen victim crying out "woh, woh, woh" in infantile excitement". Now I do not conceive myself to be a politically correct person. But I find those passages offensive in the extreme (and there are DOZENS of them). Notice that he is not quoting. It is MOOREHEAD who describes the Africans as swinish and infantile. I am quite aware that these incidents appear in Speke's journals. But Speke, like so many of his ilk, had a thinly disguised contempt for black Africans. And I am not even entirely certain that everything Speke wrote can be taken at face value. These explorers were writing for a mass audience that loved to be titillated and I simply can not credit Speke or any of the others with high standards of journalistic accuracy. But Moorehead's repeats these at times utterly preposterous stories with a credulity that strains the bounds of reason -- even when there is ample evidence to refute them. There is a damning example of this. Moorehead reprints Speke's lavish and detailed allegations relating to the savagery of Mutesa's rule in Buganda. He seems to revel in it. But when Stanley (for all his flaws an entirely MORE credible witness than some of his contemporaries) visited Buganda some years later he found absolutely no evidence whatsoever of this type of behaviour. Stanley himself declared that we was unable to reconcile Speke's description of Mutesa with the man he met. Instead of concluding that Speke made it up - as we surely must - Moorehead concludes that Mutesa's "nineteen years on the throne had done a great deal to polish his natural talents as a politician". Of COURSE. That's it! Speke's juvenile butcher had simply grown up - don't all the naughty little despots. Observations such as this are simply too facile for words and it undermines the credibility of his entire book. And that is not all. Much of the controversy about whether Victoria Nyanza was the source of the Nile turned upon geophysical nuances -- altitudes, volumes of water and so forth. Burton, for example, was prepared to refute Speke's estimate of the size of Victoria by calculating exactly how far Speke could have seen from his 100-foot high vantage point. Simple trigonometry would reveal that Speke could not have seen as far as he claimed to have. Key details such as this are completely ignored. Elsewhere he remarks, "the Ruisizi flows southward into Lake Tanganyika, which in any case is only 2,535 feet above sea level and therefor too low to be the origin of the Nile". This is a important fact and yet Moorehead offers absolutely no explanation for this remark (clearly gleaned from another source). Moorehead's simplistic and uncritical appreciation of Gordon (who he describes as "evoking an instant sense of gallantry and adventure") can not pass without comment. Moorehead remarks with extraordinary naïveté that it "is pleasant to know the he (Gordon) followed Baker to Fatiko". Pleasant for Moorehead maybe, not so pleasant for the Africans who needlessly died at Gordon's hands as he fought his private war in Africa. Recent biographies of this complex, brutal, bigoted, religious zealot are a required antidote to this remarkable twaddle. The maps are deplorably small - when one considers that much of the joy of reading a book such as this turns on our ability to trace the explorer's footsteps. So is this book to be recommended for ANYONE? NO. It will irritate the knowledgeable student of Africa and seriously misinform the uninitiated.
Rating:
Summary: Danger -- Dragons be here!!
Review: Alan Moorehead's "The White Nile" promises much but delivers very little. Any person with a background in the history of Africa will come away disappointed. Judging from the love affair that most readers appear to have with this book, this review of mine is not likely to be popular. The White Nile is a stylish but relatively superficial overview of the subject that does not challenge any of the conventional history. If that is all it was, I might ordinarily have recommended it to the general reader. It is well written and Moorehead has a wonderful narrative sense. However, I will say that Moore writes in a slightly anachronistic style that I associate more with the 1800s than the 1960s when he wrote his book. But I simply cannot recommend it even to the general reader. This is a deeply flawed book. And here's one reason why -- Moorehead uncritically accepts his source's versions of the events that transpired during their voyages of exploration. Example: "Returning to her hut one day Speke found himself involved in an orgy which ended in the Queen Mother and all of her attendants drinking like swine on all fours from a trough of beer".
Another: "Nothing would keep Mutesa away from his new toys after this. One fine day he would march around his capital, gun in hand, his wives, pages, and courtiers following and a band playing; and if by luck he managed to hit a vulture on a tree he would run forward to the fallen victim crying out "woh, woh, woh" in infantile excitement". Now I do not conceive myself to be a politically correct person. But I find those passages offensive in the extreme (and there are DOZENS of them). Notice that he is not quoting. It is MOOREHEAD who describes the Africans as swinish and infantile. I am quite aware that these incidents appear in Speke's journals. But Speke, like so many of his ilk, had a thinly disguised contempt for black Africans. And I am not even entirely certain that everything Speke wrote can be taken at face value. These explorers were writing for a mass audience that loved to be titillated and I simply can not credit Speke or any of the others with high standards of journalistic accuracy. But Moorehead's repeats these at times utterly preposterous stories with a credulity that strains the bounds of reason -- even when there is ample evidence to refute them. There is a damning example of this. Moorehead reprints Speke's lavish and detailed allegations relating to the savagery of Mutesa's rule in Buganda. He seems to revel in it. But when Stanley (for all his flaws an entirely MORE credible witness than some of his contemporaries) visited Buganda some years later he found absolutely no evidence whatsoever of this type of behaviour. Stanley himself declared that we was unable to reconcile Speke's description of Mutesa with the man he met. Instead of concluding that Speke made it up - as we surely must - Moorehead concludes that Mutesa's "nineteen years on the throne had done a great deal to polish his natural talents as a politician". Of COURSE. That's it! Speke's juvenile butcher had simply grown up - don't all the naughty little despots. Observations such as this are simply too facile for words and it undermines the credibility of his entire book. And that is not all. Much of the controversy about whether Victoria Nyanza was the source of the Nile turned upon geophysical nuances -- altitudes, volumes of water and so forth. Burton, for example, was prepared to refute Speke's estimate of the size of Victoria by calculating exactly how far Speke could have seen from his 100-foot high vantage point. Simple trigonometry would reveal that Speke could not have seen as far as he claimed to have. Key details such as this are completely ignored. Elsewhere he remarks, "the Ruisizi flows southward into Lake Tanganyika, which in any case is only 2,535 feet above sea level and therefor too low to be the origin of the Nile". This is a important fact and yet Moorehead offers absolutely no explanation for this remark (clearly gleaned from another source). Moorehead's simplistic and uncritical appreciation of Gordon (who he describes as "evoking an instant sense of gallantry and adventure") can not pass without comment. Moorehead remarks with extraordinary naïveté that it "is pleasant to know the he (Gordon) followed Baker to Fatiko". Pleasant for Moorehead maybe, not so pleasant for the Africans who needlessly died at Gordon's hands as he fought his private war in Africa. Recent biographies of this complex, brutal, bigoted, religious zealot are a required antidote to this remarkable twaddle. The maps are deplorably small - when one considers that much of the joy of reading a book such as this turns on our ability to trace the explorer's footsteps. So is this book to be recommended for ANYONE? NO. It will irritate the knowledgeable student of Africa and seriously misinform the uninitiated.
Rating:
Summary: A great deal of fun
Review: Alan Moorehead's book is a blast to read. The adventures of the explorers and imperialists in 19th century Africa are described in exciting detail, yet Moorehead doesn't fail to provide the reader with broader information about the British empire and the changing world. This is the kind of book that inspires the reader to tackle the original journals of Burton, Speke, Gordon, etc., as well more academic histories of the exploration of Africa, and the African peoples.
Rating:
Summary: Step aside, Indiana Jones...
Review: 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
Rating:
Summary: The White Nile
Review: Alan Moorehead`s book about the Nile, with its explorers of that heroic age - the late 19th century - is truly a magnificent achievement! It was simply so overwhelmingly, both thrilling and informative that I could hardy put it down.
Starting with the pioneers Speke, and Burton, Samuel Baker, then describing the greatness of Dr Livingstone and the agile and ambitious Stanley, after which we encounter the purely Victorian General Gordon, his contradictory personality, and his end at the wall of Khartum.
Mr Moorehead ushers us to the court of King Mutesa the Buganda monarch that shows as a real illustration of an imaginative fable king.
After having read this valuable work, we will gain the most ultimate information concerning the rarely told yarn of the history of East Africa, Uganda, Egypt, and the Sudan. And that glamorous river, of course.
This book is a must if you would like to understand the connections between the past, the horrors of the slave trade, the effects of colonization, the interests of autocratic emperors, the colliding interests of greedy colonists, and their subordinates, as well as the present problems of today that result from those incredibly engulfing events that took place in those decades.
Rating: 
Summary: A dated but exciting read
Review: Anyone who enjoys historical narrative will enjoy The White Nile. It certainly robbed me of my sleep! I was expecting much more on the exploration itself, and wasn't prepared for the long section on Khartoum and Gordon, but it turned out to be a fascinating story, one worth reading. The problem with this book has already been pointed out: its dated, essentially racist attitudes. Moorehead, true to his era (this book was researched/written in the late 50s) evinces very little sympathy for African cultures. Gordon, Speke, Burton and Livingstone may have been admirable for their courage, and their intentions may have been good, but Moorehead has a tendency to hero-worship these Great British Men a little too much for my taste. It is telling that the Arabs, though portrayed chiefly as ruthless slavers and religious fanatics, are still 'civilised companions' to the Europeans who seem unable to have meaningful contact with black Africans. But in this also the book is worth reading - perhaps it is this huge gap of understanding between colonisers and colonised that is the root of Africa's problems even today. To his credit, however, Moorehead recognises the debilitating effect of slavery, endemic violence foreign intervention on African cultures. Read this book as a great adventure complete with wild heathen, murderous fevers, messianic leaders and impenetrable swamps; as a historical narrative of empire building and its discontents; as a psychological study of explorers, soldiers and bureaucrats; as food for thought on the explosive contact between cultures that bred contempt, pity and fear.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Book
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: The White Nile--36 years later.
Review: 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
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