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The battle for the Nile

The explorers’ journey to solve the great geographical puzzle of the Victorian age, and the bad blood it resulted in, is described in gripping detail by Candice Millard

4 March 2023

9:00 AM

4 March 2023

9:00 AM

River of the Gods: Genius, Courage and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile Candice Millard

Swift Press, pp.349, 20

For the 19th-century English adventurer, author, ethnographer, pornographer and all-round maverick Richard Burton, one of life’s happiest moments was ‘the departure upon a distant journey into unknown lands’. There would of course be difficulties; but happiness derives from the prospect of overcoming great challenges and in the process achieving fame and perhaps even fortune.

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