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S'està carregant… River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile (2022)de Candice Millard
   Books Read in 2024 (655) At the Library (135) No hi ha cap discussió a Converses sobre aquesta obra.   ) KallieGrace | May 8, 2024 |  Millard appears to have far greater sympathy for Burton than Speke, although, from the information presented, this is understandable. Millard writes: While more than a dozen biographies would be written about his deeply troubled, endlessly fascinating nemesis, Speke would be the primary subject of only one slim volume, written more than a century after his death. Although extremely readable, for me the book loses its momentum when it reaches the 1860-1862 expedition, perhaps because Burton was not included and Speke & Grant were not so copious or detailed in recording their journey. Indeed, Millard notes: Blackwood, however, worried not only that critics would find errors in Speke’s account but that they would not be able to read it at all. While Burton could produce hundreds of pages of prose sitting in a tent, fighting a fever, Speke struggled to put pen to paper in his room at Jordans. “He writes in such an abominable, childish, unintelligible way that it is impossible to say what anybody could make of them,” Blackwood wrote in frustration to his nephew, William, who also worked for the family publishing house. “And yet he is full of matter & when he talks and explains all is right.” ( ) CarltonC | May 8, 2024 |  ) cspiwak | Mar 6, 2024 | My issues with the book stem from the author's almost giddy hero-worship of Burton, an interesting man (anyone who speaks 25 languages and 10 dialects interests me), but a deeply flawed one as well. Millard is so busy defending Burton from Speke's accusations that I didn't feel as though Burton was viewed objectively. Millard attempts to shed a bit of light on the way European explorers exploited the natives who did most of the work and whose own maps and geographies were discounted, but it's still a book about the Europeans. I don't know what I was expecting, but I closed the book knowing more about the area and the principals involved, yet disappointed. Perhaps it's impossible to read a book about nineteenth-century European explorers without being disappointed. ( )2  labfs39 | Feb 12, 2024 |  ) sibylline | Feb 8, 2024 | Sense ressenyes | afegeix-hi una ressenya
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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The harrowing story of one of the great feats of exploration of all time and its complicated legacy--from the New York Times bestselling author of The River of Doubt and Destiny of the Republic For millennia the location of the Nile River's headwaters was shrouded in mystery. In the 19th century, there was a frenzy of interest in ancient Egypt. At the same time, European powers sent off waves of explorations intended to map the unknown corners of the globe - and extend their colonial empires. Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke were sent by the Royal Geographical Society to claim the prize for England. Burton spoke twenty-nine languages, and was a decorated soldier. He was also mercurial, subtle, and an iconoclastic atheist. Speke was a young aristocrat and Army officer determined to make his mark, passionate about hunting, Burton's opposite in temperament and beliefs. From the start the two men clashed. They would endure tremendous hardships, illness, and constant setbacks. Two years in, deep in the African interior, Burton became too sick to press on, but Speke did, and claimed he found the source in a great lake that he christened Lake Victoria. When they returned to England, Speke rushed to take credit, disparaging Burton. Burton disputed his claim, and Speke launched another expedition to Africa to prove it. The two became venomous enemies, with the public siding with the more charismatic Burton, to Speke's great envy. The day before they were to publicly debate,Speke shot himself. Yet there was a third man on both expeditions, his name obscured by imperial annals, whose exploits were even more extraordinary. This was Sidi Mubarak Bombay, who was enslaved and shipped from his home village in East Africa to India. When the man who purchased him died, he made his way into the local Sultan's army, and eventually traveled back to Africa, where he used his resourcefulness, linguistic prowess and raw courage to forge a living as a guide. Without Bombay and men like him, who led, carried, and protected the expedition, neither Englishman would have come close to the headwaters of the Nile, or perhaps even survived. In River of the Gods Candice Millard has written another peerless story of courage and adventure, set against the backdrop of the race to exploit Africa by the colonial powers. No s'han trobat descripcions de biblioteca. |
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 Google Books — S'està carregant…GèneresClassificació Decimal de Dewey (DDC)916.2043History and Geography Geography and Travel Geography of and travel in Africa Egypt; Sudan; South Sudan EgyptLCC (Clas. Bibl. Congrés EUA)ValoracióMitjana: (3.98)
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