From Publishers Weekly
It is rare when a historical narrative keeps readers up late into the night, especially when the story is as well known as Henry Morgan Stanley's search for the missionary and explorer David Livingstone. But author and adventurer Dugard, who's written a biography of Capt. James Cook among other works, makes a suspenseful tale out of journalist Stanley's successful trek through the African interior to find and rescue a stranded Livingstone. Dugan has read extensively in unpublished diaries, newspapers of the time and the archives of Britain's Royal Geographical Society; he also visited the African locations central to the story. Together these sources enable him to re-create with immediacy the astounding hardships, both natural and manmade, that Africa put in the path of the two central characters. Dugard also presents thoughtful insights into the psychology of both Stanley and Livingstone, whose respective responses to Africa could not have differed more. Stanley was bent on beating Africa with sheer force of will, matching it brutality for brutality, while Livingstone, possessed of spirituality and a preternatural absence of any fear of death, responded to the continent's harshness with patience and humility. Descriptions of the African landscape are vivid, as are the descriptions of malaria, dysentery, sleeping sickness, insect infestations, monsoons and tribal wars, all of which Stanley and Livingstone faced. More disturbing, however is Dugard's depiction of the prosperous Arab slave trade, which creates a sense of menace that often reaches Conradian intensity. This is a well-researched, always engrossing book.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal
Adult/High School-A superb tale of adventure, heroism, and suffering. Dugard provides essential background information between generous servings of heart-pounding excitement. The story begins in the spring of 1866 as David Livingstone was leaving Zanzibar for Mikindary to begin his search for the source of the Nile. Meanwhile, Henry Stanley, an unremarkable freelance writer, embarked on his own adventure, a journey east from Colorado that began by rafting the South Platte River. He hoped for a career as a newspaper reporter in New York. The activities of each man are described in alternate chapters. Rich biographical detail contributes to readers' understanding of the men's backgrounds and characters. This is not a tale for the squeamish: exhausted men slogging through fetid swamps succumb to horrifying diseases; roving bandits mutilate and devour their captives. Using the men's detailed journals, the archives of the Royal Geographic Society, newspaper reports, an impressive collection of secondary sources, and a few black-and-white photographs, the author provides readers with a picture of the time that is as compelling as the story of the search. Details about the role of newspapers, the management of ships, the debates about slavery, and many other topics enrich this book. The volume ends with the burial of Livingstone in Westminster Abbey, but an epilogue provides brief notes on the remainder of the lives of the other major figures in the story.Kathy Tewell, Chantilly Regional Library, VACopyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
An adventurer himself (he's coauthor of the best-selling Survivor), Dugard tells the greatest adventure story of them all. Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
This book brings to vivid life the improbable journey of Henry Morton Stanley into central Africa to discover and rescue Dr. David Livingstone, who had been lost for several years. The author leaves nothing out, including the earlier explorations of Livingstone and other British explorers, and the helter-skelter, failure-laden life led by Stanley until his exploit. This is high adventure at its best. Simon Jones holds the listener's attention throughout. The voices he gives to the main characters work well--open and confident even in the most dire circumstances for Livingstone, and gruff and hale with a minor note of doubt for Stanley. An excellent production is marred only by the lack of end-of-CD signals and a tendency to end individual CDs mid-paragraph. R.E.K. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Booklist
David Livingstone's search for the source of the Nile and Henry Morton Stanley's subsequent search for Livingstone are two of the most famous quest stories to come out of colonial Africa. Dugard's rendering of the tale is immediate and engrossing. In the late 1860s, Livingstone, seeking the elusive source of the Nile, journeyed far into the interior of Africa, eventually reaching the Lualaba River, which he was convinced was the source. Back in Victorian England, members of the Royal Geographic Society were frantic because they hadn't been able to contact Livingstone. They feared he was dead. Across the pond, the ambitious owner of the New York Herald got word of Livingstone's plight and decided to send daredevil reporter Stanley to find the lost explorer. Stanley journeyed to Zanzibar, where he assembled a motley group and loaded up with supplies. But the dangers that awaited them were beyond Stanley's imaginings. Drawing from the explorers' copious diaries, Dugard imbues the narrative with a keen sense of urgency that propels this compelling account along. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Review

“An action-packed recounting of one of the most famous incidents in the history of exploration. Until well into the 19th century, European geography textbooks portrayed central Africa as a vast, uncharted wasteland, almost certainly a graveyard for any outsider unwise enough to enter it. . . . In the late 1860s, [David] Livingstone and a large entourage disappeared somewhere between Zanzibar and Lake Tanganyika while poking around for the source of the Nile. Enter New York Herald correspondent Henry Morton Stanley. . . . Braving disease, difficult terrain, and all manner of deprivation, Stanley for three years [followed] Livingstone’s trail, despairing of ever finding the senior explorer. . . . Fine entertainment for adventure buffs, solidly researched and fluently told.”

—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)


Review

?An action-packed recounting of one of the most famous incidents in the history of exploration. Until well into the 19th century, European geography textbooks portrayed central Africa as a vast, uncharted wasteland, almost certainly a graveyard for any outsider unwise enough to enter it. . . . In the late 1860s, [David] Livingstone and a large entourage disappeared somewhere between Zanzibar and Lake Tanganyika while poking around for the source of the Nile. Enter New York Herald correspondent Henry Morton Stanley. . . . Braving disease, difficult terrain, and all manner of deprivation, Stanley for three years [followed] Livingstone?s trail, despairing of ever finding the senior explorer. . . . Fine entertainment for adventure buffs, solidly researched and fluently told.?

?Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"In the mid-1860s, exploration had reached a plateau. The seas and continents had been mapped, the globe circumnavigated. Yet one vexing puzzle remained unsolved: What was the source of the mighty Nile River? Aiming to settle the mystery once and for all, Great Britain called upon its legendary explorer, Dr. David Livingstone, who had spent years in Africa as a missionary. In March 1866, Livingstone steered a massive expedition into the heart of Africa. In his path lay nearly impenetrable, unchartered terrain, hostile cannibals, and deadly predators. Within weeks, the explorer had vanished without a trace. Years passed with no word." "While debate raged in England over whether Livingstone could be found - or rescued - from a place as daunting as Africa, James Gordon Bennett, Jr., the brash American newspaper tycoon, hatched a plan to capitalize on the world's fascination with the missing legend. He would send a young journalist, Henry Morton Stanley, into Africa to search for Livingstone. A drifter with great ambition, but little success to show for it, Stanley undertook his assignment with gusto, filing reports that would one day captivate readers and dominate the front page of the New York Herald." Tracing the amazing journeys of Livingstone and Stanley in alternating chapters, author Martin Dugard captures the perils and challenges these men faced. Dugard weaves into the narrative the remarkable transformation that occurred over the course of nine years, as Stanley rose in power and prominence and Livingstone found himself alone and in mortal danger.

SYNOPSIS

American adventurer and adventure writer Dugard tells how British explorer David Livingstone (1813-73) sought the source of the Nile in the 1860s and 1870s, and how American reporter Henry M. Stanley went looking for him when he had been gone some time longer than expected. Annotation ©2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

It is rare when a historical narrative keeps readers up late into the night, especially when the story is as well known as Henry Morgan Stanley's search for the missionary and explorer David Livingstone. But author and adventurer Dugard, who's written a biography of Capt. James Cook among other works, makes a suspenseful tale out of journalist Stanley's successful trek through the African interior to find and rescue a stranded Livingstone. Dugan has read extensively in unpublished diaries, newspapers of the time and the archives of Britain's Royal Geographical Society; he also visited the African locations central to the story. Together these sources enable him to re-create with immediacy the astounding hardships, both natural and manmade, that Africa put in the path of the two central characters. Dugard also presents thoughtful insights into the psychology of both Stanley and Livingstone, whose respective responses to Africa could not have differed more. Stanley was bent on beating Africa with sheer force of will, matching it brutality for brutality, while Livingstone, possessed of spirituality and a preternatural absence of any fear of death, responded to the continent's harshness with patience and humility. Descriptions of the African landscape are vivid, as are the descriptions of malaria, dysentery, sleeping sickness, insect infestations, monsoons and tribal wars, all of which Stanley and Livingstone faced. More disturbing, however is Dugard's depiction of the prosperous Arab slave trade, which creates a sense of menace that often reaches Conradian intensity. This is a well-researched, always engrossing book. Agent, Eric Simonoff. (On sale May 6) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Dugard (Farther Than Any Man: The Rise and Fall of Captain James Cook) has written a riveting history focusing on the famous meeting of Dr. David Livingstone and Henry Morton Stanley in east Africa. Victorian explorer extraordinaire, Livingstone returned to Africa in 1866 to search for the disputed source of the Nile for the Royal Geographical Society. Stanley, a reporter for the New York Herald, was sent to Africa in 1870 to find Livingstone, who was feared dead. His dispatches continued to fan the flame of worldwide interest in Livingstone while also managing to "twist the tiger's tale" by condemning the British for abandoning their hero. Dugard details how the expeditions were conceived and equipped, the land through which they traveled, the tribes they encountered, the horrific evidence of the slave trade, and the myriad dangers experienced, such as sleeping sickness, malaria, carnivorous animals, snakes, war, hunger, and dehydration. Following the two men's journeys in alternating chapters, Dugard offers a text that is lively, enthralling, and informative. While not replacing the multiple full biographies of either man, this work is nevertheless highly recommended for all libraries. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 12/02.]-Margaret Atwater-Singer, Univ. of Evansville Libs., IN Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Adult/High School-A superb tale of adventure, heroism, and suffering. Dugard provides essential background information between generous servings of heart-pounding excitement. The story begins in the spring of 1866 as David Livingstone was leaving Zanzibar for Mikindary to begin his search for the source of the Nile. Meanwhile, Henry Stanley, an unremarkable freelance writer, embarked on his own adventure, a journey east from Colorado that began by rafting the South Platte River. He hoped for a career as a newspaper reporter in New York. The activities of each man are described in alternate chapters. Rich biographical detail contributes to readers' understanding of the men's backgrounds and characters. This is not a tale for the squeamish: exhausted men slogging through fetid swamps succumb to horrifying diseases; roving bandits mutilate and devour their captives. Using the men's detailed journals, the archives of the Royal Geographic Society, newspaper reports, an impressive collection of secondary sources, and a few black-and-white photographs, the author provides readers with a picture of the time that is as compelling as the story of the search. Details about the role of newspapers, the management of ships, the debates about slavery, and many other topics enrich this book. The volume ends with the burial of Livingstone in Westminster Abbey, but an epilogue provides brief notes on the remainder of the lives of the other major figures in the story.-Kathy Tewell, Chantilly Regional Library, VA Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews