Saeed's post that quoted Stanley reminded me of reading the Tim Jeal's biography of Stanley about ten years ago. What stood out to me was how detailed Jeal's book was and how exhaustive his reasearch was. The author left no stone unturned.

Earlier Jeal wrote a biography of Livingston that painted a more realistic picture of the the missionary who history has painted a saint.

Conversely, Jeal's biography of Stanley shows him in a much more complete, and sympathetic, light than the heavy-handed colonial thug that history has told us he was.

I was blown away by the readability of this tome. And in my mind it setteled the question of who is Africa's greatest explorer once and for all.

Sounds like an interesting read. I imagine it had an exhaustive section on Tippu Tib. From what I have read Stanley couldn’t have done what he did without Tib.

quote:

Originally posted by BaxterB:
I imagine it had an exhaustive section on Tippu Tib. From what I have read Stanley couldn’t have done what he did without Tib.

Yes, there was quite a bit about Tib. I had read about him in quite a few other books but this was the first time he felt like a real person.

quote:

Originally posted by JBrown:

quote:

Originally posted by BaxterB:
I imagine it had an exhaustive section on Tippu Tib. From what I have read Stanley couldn’t have done what he did without Tib.

Yes, there was quite a bit about Tib. I had read about him in quite a few other books but this was the first time he felt like a real person.

Then I must check it out.

Am just finishing up The Last Slave Market by Alistair Hazell. If nothing else, it shows you how complicated a time the British had in shutting down the Zanzibar slave market. Centers around John Kirk ( who was with Stanley a bit) and many of the local leaders on the island. Worth a read.

Stanley’s life pre Africa is incredible. The book is aptly titled.