Into Africa - Martin Dugard

What really happened to Dr. David Livingstone? TheNew York Timesbestselling coauthor ofSurvivor: The Ultimate Gameinvestigates in this thrilling account.

With the utterance of a single line-"Doctor Livingstone, I presume?"-a remote meeting
in the heart of Africa was transformed into one of the most famous encounters in
exploration history. But the true story behind Dr. David Livingstone and journalist
Henry Morton Stanley is one that has escaped telling. Into Africa is an extraordinarily
researched account of a thrilling adventure-defined by alarming foolishness, intense
courage, and raw human achievement.

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, uncharted 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 with breathtaking immediacy the perils and
challenges these men faced. Woven into the narrative, Dugard tells an equally compelling
story of 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. The first book to draw on modern research and to explore the combination
of adventure, politics, and larger-than-life personalities involved, Into Africa is a riveting read.