Frank H. (perryfran) reviewed on 5/26/2021 + 1193 more book reviews

I have been on a reading kick recently with books about African exploration. This book, Dark Safari has been on my shelves since it was originally published in 1990...I remember obtaining it through the History Book Club at that time. Finally got around to reading it after reading some other books about Africa including Into Africa which detailed Henry Morton Stanley's search to find Livingstone and Blood River about a modern day journey to duplicate Stanley's journey on the Congo River. Dark Safari is more of a general overall biography of Stanley and includes not only his quest to find Livingstone but also his subsequent explorations in Africa including his navigation and charting of the Congo River, his work to complete Livingstone's quest to find the source of the Nile, his work for King Leopold of Belgium to establish the Congo Free State, and his expedition to rescue Emin Pasha, governor of the Sudan's Equatorial Province who was standing against the Mahdi Mohammed Ahmed, the Ayatollah Khomeini of the time. Stanley endured many perilous circumstances in these exploits including malaria and other diseases, warring natives, cannibals, treacherous rivers and swamps, and nearly impassable jungles. Many of his crew died along the way or were subjected to horrors and starvation. One of his officers actually witnessed the killing of a young native girl who was then cut apart and eaten by cannibals. Many other atrocities also occurred including beatings and killings of the African porters by some of Stanley's men who were left behind at one point. These experiences as revealed upon Stanley's return were used as the basis for Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. "The horror, the horror!"

Stanley was far from being a perfect man. He often exaggerated his life and experiences in his books and other written accounts. He was harsh to his men who went with him on his expeditions. He was very shy around women and may have had a hard time communicating with them. He was jilted more than once by women who had promised to marry him. He was instrumental in establishing the Belgian Congo for King Leopold who exploited native workers and had over 3 million of them killed. But to the Victorians, he was the ultimate adventurer as he extended his conquest of the natural world. This was a very encompassing biography of Stanley and provides a lot of historical information from his young days as an outcast in Wales, to his time in the American West and the Civil War, to his exploits in Africa. Very engrossing reading.

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