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Stanley: The Impossible Life of Africa's Greatest Explorer
 
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Stanley: The Impossible Life of Africa's Greatest Explorer (Paperback)

by Tim Jeal (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
RRP: £9.99
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Customers buy this book with Blood River: A Journey to Africa's Broken Heart by Tim Butcher

Stanley: The Impossible Life of Africa's Greatest Explorer + Blood River: A Journey to Africa's Broken Heart
Price For Both: £12.58

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Product details

  • Paperback: 592 pages
  • Publisher: Faber and Faber (6 Mar 2008)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0571221033
  • ISBN-13: 978-0571221035
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.2 x 3.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 19,713 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #10 in  Books > Biography > Political > Countries & Regions > Africa
    #12 in  Books > Biography > Historical > Countries & Regions > Africa
    #15 in  Books > History > Other Historical Subjects > Discovery & Exploration

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Product Description

Review
'Superb ... Tim Jeal's absorbing biography will surely be definitive. The story of how an emotionally damaged Victorian pauper opened up the Dark Continent is an extraordinary one, and Jeal has written a great book - shrewd, perceptive and engaging.' --Sunday Telegraph

'Magnificent ... There have been many biographies of Stanley, but Jeal's is the most felicitous, the best informed, the most complete and readable.' --Paul Theroux, New York Times Book Review

Sunday Times
'An absorbing, sometimes horrifying biography ... a feat of
advocacy - an ardent, intricate defence of a man history has damned.' --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Customer Reviews

13 Reviews
5 star:
 (11)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The dramatic life of a towering figure grippingly told, 9 Mar 2007
By Christopher McIntosh - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Stanley: The Impossible Life of Africa's Greatest Explorer (Hardcover)
I have rarely read such a riveting book as this one. The story of Stanley's life is extraordinary and dramatic enough in itself, and Tim Jeal tells it with the vividness that we are accustomed to from his earlier superb biographies of Livingstone and Baden-Powell. But the book is not just a gripping read, it is also an eye-opener. Having had access to previously unused documents, Jeal gives us for the first time a full picture of the real Stanley, who emerges as a towering figure of enormous significance in the history of Africa. Jeal's account of his involvement in the Congo, for example, vindicates Stanley from the charges that have often been levelled against him. While we are shown his warts, Stanley comes across as fundamentally decent and likeable human being. This is a book to which I shall return.
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25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An outstanding biography, 6 Mar 2007
This review is from: Stanley: The Impossible Life of Africa's Greatest Explorer (Hardcover)
Think you know all about Stanley? He asked, "Dr Livingstone, I presume?" Right? Wrong actually. And lots else is wrong about the usual way Stanley is seen. He tried to oppose Leopold's land grab on the Congo rather than carried it out, and was appalled by what went on there after he left Africa. The author of this book has seen scores of letters no-one else has read and retells Stanley's amazing story as it really happened and not as his enemies later made out. A fascinating and convincing revisionary read.
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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An exciting unputdownable book., 6 Mar 2007
By Thomas Beck - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Stanley: The Impossible Life of Africa's Greatest Explorer (Hardcover)
They don't make heroes any more like the Victorians, but not even they made more than one Stanley. He was bombastic, he lied, he was desperate for love, he created a new identity for himself, he deserted twice from the US forces in the Civil War, he prospected for gold, he became a famous journalist, he thought up the biggest journalistic scoop of the 19th century and then he sorted out the Nile/Congo sources. He went back to Africa again and again even after classic near death experiences. And this was a boy who spent ten years of his childhood in a workhouse which his family never visited. Why didn't he just give up? This is a stunning book about the human will to survive and make something of life. You feel you are with Stanley in the jungle and on the great rivers. You understand what it took to travel aross the continent when malaria killed scores of explorers. No maps, no transport except human porterage, and walking for months and even years and facing more dangers than can be imagined. Yet Stanley needed love like the rest of us and after numerous disasters, eventually found it. A terrific unputdownable book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The tragic explorer re-assessed
Tim Jeal's book unravels succesfully the misconceptions about Henry Morton Stanley's reputation. Not being the willing executioner of King Leopold's greedy and murderous policy in... Read more
Published 2 months ago by H. A. Wierenga

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent. Clears up the life of the worlds greatest explorer
"Dr Livingstone, I presume?". One of the most famous quotes in history attributed to Stanley which, in fact, he never said! Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mr. A. M. Bayliss

5.0 out of 5 stars A superb historical rescue mission
This really is a magnificent biography. Well written, gripping and shedding new light on a fascinating & complex subject. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Coniston Old Man

5.0 out of 5 stars Redressing the balance
Unfortunately a couple of reviewers have given this book one star based on their own prejudices rather than on the merits or otherwise of this book. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Big Jim

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding
I knew little of the history of the western colonialisation of Africa and less about Stanleys reputation prior to reading this book. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Huckleberry Finn

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding
As a committed Afrophile I always felt perplexed by Stanley; I generally accepted the negative post-colonial view of Stanley and indeed the view of some during his lifetime. Read more
Published on 12 Jun 2007 by Minutor

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Adventure
In one of these reviews a gentleman has said the truth about Stanley should not be known in light of the tragedy of events in the Congo. Read more
Published on 29 May 2007 by Mrs. C. A. Lawrence

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating piece of Victorian history
I first came to Tim Jeal's writing when I read his fascinating biography of Baden-Powell. His new biography of the intrepid adventurer and explorer Henry Stanley makes BP look... Read more
Published on 17 Mar 2007 by Tobias Steed

5.0 out of 5 stars Meet the very human Henry Stanley
This biography is incredibly moving and revealing. It is a miracle that Stanley ever became one of the all time great explorers - perhaps the greatest. Read more
Published on 5 Mar 2007 by Doc Tom

1.0 out of 5 stars ZZzzzzzzzzzz........better than sleeping pills?
Stanley, a pretty dull man, has found the perfect biographer in Tim Jeal.
I really recommend it, especially if you wish to kick a sleeping-pill habit. Read more
Published on 5 Mar 2007 by Literature Fan

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