I have a great appreciation for the author and the vast amount of research he must have done for this book. Especially nice were the letters, quotes, stories etc. he dug up from historical people who've been dead for centuries. That helped bring the story to life and made it more fascinating. That being said, the actual story of the first (more or less) African explorers was not all that interesting. A guy would go to Cairo, or west Africa or Libya, make his way inland and then die or give up. And this happens over and over again for 400 pages or so. It isn't the authors fault, but it just wasn't terribly interesting. Much of the book was about the London based society who funded and developed the search for Timbuktu and interior Africa. That was an interesting piece of lost history but not interesting enough to save the book overall. And sometimes the many valuable quotes, letters etc. would cause me to lose my attention as they are written in old world English that is tough to follow for the modern person.

Overall a worthwhile read if you want to know more about Europe's early involvement in Africa. And it is well written.

Timbuktu, the fabled African city of gold !!!

This book is one hidden treasure which I am quite glad that I came across. A detail work of record which chronologize the initiation of the idea to geographically explore the Saharan Africa and all its connecting trade routes, and how in the early 19th century it progressed, in the face of various losses of both man and money, through the sheer will power and perseverance of few individuals .

Highly recommended for anyone who is interested in history of some of the toughest exploration and adventures.

In the late 18th century, the world's first geographical society was formed in England with the purpose of exploring Africa's unknown interior. Such explorers as Mungo Park and Jean Louis Burckhardt set forth on wild adventures, not all of which ended successfully. The legendary city of Timbuktu was the main target for many years, which many Europeans still believed was made of gold.

This is a page-turner, from start to finish. As a reader, I never stopped marvelling at how unprepared each explorer was in regards to knowledge and climate. They simply didn't know very much about tropical diseases, quicksand, insects, etc. The history of the various African civilizations is stirring, and I had to pace myself so the adventure didn't end too soon for me.

Book Season = Summer (hot blistering sands)