Dimensions
144 x 206 x 27mm
The meeting between the American reporter Henry Morton Stanley and the Scottish missionary explorer David Livingstone at Ujiji in 1871 has entered popular culture with this unforgettable phrase. But what actually happened there, when was the line said and why did the myth catch on so well?
Livingstone's Missionary Tale had already been a bestseller. He now wanted to outdo other explorers and find the sources of the Nile. But after 5 years of travelling he was widely assumed to be dead. At that point, Stanley turned up with his Stars and Stripes flag and a caravan of much-needed supplies.
In a brilliant book Clare Pettit tells this story, and the reactions to it of contemporaries and afterwards, not least in Africa itself. Its 'truth' is complicated. The crusading missionary had often cooperated with the slave-traders. He had made only one convert and his greatest achievement of exploration was based on a misinterpretation.
A fascinating story of conflict and paradox taking us into the extraordinary history of British engagement with Africa . . . both the darkest side of imperialism and the popular myth-making of the music hall jokes, the cartoons etc.
This is the first title in the new Profile series, edited by Mary Beard. This series explores classic moments of world history - those 'ring-a-bell' events that we always know less about than we think!
