Burton and Speke

"Burton and Speke" is a novel about fame, courage, friendship, betrayal, and an Africa and England that no longer exist. But far more important, it is a novel about two great men, Richard Francis Burton (legendary adventurer, lover, philosopher, writer) and John Hanning Spele (aristocrat, homosexual, hunter, man of courage and sorrow) whose collaborative search for the source of the Nile began in comradeship and ended in loathing and death. In William Harrison's masterful hands, Burton and Speke emerge from these pages as complex and colorful as they were in life. They are alive, vivid, and memorable; you will be enthralled by their story. The book also spans the lives of dozens of other characters, from African chieftains to a whole gallery of British writers, poets, painters, and aristocrats, among them Isabel Arundell, a lady everywhere except in bed, who became one of Burton's untold mistresses and how only wife. This is an immense book, researched over decades, and ranging from a primitive Africa you can almost feel, smell, and hear to the Crimean War, the American West, and the bedrooms of Mayfair. It is a rare book which is once a great novel of adventure and a masterful portrayal of character. [Description input from the jacket flaps by FreelancerFR]


Genre: Historical