River of the Gods

Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile

By: Candice Millard

Narrated by: Paul Michael

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The harrowing story of one of the great feats of exploration of all time and its complicated legacy—from the New York Times bestselling author of The River of Doubt and Destiny of the Republic

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: THE WASHINGTON POST • GOODREADS

"A lean, fast-paced account of the almost absurdly dangerous quest by [Richard Burton and John Speke] to solve the geographic riddle of their era."—The New York Times Book Review

For millennia the location of the Nile River’s headwaters was shrouded in mystery. In the 19th century, there was a frenzy of interest in ancient Egypt. At the same time, European powers sent off waves of explorations intended to map the unknown corners of the globe–and extend their colonial empires.

Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke were sent by the Royal Geographical Society to claim the prize for England. Burton spoke twenty-nine languages, and was a decorated soldier. He was also mercurial, subtle, and an iconoclastic atheist. Speke was a young aristocrat and Army officer determined to make his mark, passionate about hunting, Burton’s opposite in temperament and beliefs.

From the start the two men clashed. They would endure tremendous hardships, illness, and constant setbacks. Two years in, deep in the African interior, Burton became too sick to press on, but Speke did, and claimed he found the source in a great lake that he christened Lake Victoria. When they returned to England, Speke rushed to take credit, disparaging Burton. Burton disputed his claim, and Speke launched another expedition to Africa to prove it. The two became venomous enemies, with the public siding with the more charismatic Burton, to Speke’s great envy. The day before they were to publicly debate, Speke shot himself.

Yet there was a third man on both expeditions, his name obscured by imperial annals, whose exploits were even more extraordinary. This was Sidi Mubarak Bombay, who was enslaved and shipped from his home village in East Africa to India. When the man who purchased him died, he made his way into the local Sultan’s army, and eventually traveled back to Africa, where he used his resourcefulness, linguistic prowess and raw courage to forge a living as a guide. Without Bombay and men like him, who led, carried, and protected the expedition, neither Englishman would have come close to the headwaters of the Nile, or perhaps even survived.

In River of the Gods Candice Millard has written another peerless story of courage and adventure, set against the backdrop of the race to exploit Africa by the colonial powers.

©2022 Candice Millard (P)2022 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

New York Times Bestseller • A Best Book of the Year: WASHINGTON POST, NPR, GOODREADS, BOOKPAGE, Audible • One of The Washington Post's 50 Notable Works of Nonfiction • One of Smithsonian’s 10 best History Books of 2022 •

“River of the Gods is a lean, fast-paced account of the almost absurdly dangerous quest by [Richard Burton and John Speke] to solve the geographic riddle of their era. . . Candice Millard has earned her legions of admirers. She is a graceful writer and a careful researcher, and she knows how to navigate a tangled tale.”—The New York Times Book Review

“Millard’s research and very readable storytelling are admirable. . . Ultimately, the identity of the person who first discovered the source of the White Nile may be a trivial matter. Ms. Millard conscientiously investigates the issue, of course, but River of the Gods is compelling because she does justice to the psyches and behavior of Burton and Speke—keenly flawed but enthralling, sometimes marvelous people.”—Wall Street Journal

“Millard recounts all of these travails with a fluid grace that wears its learning lightly.”—The Washington Post

A story of man's explorations

I've read River of Doubt and Destiny of the Republic by Ms Millard and her other book on Churchill's early years. This book does not quite reach the heights of the books on TR and Garfield. Nonetheless, it's worth the listen. An interesting telling of a story about the British fascination with finding the source of the Nile that not many know about.

My listening experience, however, was diminished by the narrator. The narrator is gifted at accents and vocal tones. That made it easy for him to assign each subject person a specific accent and voice. But flipping back and forth to patrician British accents, French accents, mis-pronouncing Spanish accents...it was too much...was very distracting and in some segments cartoonish. A good narrator can convey the change in person with great subtlety. Here, I fault both the actor and the director for not trusting the listener and exercising such strong and blatant acting rather than just narrating.

My applause to Millard and Burton

Book of some of the fascinating story of English thought, African exploration and history, but most of all the life of an incredible man named Richard Burton.

Excellent storytelling with compelling connections to today

I read this for a book club, and it was riveting. I don’t usually read historical nonfiction, so this was out of my comfort zone. The author included so many interesting tidbits that I will have to reread just to enjoy them again (the beetle in the ear!!). The author also draws the connections between Victorian era exploration/colonialism and modern day conflicts in Africa. We are doomed to relive history if we don’t learn from it.

Brilliant memorial to Africa's Explorers

The prime virtue of this great adventure story is that it credits all, both the indigenous and foreign explorers, who mapped Africa and whose accomplishments helped quicken the end of racist myths and the slave trade.

Very interesting

This was really interesting. A topic I knew nothing about. I really liked how thoroughly the characters were researched and thought the narrator did a really good job of making each voice distinctive.

A page turner

This book along with CM’s other books have been a revelation. I just can’t put them down

Excellent read. Highly recommended

Firsr of all, this is a great read. But to be honest, I thought this was going to go way more in depth into the life and adventures of Sidi Mubarak Bombay. But while it only touches on him mostly to the extent of his contributions to Burton and Speke, it nevertheless sheds considerable light on his achievements and life. That said, what I really found interesting about this book is that while just about every book I've read about Burton's and Speke's search for the Nile source casts Burton as the villain in their feud, this is the first that has put forth a more balanced approach, perhaps even portraying Speke as the villain. Either way, it is a very resourceful book for anyone interested in Nile history or 19th century East African colonial history.

Excellent. Story and Performance both Outstanding

Don't be put off by a couple of negative reviews that disparage the narration. In fact, the narration is excellent: vanilla American generally, with voices of the characters variously rendered in accurate British, Irish, Indian, and African accents. It's true that Speke's voice, as rendered here, substitutes "w" for "r" -- I don't know whether Speke was said to have had a speech impediment, but anyone familiar with ultra-refined upper-class English accents would not find this voice out of place. In any case, here it serves to distinguish Burton's voice from Speke's for the listener. The book generally casts Speke as the more morally reprehensible, so giving him a somewhat laughable voice seems not inappropriate.

As for the story... well, Alan Moorehead's durable 1960 classic "The White Nile" is more brilliant and exciting and thorough (and his "The Blue Nile" an even better read.). But Millard does a very good job with the material, giving more emphasis to the conflict between Burton and Speke than Moorehead did.

This is a good, popularized account of the events surrounding the search for the source of the Nile, and I think anyone would find it to be a good read. And it will especially appeal to people with personal knowledge of that part of the world.

Amazing

Candace millard has done it again, written a riveting book. It’s beautifully read and it reads like fiction despite being non fiction. Amazing! Must read.

Fascinating story and people

A remarkable story about the extraordinary trials of exploration and the competing explorers who undertook them.