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Recommend one Biography
I've really become an avid reader of bios lately. There are some truly fascinating people down through the centuries and it never fails to make me look at my own life and realise how little I've done compared to many of them by the time they were my age (32).
I've just finished reading Stanley: The Impossible Life of Africa's Greatest Explorer: Amazon.co.uk: Tim Jeal: Books and I have to say it's probably the best bio I've read so far. I like reading these kind of exploration books but Stanley has always fascinated me. His whole life built on one lie, his deep sense of himself, hard work and persistence even when everyone around him was dropping dead like flies. He vehemently despised the slave trade and inspired by Livingstone he thought the the three C's (Commerce, Civilisation & Christianity) would save Africa and destroy the Arab slave trade in East Africa. At the same time he was fairly flawed, could be brutal and was obsessed with success for much of his youth. Never really found love even though he was desperate for it and was blinded to what the Belgians wanted in the Congo because he wanted nothing else than go back to Africa. The book is really easy to read, a real page turner. Jeal has had access to some very rare and never seen before Stanley letters and diaries that the family later sold so there's a lot of fresh information in there. For the Irish angle, there's an interesting chapter about a young Irishman and heir to a certain whiskey distrillery who went off with Stanley on his second last trip to Africa. He doesn't come out of it looking too good.
anyone else read this book? Thoughts? I've ordered Jeals two other bios: Livingstone and Powell. Hope they're to the same standard.
And please people, can we keep the enviable bickering out of this?
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George Lee
A Life in Politics
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Roy Jenkins biography of Winston Churchill. The author has as much literary talent as the subject. A joy.
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Not exactly a bio but the Alan Clark Diaries - Toryism, Vegetarianism and sex.
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Isambard Kingdom Brunel by Angus Buchanan.
It is a really great read about the life of Britains greatest engineer.
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You are not the first person I have heard praising that book lately.
He was quite an interesting individual indeed and I also find that period of time in Africa very interesting too. It seems that Stanley was driven by his difficult early life. Leopolds Ghost is another one you may enjoy Schomberg, a truly brutal but fascinating book.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
Ribeye
Translated into six languages and some day will hopefully be translated into the truth:D
