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The meeting between the American reporter Henry Morton Stanley and the Scottish missionary-explorer David Livingston 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 Tales had already been a bestseller. He now wanted to outdo other explorers and find the source 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 this book, Clare Pettitt tells the story of their meeting and what let up to it, and the reactions of contemporaries and in posterity. The 'truth' is complicated. Livingstone, the crusading missionary, had often cooperated with the slave-traders. He had made only one convert and his greatest achievement of exploration - the discovery of the source of the Nile - was in fact a misidentification. It's a fascinating story of conflict and paradox taking us into the extraordinary history of British engagement with Africa - and shows both the popular myth-making and the darker side of imperialism.
Hard cover, excellent condition,
