Livingstone's River: the story of the Zambezi Expedition 1858-1864 - George Martelli

 1972 / Hardcover / Good condition

Livingstone

“The great missionary explorer David Livingstone was also a plain old human, and both aspects come through in this examination of the expedition on the Zambezi River that Livingstone led from 1858-64.
I almost wrote "the failed expedition," and it was a failure in terms of what Livingstone originally set out to do. The Zambezi River did not turn out to be a highway into the African inland that would open up the way for British settlement and British trade while inflicting a blow on the slave trade.
When the original plan didn't reach fruition, Livingstone tried other things. Martelli faults him for this, but it seems to me that the essence of exploring it to take Routes B, C, and D when Route A is closed. Not that I know anything about exploring. I'm glad Martelli portrays Livingstone as a real, flawed human being and not as a plaster saint. I think the author perhaps was overzealous, though, in presenting the flaws. Since Martelli wasn't there, a lot depends on whose journals are believed, and he seems to give more credence to Livingstone's detractors.”