The incredible African Journeys of Sam and Florence Baker who were British national heros . The Bakers were ranked with Livingstone and Stanley. She was the first white woman to have made the journey to the Sources of the Nile. Sam was the only Afircan traveler to be knighted.
I must confess that, even though I knew of the expeditions of Livingstone and Stanley and the work of General Gordon in Africa, I had no knowledge of Samuel Baker so did not realise the significant part he had played in the discovery of parts of Central Africa. I recently spotted this book in a bookshop and it was, therefore, a revelation and a most fascinating story. Indeed it is so dramatic that I could have been forgiven for imagining I was reading a G.A. Henty novel which might have been entitled, in the fashion of the day, 'Lovers on the Nile: A Story of Exploration in Central Africa'. Richard Hall has done a magnificent job in researching and recounting it.
.. More to follow ...
In 1858, Samuel Baker bought Florence at a slave auction. They set out in search of the sources of the Nile. Returning to Europe they secretly married. Sam was knighted, and so the girl from the slave market became Lady Baker.
Easily the best story I have read about African 'Explorers' mainly because Sir Samuel Beckett was actually also accompanied by his wife It is a little known fact that she was brought by him in Eastern Europe to save her from slavery, and then accompanied him for years of travel throughout East Africa, often disguised as a boy. An intriguing and rich story which should be made into a film.
An amazing story. Sir Samuel Baker was one of the early explorers along the Nile. He purchased a young girl at a slave auction, who later became his wife. This book tells of their travels in North Africa. I am not usually a big fan of biographies, but these were people worth reading about. By the end, you just wish you could have met them.