Jump to ratings and reviews

The Last Journals of David Livingstone in Central Africa from 1865 to His Death: Continued by a Narrative of His Last Moments and Sufferings, Obtained from His Faithful Servants, Chuma and Susi

This edition is not illustrated.

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1874

Loading...
Loading...

About the author

David Livingstone

441 books52 followers
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

David Livingstone was a Scottish physician, Congregationalist, and pioneer Christian missionary with the London Missionary Society, an explorer in Africa, and one of the most popular British heroes of the late 19th-century Victorian era. He had a mythical status that operated on a number of interconnected levels: Protestant missionary martyr, working-class "rags-to-riches" inspirational story, scientific investigator and explorer, imperial reformer, anti-slavery crusader, and advocate of commercial and colonial expansion.

His fame as an explorer and his obsession with learning the sources of the Nile River was founded on the belief that if he could solve that age-old mystery, his fame would give him the influence to end the East African Arab-Swahili slave trade. "The Nile sources," he told a friend, "are valuable only as a means of opening my mouth with power among men. It is this power which I hope to remedy an immense evil." His subsequent exploration of the central African watershed was the culmination of the classic period of European geographical discovery and colonial penetration of Africa. At the same time, his missionary travels, "disappearance", and eventual death in Africa‍—‌and subsequent glorification as a posthumous national hero in 1874‍—‌led to the founding of several major central African Christian missionary initiatives carried forward in the era of the European "Scramble for Africa".

His meeting with Henry Morton Stanley on 10 November 1871 gave rise to the popular quotation "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
1 (4%)
4 stars
10 (47%)
3 stars
7 (33%)
2 stars
3 (14%)
1 star
0 (0%)
No one has reviewed this book yet.