The Gates of Africa: Death, Discovery, and the Search for Timbuktu

by Anthony Sattin

London, 1788: a group of British gentlemen---geographers, scholars, politicians, humanitarians, and traders---decide it is time to solve the mysteries of Africa's unknown interior regions. Inspired by the Enlightenment quest for knowledge, they consider it a slur on the age that the interior of Africa still remains a mystery, that maps of the "dark continent" are populated with mythical beasts, imaginary landmarks, and fabled empires. As well, they hoped that more accurate knowledge of Africa would aid in the abolition of the slave trade.

These men, a mixed group of soldiers and gentlemen, ex-convicts, and social outcasts, form the African Association, the world's first geographical society, and over several decades send hardened, grizzled adventurers to replace speculation with facts and remove the beasts from the maps. The explorers who ventured forth included Mungo Park, whose account of his travels would be a bestseller for more than a century; American John Ledyard; and Jean Louis Burckhardt, the discoverer of Petra and Abu Simbel. Their exploits would include grueling crossings of the Sahara, the exploration of the Nile, and---most dramatically---the search for the great River Niger and its legendary city of Timbuktu.

Anthony Sattin weaves the plotting of the London gentlemen and the experiences of their extraordinary explorers into a gripping account of high adventure, international intrigue, and geographical discovery. The Gates of Africa is a story of human courage and fatal ambition, a groundbreaking insight into the struggle to reveal the secrets of Africa.

Genres: History, Africa, Nonfiction, Travel, Adventure, British Literature

382 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Anthony Sattin (1956- ) is a British journalist, broadcaster and travel writer. His main area of interest is the Middle East and Africa, particularly Egypt.

Reviews

[GoldGato · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the late 18th century, the world's first geographical society was formed in England with the purpose of exploring Africa's unknown interior. Such explorers as Mungo Park and Jean Louis Burckhardt set forth on wild adventures, not all of which ended successfully. The legendary city of Timbuktu was the main target for many years, which many Europeans still believed was made of gold.

This is a page-turner, from start to finish. As a reader, I never stopped marvelling at how unprepared each explorer was in regards to knowledge and climate. They simply didn't know very much about tropical diseases, quicksand, insects, etc. The history of the various African civilizations is stirring, and I had to pace myself so the adventure didn't end too soon for me.

Book Season = Summer (hot blistering sands)

[DoctorM · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good introduction to European exploration in West Africa at the end of the 18th-c. and the early years of the 19th-c., centered on Sir Jos. Banks and the British African Association, which dispatched a series of "travelers"--- Sattin loves the 18th-c. use of "missionary" for them, meaning not religious proselytizers but someone sent out on a particular assignment/mission ---into Africa. The African Association's "missionaries" were to follow the course of the river Niger and visit Timbuktu and...well...do the groundwork for a set of ill-defined and shape-shifting ultimate objectives: complete the Enlightenment project of filling in the blank spaces on the maps of the world; assist in suppressing the slave trade; open up British commerce with the African interior; and, eventually, allow for British dominion. "Gates of Africa" is a good, quick overview of the careers and fates (usually grim enough) of the explorers and the changing nature of exploration. Very competently written, though with a few odd slips in fact-checking around the edges.

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A riveting account of the many explorers who tried to get to Timbuktu. The hardships they endured, the distances they traveled, the people they met. Just fascinating. Before I read this book I knew nothing at all about the Sahel region of Africa. As I read, I kept looking things up online about the region - in some ways, it hasn't changed very much since Mungo Park's time there. Very interesting.

[Tristan M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book's title may mislead a subset of interested readers. The history's narrative details, with great clarity and sense of adventure, the efforts of British elites to fund an expedition to Timbuktu in the late 1700s and early 1800s. The British elites operated under the name of the African Association, which was later absorbed by the Royal Geographical Society. Their primary purpose was to obtain gold and riches, of course, but their curiosity extended to botany, mapmaking, and other forms of intellectual conquest. In the later years, national pride became a motivating factor in the expeditions, as the race to the center of the continent resulted in (post)colonial legacies still visible today.

Throughout the course of the book and for a diverse set of reasons, numerous expedition attempts failed to reach Timbuktu. Sometimes a later expedition received news of a previous party or explorer, and these insights provide credibility in the author's conclusions, but also fascinating clues about the interconnectivity of kingdoms across vast distances by trade routes, pilgrimages, etc. Some explorers approached the journey as directly as they could. Some explorers opted for disguises that took years and years to cobble together. Following each party is a pleasure, though outcomes are fraught by death after death.

Where Sattin's book is lacking, in my view, is in the descriptions of Timbuktu. Certainly, the elites in Britain lamented the state of Timbuktu once information about the city became available. Nonetheless, Sattin could have done a better job detailing what Timbuktu, and various other cultural hubs in the region, did and do offer the inquisitive mind. The manuscripts preserved by Timbuktu's climate, alone, warrant a mention, as does additional dialogue about the history of intellectualism in the city, however decayed by the time Britain arrived at the scene. I realize that these artifacts and traditions did not interest British chrysophilists; however, readers are told that all Timbuktu promised was heat and sand. That is, The Gates of Africa is exceedingly Anglocentric, in narration and valuation. Reading the text proved an entertaining and informative experience, and I do recommend it to readers of world history. Despite the work's many strengths, I wish the book featured a slightly broader purview, with greater coverage of settings like Timbuktu, Cairo, Tripoli, and other centers of civilization visited by expeditions on their journeys inland.

Lastly, the quality of the writing is a little inconsistent, but not enough to impact my rating.

[Bren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a great appreciation for the author and the vast amount of research he must have done for this book. Especially nice were the letters, quotes, stories etc. he dug up from historical people who've been dead for centuries. That helped bring the story to life and made it more fascinating. That being said, the actual story of the first (more or less) African explorers was not all that interesting. A guy would go to Cairo, or west Africa or Libya, make his way inland and then die or give up. And this happens over and over again for 400 pages or so. It isn't the authors fault, but it just wasn't terribly interesting. Much of the book was about the London based society who funded and developed the search for Timbuktu and interior Africa. That was an interesting piece of lost history but not interesting enough to save the book overall. And sometimes the many valuable quotes, letters etc. would cause me to lose my attention as they are written in old world English that is tough to follow for the modern person.

Overall a worthwhile read if you want to know more about Europe's early involvement in Africa. And it is well written.

[Monastic Wanderer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Timbuktu, the fabled African city of gold !!!

This book is one hidden treasure which I am quite glad that I came across. A detail work of record which chronologize the initiation of the idea to geographically explore the Saharan Africa and all its connecting trade routes, and how in the early 19th century it progressed, in the face of various losses of both man and money, through the sheer will power and perseverance of few individuals .

Highly recommended for anyone who is interested in history of some of the toughest exploration and adventures.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be an interesting and well written story of a piece of history I knew nothing about. It covers a number of explorers, of various descriptions and motivations. Most of them I had never heard of. Amazing story of too often fatal efforts to nudge human knowledge even just the slightest bit. Good read.

[Eliz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very entertaining read

[Callum · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't really what I was hoping for in terms of general exploration, it's more of a history of one specific Society that organised expeditions. It was still interesting though

[Chris Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compelling journey into Africa in the age of "discovery". Educational and entertaining.

[Coffee Bookreads · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was looking for a great adventure book filled with description and fact. This was not the book for me. I felt it wandered off too much on the London politics.

[Taren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really easy-to-read and fascinating account of the British 'African Association', a precursor to the Royal Geographic Society, and its search for the legendary Niger River and Timbuktu. Lots of interesting background on Western and Northern Africa, England, and the 'science' of geography. Extremely well-written -- the pages flew by just like a mystery or adventure novel!

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This guy can write and he provides a fascinating glimpse of the difficulties involved in obtaining valid geographical data about the dark continent as well as how the underpinnings of scientific endeavors generally during the Enlightenment.

[Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Such a fun read! Half history book, half adventure/travel, the book tells the story of London's Africa Association, which financed early English exploration in search of the fabled golden city of Timbuktu.

[Tania · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating history, but the storytelling is inconsistent; at times well-paced, other times quite slow.