3 Review(s)

Henry Morton Stanley (1841-1904), the Welsh-born explorer famous for his 1871 meeting with the missionary David Livingstone, published this intimate autobiography in 1909. Through his recollections we learn how his troubled early life - an impoverished childhood in a workhouse and some harrowing experiences as a young soldier - were what drove him to succeed as an explorer, and gave him the strength to deal with the sometimes vehement opposition he encountered. Although Stanley died before finishing this book, his wife Dorothy brought it to completion by compiling and editing the letters and memoirs he wrote during his travels, so that his avowed aim - to encourage impoverished young people to realise their ambitions - was met. This is the story of a man who, in the context of his own time, achieved 'greatness' against the odds, though his imperialist and allegedly racist views later caused the eclipse of his reputation.