Map on endpapers.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [289]-328) and index.

Prologue : Obsession -- Part one : Some gallant heart. A blaze of light ; Shadows ; Bond for our blood ; The Abban ; The enemy is upon us -- Part two : What might have been, what would have been. Into the mouth of Hell ; What a curse is a heart ; Horror vacui ; Bombay ; Death was written ; An old enemy ; Tanganyika ; To the end of the world -- Part three : Fury. The knives are sheathed ; 'Twas me he shot ; An exile's dream ; Hard as bricks -- Part four : The malignant tongues of friends. The prince ; Damn their souls ; Neston Park ; The weary heart grows cold -- Epilogue : Ashes.

Set against the backdrop of the race to exploit Africa by the colonial powers, a story of courage and adventure brings to life the rivalry between two enemies--a decorated soldier and a young aristocrat/Army officer--as they set out to find the mysterious headwaters of the Nile River.

For millennia the location of the Nile River's headwaters was shrouded in mystery. Expeditions to find it were stymied by a giant labyrinthine swamp. In the 19th century Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke were sent by the Royal Geographical Society to claim the prize for England. From the start the two men clashed. They would endure tremendous hardships, illness, and constant setbacks. Two years in, deep in the African interior Speke claimed he found the source in a great lake that he christened Lake Victoria. Back in England Speke disparaged Burton; Burton disputed his claim, and Speke launched another expedition to Africa to prove it. Millard turns to the third man on both expeditions: Sidi Mubarak Bombay, a former slave in a Sultan's army who used his resourcefulness, linguistic prowess and raw courage to forge a living as a guide. -- Adapted from jacket.