Blood river : a journey to Africa's broken heart

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Title:

Blood river : a journey to Africa's broken heart

Author:

Butcher, Tim, 1967-

ISBN:

9780099494287

Personal Author:

Butcher, Tim, 1967-

Publication Information:

London : Vintage, 2008.

Physical Description:

xvi, 363 pages : illustrations, maps, portraits ; 24 cm

General Note:

Originally published: London: Chatto & Windus, 2007.

Abstract:

"Blood River is a modern classic of travel writing. Describing an epic journey Tim Butcher endured through equatorial Africa, it sheds light on one of the planet's greatest but overlooked human dramas, the turmoil in the Congo River basin which claims 1,500 lives each day." "Tim Butcher's forty-four day journey through the Congo, Blood river also masterfully examines the troubled history of the region, from its Belgian colonization in the late nineteenth century to its current age of unending turmoil. It is an unforgettable book, a remarkable story of adventure and a celebration of the survival spirit of millions of long-suffering Congolese."--Jacket.

Personal Subject:

Butcher, Tim, 1967--Travel-Congo (Democratic Republic)

Geographic Term:

Congo (Democratic Republic) -- Description and travel.

Congo River -- Description and travel.

Congo (Democratic Republic) -- History.

Copies:

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Item Barcode	Shelf Number	Copy	Status
Searching... 1:VCCT	1:GEN-BOOK	000027420	916.751 BUT	1	Searching... Unknown
Searching... 1:VCWF	1:GEN-BOOK	000029184	916.751 BUT	1	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

**THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER**

A compulsively readable account of an African country now virtually inaccessible to the outside world and one journalist's daring and adventurous journey.

When war correspondent Tim Butcher was sent to cover Africa in 2000 he quickly became obsessed with the idea of recreating H.M. Stanley's famous nineteenth century trans-Africa expedition - but travelling alone.

Despite warnings that his plan was 'suicidal', Butcher set out for the Congo's eastern border with just a rucksack and a few thousand dollars hidden in his boots. Making his way in an assortment of vessels including a motorbike and a dugout canoe, helped along by a cast of unlikely characters, he followed in the footsteps of the great Victorian adventurers.

Butcher's journey was a remarkable feat, but the story of the Congo, told expertly and vividly in this book, is more remarkable still.

'A masterpiece' John Le Carre

'Extraordinary, audacious, completely enthralling' William Boyd

'A remarkable marriage of travelogue and history, which deserves to make Tim Butcher a star for his prose, as well as his courage' Max Hastings