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BOOK REVIEW: Imi Lichtenfeld: The Grandmaster of Krav Maga by Gaetano Lo Presti

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Imi Lichtenfeld - The Grand Master of Krav MagaImi Lichtenfeld – The Grand Master of Krav Maga by Gaetano Lo Presti
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

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I bought this book because it’s the only English language biography of Imi Lichtenfeld (a.k.a. Imrich Sde-Or) that I could find, and by all accounts the man led a fascinating life. Lichtenfeld is most famous for founding the Israeli martial art known as Krav Maga. For those unfamiliar, Krav Maga is a self-defense system that prides itself on using as much of the human body’s natural instinct as possible in defense. It eschews the fancy and unrealistic techniques widely found in martial arts in favor of simple and direct tactics. However, it’s not the founding of Krav Maga that makes Lichtenfeld’s life so intriguing. (Believe me, there are plenty of founders of martial arts whose lives would less than engrossing reads.) Lichtenfeld was also a Holocaust survivor / resistance fighter, a circus performer, and a skilled athlete.

The good news for biographers is that there is still plenty of room for a bestselling biography of this man. There are two major problems with this book. I should point out that both problems result from the fact that this book is written by an apparently dedicated student of Krav Maga, and not by a professional writer, a biographer, or a master of creative nonfiction. I suspect the author did as good a job as he could, given that a proper primary source-based biography would take over a person’s life, is an art and science that must be learned, and—unfortunately—a lot of sources are now deceased / destroyed.

Anyway, back to the problems: First, it’s a translation that seems to have been done without the help of a translator or editor with native English competency. In fact, some of it reads like it was put through Babel Fish or Google Translate. As far as I know, the original Italian edition maybe a brilliantly written, if brief, biographical outline of Lictenfeld’s life. Second, the book is an outline of Lichtenfeld’s life, and it doesn’t offer enough detail to give the reader the visceral reading experience that learning about this man’s life should have been. There’s no in-depth research of the dramatic events in which Lichtenfeld was involved. Contrary to popular advice on writing, the author tells–not shows.

The book is actually a short biographical sketch of Lichtenfeld, followed by what might be considered a “biography” of Krav Maga, and that is followed by bio-blurbs of some of the more well-regarded students of Lichtenfeld.

On the positive side, the book is a cheap and quick read. It will give one some insight into Lichtenfeld, but—I fear—will leave many readers with a craving to know more. I wouldn’t recommend it for someone who wants a biography of Lichtenfeld, but, if you’re looking for a biographical sketch or are interested in the lives of prominent martial artists, it will probably serve your purpose.

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BOOK REVIEW: The Taiheiki trans. / ed. by Helen Craig McCullough

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TaiheikiTaiheiki by Helen Craig McCullough
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

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Let me be blunt, “The Taiheiki” isn’t a book you pick up to read a gripping story. While it’s considered a work of fiction, it reads like a history. In some sense, it is a history. It does follow the broad brush strokes of the events in Japan in the early 14th century. However, there are way too many characters to keep track of, or to remember who is on the side of whom, or even to know whether a given individual is worth remembering or whether they’ll soon die an ignominious death. If you don’t believe me, here are the words of the book’s translator and editor, “In short, the ‘gunki monogatari’ [the war tales of which ‘The Taiheiki’ is one] are not great literature. But the best of them are worth reading.”

I agree with McCullough’s point about these books (and this one in particular) being worth reading, but I would add an “if.” “The Taiheiki” is worth reading, if you have an interest in medieval Japan, samurai, or civil war life. The time period in question was fascinating, and it was characterized by war and intrigue. The Hōjō clan was ousted. (They were the military clan that administered the government.) A compromise had been in effect in which the mantle of Emperor was to be alternated between two opposing lines. However, an ambitious Emperor Go-Daigo refused to relinquish the title, and this led to a war between the courts. It’s a story of both warriors of legendary loyalty (most famously, Kusunoki Masashige) and those of shifting loyalties.

While the book is too fractured to form a clear and interesting story overall, that doesn’t mean it isn’t filled with intriguing episodes of battles, espionage, siege warfare, and even the occasional ghost or goblin story. There are many interesting individuals that are dealt with in sufficient detail to make them intriguing—the aforementioned Kusunoki Masashige stands out among them. The book offers insight into the medieval Japanese mind and to some degree the modern mind as well. There are discussions of philosophy and strategy worked into the narrative that help one to understand from whence the individuals were coming.

The book has a few features that help non-expert readers. The first is an extensive introduction written by Dr. McCullough that serves to provide background for the book and the era in which it took place. The second is frequent footnoting. There are also several plates of artworks and photos interspersed throughout the book. These help the reader visualize the environs and how these individuals would have looked.

If you have an interest in medieval Japan, in samurai, in ninja, or even in pre-modern war generally, I’d recommend this book. (If you’re looking for a gripping tale of intrigue set in 14th century Japan, not so much.)

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BOOK REVIEW: The Relaxation Response by Herbert Benson

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The Relaxation ResponseThe Relaxation Response by Herbert Benson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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I read the 25th anniversary edition of this seminal work on stress reduction, which was released in 2009. Obviously, that makes this an oldie, but it’s clearly a goodie as well. The new addition has a substantial introduction, providing updated information.

The body’s “fight or flight” response to stressful conditions has long been recognized and it’s virtually a household term. However, despite the equally alliterative name and the fact that Dr. Benson’s original book came out well over 30 years ago, the relaxation response remains a lesser known phenomena. Decades ago, Herbert Benson, a Harvard physician, recognized that patients’ coping ability influenced their health outcomes–specifically with respect to hypertension (a.k.a. high blood pressure.) This led him to investigate how a state of reduced stress could be achieved, and whether this could have a positive impact on health outcomes.

Benson and his co-investigators found that Transcendental Meditation (TM) could trigger the relaxation response, and from that they further uncovered specific aspects of TM that were generalizable in achieving this state (i.e. an object of concentration and a passive / non-judgmental attitude.) From this it followed that activities such as yoga, chi gong, walking, and some types of exercise could achieve the same physiological state as meditation. There was scholarly pressure to establish that the relaxation response was more than a placebo effect. In proving that the relaxation response didn’t hinge on a patient’s beliefs and that it had a predictable effect (and hence it was inconsistent with the placebo effect) Benson also realized that maybe doctors shouldn’t be so dismissive of the placebo effect—people were getting better, after all, and there was some mechanism by which that wellness was achieved that would be worth understanding.

In the first chapter, Benson describes an epidemic of hypertension, the fight or flight response, and its opposite number: the relaxation response. The next chapter delves into the specifics of hypertension and related topics like cholesterol consumption. Chapter 3 makes a connection between stress and the proclivity to develop hypertension. The following chapter lays out various approaches to achieving a more relaxed physiological state, including: biofeedback, yoga, zen, progressive relaxation, and hypnosis. Chapter 5 is about altered states of consciousness, and, specifically, the meditative state. Various age-old methods of achieving a meditative mind are examined. That’s followed by a chapter which lays out the results of relaxation response training in reducing hypertension and drug use. Chapter 7 is an explanation of how to achieve the desired state that generalizes beyond the specific approach of TM. The last chapter is a brief summary.

I found this book to be both interesting and informative. It’s useful both as a practical guide to practice and an explanation of related information.

I’d recommend “The Relaxation Response” for anyone who is interested in learned to de-stress. It’s a classic, and the new edition offers substantial updates.

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BOOK REVIEW: Discovering the Power of Self-Hypnosis by Stanley Fisher

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Discovering the Power of Self Hypnosis: The Simple, Natural Mind-Body Approach to Change and HealingDiscovering the Power of Self Hypnosis: The Simple, Natural Mind-Body Approach to Change and Healing by Stanley Fisher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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For many, hypnosis is the domain of stage artists who make people cluck like chickens. As with the feats of stage magicians, few give much consideration to wherein the trick lies, but they assume there’s a trick. In scholarly circles, hypnotic practices have been on a roller-coaster ride. Hypnosis was once mainstream psychology but then fell into disrepute but now there’s a resurgence of interest as neuroscience answers questions about what is happening in the brain during a trance state. Doctor Fisher’s book is an attempt to demystify the subject, and to explain how a personal practice can be used to achieve a wide range of benefits.

Fisher’s book culminates in a description of how to build one’s own self-hypnosis exercise to work toward change in one’s own life. However, there’s a lot of track that needs to be laid in anticipation of that final chapter (Ch. 9.) The first chapter counters seven of the most common myths about hypnosis. Given the aforementioned misapprehensions about hypnosis, this seems like a wise place to start to get readers on board. Chapter 2 starts where Fisher’s personal involvement with self-hypnosis began, with the use of it to prepare patients for surgery and surgical recovery. Here we get our first look at the technique of self-hypnosis as well as a discussion of cases of self-hypnosis used for surgical patients. Cases are central to Fisher’s approach, and are used throughout the book to inform the reader about how self-hypnotic methods worked for particular individuals in the pursuit of various goals. Chapter 3 explains what the trance state is and how it’s achieved.

Chapter 4 explains the process by which we make choices with an eye toward helping to disrupt destructive impulse behavior. In the next chapter the reader learns about how the state of mind can contribute to physical illnesses, and how changing the state of mind can help improve one’s health. Chapter 6 is about reevaluating ingrained beliefs that don’t serve us well. This includes the notion that one can’t change one’s behavior because it’s just how one feels, as well as the belief that one can simply quash one’s emotions through force of will. Chapter 7 examines cases involving a number of common problems resulting from stress and the pressures of everyday life.

The penultimate chapter offers comparison and contrast with a range of alternative methods that are used to achieve the same goals—some more advisable than others. The alternatives include: therapy, meditation, biofeedback, exercise, somatic desensitization, and drug use.

As indicated, the final chapter offers an outline for building one’s personal self-hypnosis practice to achieve one’s own goal. There are three sections to this chapter. The first is a simplified set of exercises to evaluate one’s capacity to enter a trance—including both a survey and physical methods (e.g. degree of eye roll.) Susceptibility to hypnosis varies widely. The subjects one sees at a stage show tend to be those rare specimens who are highly suggestible. Often, part of the act is separating them from the crowd. There are also those who can’t be hypnotized under any circumstance. Most of us are in the meaty middle, having some, limited capacity to be hypnotized. The second section offers advice about how one might go about setting up the suggestive part of one’s exercise, i.e. the core of the exercise carried out once one has induced a trance. The final section lays out three different methods of inducing a trance. The first of these is the eye roll-based method one is introduced to in Chapter 2, and the others are variants that may work better for some.

I found this book to be informative and useful. It gives the reader both the necessary background to understand how one’s subconscious mind can influence one’s life and how positive ideas are introduced through it, as well as a practical guide to setting up one’s own personal practice.

I’d recommend this book for anyone who wants to learn about self-hypnosis.

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BOOK REVIEW: Thing Explainer by Randall Munroe

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Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple WordsThing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words by Randall Munroe
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

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Allow me the awkward start of explaining two things before offering my lukewarm reception of “Thing Explainer.” First, I loved “What If?” (this author’s previous book.) I thought that book was brilliant, gave it my highest rating, and eagerly anticipated Munroe’s next book (this one.) Second, I didn’t deduct because this book is a pain to read on an e-reader (at least the basic model I have.) That’s on me. I should’ve known better, and accept full responsibility. All I will say on the matter is to recommend that–if you still do want to read this book—you get a hard copy. [If you have an awesome reader, your results may vary.] The hard copy is large-format, and that’s useful because the graphics are so crucial and the text can be hard to read (some of it is light text / dark background and some is dark text / light background.)

The author uses only the most common 1,000 words of the English language to explain the operations of many modern technologies (e.g. laptops and helicopters) and scientific ideas (e.g. the workings of a cell or the sun.) It’s an intriguing question, and I can see why Munroe was interested in it. Can one convey the inner workings of objects like nuclear power plants or a tree with a rudimentary vocabulary? You can. Munroe does. However, the next question is, “Should you?” I come down on the side of “no.”

One might say, “But this is a book for kids [or people with a child-like grasp of language], you aren’t the target demographic.” Perhaps, but the book doesn’t do children any favors because the brainpower needed to puzzle out what the author is trying to convey through imprecise language can be more than is necessary to expand one’s vocabulary. [e.g. What do “tall road” or “shape checker” mean to you? If you went straight to “a bridge” and “a lock,” you may be more in tune with Munroe’s thinking than I, and thus more likely to find this book appealing.] For adults, it’s like reading essays by an eighth-grader who’s in no danger of being picked for the honor roll. Without the combination of the book’s graphics and a general background in science and technology, I suspect the book would be a muddle. I’m not against explaining ideas in simple terms, but I felt the book takes it too far and it becomes a distraction.

On the positive side, the graphics are great—sometimes funny while providing enough detail to get the point across without bogging one down. Also, Munroe’s sense of humor comes through here and there throughout the book (though it’s hampered by the lack of vocabulary.)

The book includes the list of words used as an Appendix (though you obviously won’t find the word “Appendix.”)

If it sounds like something that would interest you, pick it up. It’s hard to say that I’d recommend it, generally speaking. It’s funny and educational, but it’s also distracting and tedious. I neither hated it, nor loved it. I give it the median score of “meh.”

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BOOK REVIEW: The Science of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Michael Hanlon

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The Science of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the GalaxyThe Science of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Michael Hanlon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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There are a lot of “The Science of…” books out there using science fiction as a means to explain science. It’s easy to see the appeal for both readers and writers. For one thing, it makes complex and technical subjects approachable and palatable. For another, it provides a series of examples with which most readers will already be familiar. Triggering memories of a beloved book can’t hurt sales.

This “Science of” book is a little different in that it uses a work of absurdist humor as its muse. [In the unlikely event that you’re unfamiliar with Douglas Adams’ “The Hitchhiker’s Guide” series, you can access a review here.]One may wonder whether the book delves into this absurdity by contemplating the efficiency of infinite improbability drives (faster than light engines that run on unlikelihood) or the value of melancholy robots. It does and it doesn’t. For the most part, it relates the wildest creations of Adam’s mind to the nearest core notion that has scientific merit. [Though it does have a chapter on babel fish (an ichthyologically-based universal translator), but that’s a technology that’s already in the works—just not in fish form, but rather a phone ap.]

For the most part, the book explores science and technologies that are popular themes in the pop science literature. These include: the existence of intelligent extraterrestrial life, artificial intelligence, the end of the world, the beginning of the world, time travel, teleportation, cows that don’t mind being eaten (presumed to take the form of lab-grown meat, and not talking cows who crave flame-broiling), the simulation hypothesis (as related to Adams’ Total Perspective Vortex), parallel worlds, improbability (only tangentially related to the infinite impossibility drive, i.e. focused on understanding extremely unlikely events), and the answer to the ultimate question. There is also a chapter that I would argue is more in the realm of philosophy (or theology, depending upon your stance) than science, and that’s the question of the existence of a god or gods. (This isn’t to say that the question of whether god is necessary to explain the existence of the universe and our existence in it isn’t a question for science. It is. But Hanlon mostly critiques the numerous arguments for why there must be a god, and it’s easy to see why because they provide a lot of quality comic fodder.)

The book contains no graphics, but they aren’t missed. It has a brief “further reading” section of other popular science books, but it isn’t annotated in the manner of a scholarly work. It is well-researched and highly readable, not only because it hitches its wagon to Adams’ work but also because it’s filled with interesting tidbits of information and its own humor. The book was published in 2005, and so it’s a little old, but most of the technologies it explores are so advanced that the book has aged well. (But if you want the latest on a particular aspect of science fiction-cum-science, you may want to look at a more recent book.)

I’d recommend this book for fans of “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” and those interested in popular science generally. (Having read the five books of Adams’ “Hitchhiker’s Guide” trilogy will make the book more entertaining—though it’s not essential to make sense of it.)

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BOOK REVIEW: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

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Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3)Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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[Spoilers for the previous books. If you haven’t read “The Hunger Games” or “Catching Fire” you might want to before reading this review.]

This book concludes “The Hunger Games” trilogy. A rebellion has been stoked in Panem, and its architects need Katniss Everdeen to keep the fires burning. But there are two problems. Problem one is that she’s healing, disoriented, and—in a manner of speaking—mourning Peeta (who is alive but in the hands of the Capitol.) The second problem is that they want her as a celebrity spokes-model, a position at which she stinks. Once she gets her feet under her, she has other ideas, ideas that will put the Mockingjay—beloved symbol of the rebellion—in mortal peril. The reluctant heroine who refuses to play on the terms of others is a recurring theme, but it unfolds on a much different field.

Where “Catching Fire” repeated and expanded upon the “gladiatorial combat and a love triangle” theme of the first book, here the games aren’t in the arena but in rebel strongholds in the Districts and in the Capitol, itself. While the love triangle angle seems moot at the book’s beginning, it does continue to play out in an intriguingly twisted fashion. The gladiatorial combat is replaced by actual war, but the gamemakers are still around to put their diabolical stamp on the proceedings.

As an ending, “Mockingjay” is satisfying in that it ties up loose ends and leaves the story at a clear conclusion. Readers will have varying feelings about how these loose ends were resolved, the pacing of those resolutions, and the emotional tone with which one is left. (War story happy endings only get so happy.) When I read “Mockingjay” I found it a tad less enjoyable than the other books, but for reasons that I’ll admit are hard to explain. Collins presents a bitter-sweet, realist conclusion, but in the shell-shocked miasma in which the reader is left, it’s hard to tell if one is satisfied or just done. I suppose the fact that it triggers an emotional response at all makes it a good ending.

I’d recommend this book, and the rest of the trilogy as well.

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BOOK REVIEW: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

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Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2)Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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[Spoiler Note: While I intend—as usual–to keep the spoilers minimal (insignificant) for the book under review, it’s hard to review it without major spoilers of the first book in the series—“The Hunger Games.” If you haven’t read that book, you may want to before you read this review.]

As a surviving / winning tribute, life should have been cake for Katniss Everdeen. She returned to her family and friends in District 12, but instead of subsistence living she has a beautiful house and more money than she can spend. Of course, winning tributes are celebrities and have to serve as mentors to future tributes—most of whom will die. Still, the rest of the year she could be happy, except that the gambit by which she managed to save Peeta (one-third of her love triangle) as well as herself in the first book (one of them should have died, per the rules of the Hunger Games), has riled President Snow. Snow intends to do everything in his power to make sure she doesn’t live out her days in fame and comfort. The President might have found it strategic to let matters lie, but each Games brings Katniss back into the spotlight. As the 75th anniversary games approach, she will be back in the public eye, both during a victory tour and the Hunger Games.

At this point, one might be wondering whether a major criticism of this book will be the same as was leveled against “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”—i.e. that it’s a fine story but essentially a repeat of the original with a bigger death star. There’s an argument that that’s an apt description, but there are also counterpoints. The first retort is “What does it matter as long as the story is enjoyable and the tension is ratcheted up?”

The other major justification is that this part is a necessary bridge between the first and the last books in two regards. For one thing, we have to see the dawn of the revolution and Katniss’s—unwitting, but significant–role in it. A couple of the most emotionally intense moments of the book involve the first sparks of rebellion before the Games even begin to be replayed. For another, the love triangle is re-intensified. The survival of Katniss and Peeta hinges on their ability to continue to act out the star-crossed lover card that saved them in the first book—obviously straining the other edge of the triangle.

I enjoyed this installment, and think Collins did a good job of giving readers enough new tension to make the story gripping despite the fact that replaying the Games is at the heart of the story. I’d recommend the book for anybody who finds dystopian fiction appealing—whether a YA or not.

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BOOK REVIEW: Hormones: A Very Short Introduction by Martin Luck

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Hormones: A Very Short IntroductionHormones: A Very Short Introduction by Martin Luck
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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Let’s face it; the word “hormone” is usually reserved for questions of why a male is so horny (e.g. “His hormones were raging.”) or why a female is so moody (e.g. “She’s hormonal.”) Yet, the endocrine system is about much more than horniness and moodiness. It’s the body’s lesser known communication system, transmitting signals more slowly than the nervous system, but over a broader area and with longer-lasting results. Yes, it’s instrumental in sex, but it’s also involved in regulation of almost everything else the body does. Though we associate hormones with sex, when it comes to mass appeal it’s clearly not the sexiest of systems.

Dr. Luck’s book allows one to rectify one’s ignorance of hormones without a major investment of time or money. This is one volume in a series put out by Oxford University Press that’s designed to convey the fundamentals of a subject in about 100 pages or so (in this case it’s more like 130pgs.) I’ve done several reviews of books in this series, and will likely do more. These “Very Short Introductions” are a good way to get the gist of a topic quickly and painlessly, and they are reasonably priced on Amazon Kindle and in hard-copy at my local discount bookseller. (FYI: Your results may vary. i.e. Hard-copies at some bookstores may be pricey for what these books are—i.e. subject summaries that are optimized for concision and not for entertaining reading.)

The book has nine chapters. The first is a history of the science related to hormones and the endocrine system. (It took a while to figure out that there even was a system because of the nature of hormonal action.) The second chapter hits the basics, such as what hormones are and how they work. Chapter three tells us about the role hormones play in reproduction. The next chapter is about how hormones regulate the body’s levels of water and salt (and the effects on blood pressure.) Next, there is a discussion of the calcium cycle and how calcium is banked in bone and borrowed for the purposes of other cells. There’s a chapter that educates one about diabetes and how hormones (notably insulin) regulate blood sugar. Chapter seven is devoted to the thyroid. Chapter eight describes the role of hormones in circadian rhythms and the cycles of the body. The final chapter is about where science is going with its knowledge of hormones and the advances that are being pursued.

There are few graphics in this book. Most of them are chemical diagrams in dialogue boxes that many readers will skip because of their ominous appearance. The lack of graphics isn’t a problem. Luck does use a narrative approach on occasion (such as his telling of the story of the giant William Rice of Sutton Bonington.) This enhances the book’s readability, and is noteworthy because it’s a rarity among books in this series, which—again—are written to shotgun information and not to be entertaining reads.

I’d recommend this book for those who want to learn (or brush up on) the basics of the endocrine system. It does what it’s supposed to do, and does it quickly.

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BOOK REVIEW: Into Africa by Martin Dugard

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Into Africa: The Epic Adventures of Stanley and LivingstoneInto Africa: The Epic Adventures of Stanley and Livingstone by Martin Dugard
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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“Doctor Livingstone, I presume?” These iconic words are culturally embedded in the psyche of Americans (and, I assume, the British as well), but I had only a vague understanding of their meaning before reading Dugard’s account of the two expeditions that would bring the phrase into household immortality—the first of which was Dr. David Livingstone’s search to once-and-for-all find the source of the Nile and the other was Henry Stanley’s search to discover whether Livingstone was still alive.

If one isn’t a diehard history buff, it can be hard to maintain one’s interest in events of almost 150 years ago. Let me assure you, this isn’t the case for stories of African explanation—including “Into Africa.” If the author is at all skilled, these books read like novels with an almost improbably high level and pace of tension. That’s because almost everything in Africa in those days was working against the explorer, and most things were actively trying to kill him. A summary of threats include: a panoply of diseases (e.g. malaria, dysentery, etc.), an ark of animals and insects (e.g. poisonous snakes, lions, elephants, rhinos, etc.), and of course tribes and other humans (e.g. one could find oneself caught in the cross-fire between Arab slave traders and tribes who resented being enslaved, even if one had no stake in the fight.) And if none of those killers got one (and at least some of them always did), your men might desert you in the middle of the night while absconding with all your goods—and those goods were how one paid for both one’s food and for safe passage through tribal lands. In Dugard’s work, one sees each of these threats played and replayed, as well as a host of others from political conflicts, incompetence, and disgruntledness. It should be noted that there was almost no precedence for sending someone to look for a lost explorer—it was considered so unlikely to succeed in that era, not to mention likely getting a lot more killed.

The book largely alternates chapters featuring Stanley with those featuring Livingstone. This is particularly the case once the book reaches the point at which Stanley is actively on the trail. These were very different men, but the name of each man became synonymous with courage. Stanley was an American journalist who made it to the top based solely on willingness to go places and do things other reporters wouldn’t. In fact, he had trouble making a go of his career starting out, and it wasn’t until a traumatic adventure that he developed the assertiveness to make something of himself. Livingstone was already a legend when he took on this expedition, and was arguably too far past prime to be taking on such an adventure. The men were also quite different as expedition leaders. Stanley ran his caravan with an iron fist, while Livingstone was known for being lax and easily distracted—while they were at opposite end of the spectrum in this regard, it seems likely that both would have succeeded better with more moderation.

At the book’s beginning there’s a conflict at the Royal Geographical Society between Richard Burton (the explorer, not the actor) and John Speke over the source of the Nile. Livingston, a living legend, was asked to investigate and settle the issue—an objective he didn’t complete. It should be noted that finding the river’s source isn’t as easy as it sounds. Speke was correct in that the Nile reached at least to Lake Victoria (at the equator), but it wasn’t clear whether Victoria was connected to other lakes in the southern hemisphere, and—if so—how far down it went. There was a chain of lakes to the south that might have drained into the Nile, but, as it happens, flow into the Congo River.

I found this to be fascinating reading. The book consists of 40 chapters divided among five parts, and so most of the chapters are quick reads and the interspersal of the Stanley and Livingstone story lines keeps the pacing going nicely. Dugard did a good job structuring the narrative.

I’d recommend this book for anyone interested in learning about Stanley, Livingstone or who just want to know what it was like to be an explorer on the Dark Continent. [Fun-fact: While “dark continent” sounds blatantly racist, it turns out that the phrase was originally used in reference to the fact that so much of the map was blank—i.e. it was largely unmapped.]

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