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In the early 1800s Britain was a rising colonial and industrial power and in the forefront of European exploration of the dark continent of Africa. While Britain sought new markets for its industrial goods, it also wanted to terminate the slave trade, including the trans-Saharan slave routes. Exploration of the African interior became a top priority for European colonial nations and Britain equipped a number of these expeditions. At the core of these interests was the course and mouth of the great Niger River and the fabled city of Timbuktu. This book chronicles the early nineteenth-century journeys of Britain’s leading adventurers in search of the legendary Timbuktu. These travels were extremely treacherous and perilous—almost always resulting in the deaths of the explorers. The journeys either had to venture southward through the scorching Sahara Desert or eastward through the disease-plagued, tropical wetlands from the west coast of Africa. The best hope for finding the legendary Timbuku rested on the efforts of two noted British explorers—Major Alexander Gordon Laing traveling south through the desert from Tripoli and Captain Hugh Clapperton traveling eastward from the West coast. Both men lost their lives in this quest. But Alexander Gordon Laing became the first European to visit the lost city of Timbuktu. Timbuktu, with a reputation of great riches from the trade in gold, ivory, salt, and slaves, was also reputed to be a great center of Muslim culture and scholarship, which included the oldest university in black Africa. Although Laing and Clapperton were in competition to win the contest of being first to find the golden city of Timbuktu, a rivalry for the honors had also been sparked between Britain and France. In 1824, the French Geographical Society offered a cash prize of 10,000 francs for the first expedition from any nation to return from Timbuktu, igniting an international race that pitted British against French explorers to claim the trophy. Timbuktu had a storied past which had enchanted Europeans. Uniquely situated, Timbuktu was a desert town of the southern Sahara but flourished on the banks of the Niger in proximity to the great lakes and swamps of the upper river, thus connecting it to Africa’s canopied rain forests and jungles—a place where “camel met canoe.” It was a nexus or bridge between black Africa and the Sahara. (Page xiii) Laing found Timbuktu—the great caravan terminal, the city that touched both desert and river, but he must have been very disappointed. “Timbuktu’s golden age had ended long ago; the city was no longer a bustling center of culture and commerce.” At the time of Laing’s arrival, it was not even the palest shadow of the city of abounding wealth and architectural wonders that he—and all of Europe—had imagined. A thousand years old, it had a look of irreversible decrepitude. Dirty and falling apart, it stunk of unwashed people and animals. The streets were full of potholes littered with windblown garbage. (Page 230, 231) The Race for Timbukto narrates one of the great adventure stories of history and would make a great movie. It is highly recommended for anyone with an interest in adventure, discovery, and geography. Read full review
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