Reviews tagging 'Racism'

River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile by Candice Millard

7 reviews

rosemaryandrue's review against another edition

adventurous informative tense fast-paced

3.5

As European interest in Africa and its wealth of resources increased during the 19th century, so too did the number of ill-advised white men setting off to try and map its interior. And the greatest and most difficult of these missions was to definitively discover the source of the Nile river.

This is a story with two rather unbelievable leads, only one of whom I'd heard of and then very vaguely. A book can't go wrong following such screwed up, pompous individuals like Burton and Speke, especially when we get almost as a foil the wonderful Sidi Mubarak Bombay. I thought the author did a great job showing both the positive and negative qualities of Burton and Speke, and both the incredible feat of their explorations as well as how their imperialist and racist views both contributed to and clashed with all they did.

However, I did think the story got somewhat disjointed, weaving away to discuss such topics as Burton's marriage which while interesting felt like it served to pad the page count. Burton and Speke's various Nile expeditions were only a slice of their lives, and I think the author had trouble working out how closely she must cleave to that central story, and how much else of their lives she must leave out, which made for meandering reading at times.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Medical content, and Colonisation

lauramotta's review against another edition

adventurous informative fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Colonisation

Moderate: Suicide and Violence

madamenovelist's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Genocide, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol

Typical racism, xenophobia, and imperial attitudes of Europeans for the Victorian period. Genocide is listed as moderate because the Rwandan genocide is briefly mentioned without going into lots of detail. But it still hits hard in context.

audreylee's review against another edition

adventurous informative medium-paced

4.0

Curiosity, bravery, greed, pride and ambition brought these two men to the heights of fame and the pit of infamy. Speke, the Burtons, and Bombay come across as imperfect people in a perfect storm of exploration, politics, and colonialism. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism

kld2128's review against another edition

adventurous informative sad medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Racism

crownoflaurel's review against another edition

adventurous sad tense slow-paced

3.5

Even if you argued this text is biased in favor of Burton, I think Speke would have been a incredibly poisonous person to know. 

Additionally, if Sidi Mubarak Bombay is the true center of this story as is hinted at — the summary of his life, apart from Burton and Speke, should have earned a chapter of its own, as they received. And not tucked into the epilogue. Arguably, he did go further and see more then either, so the content was there.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Slavery, Xenophobia, Medical trauma, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Minor: Genocide, Suicide, and Islamophobia

References to hunting:

killing of pregnant animals on purpose, and eating the fetuses

abbeysoffel's review against another edition

adventurous informative fast-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Slavery