Stanley

'Meticulously and grippingly told.' Evening Standard

Henry Morton Stanley took his life and reputation into his own hands when he decided to explore the most dangerous parts of uncharted Central Africa in the 19th Century.

Born into poverty, Stanley grew up in a Welsh workhouse - only to forge his own path to success and international acclaim within the dangerous world of exploration.

Undaunted by many obstacles, Stanley braved life and limb with fierce determination on his quest to uncover unexplored realms of the earth. He traversed the length of the Congo River, the circumference of Lake Victoria and Lake Tanganyika - and even finished his adventure with the famed encounter with Dr Livingstone.

McLynn takes the reader on a wild journey steeped in details of the man behind the mission. The biography captures the colour and drama of Stanley's engrossing narrative. McLynn combines the success of Stanley's achievements with a deeper look into his motivations and personal history to create an insightful study into of a genuine hero, whose legacy resonates today.

Frank McLynn is a British author, biographer, historian and journalist. He is noted for critically acclaimed biographies of Napoleon Bonaparte, Robert Louis Stevenson, Carl Jung, Richard Francis Burton and Henry Morton Stanley. He is also the author of Fitzroy Maclean and Bipolar, a novel about Roald Amundsen, published by Sharpe Books.

Praise for Frank McLynn:

'Excellent ... entertaining.' The Spectator

'The definitive biography.' TLS

'Does much to explain the contradictory accounts left to us of the man.' London Review of Books

'Frank McLynn's achievement ... is to give Charles Edward a solidarity and three-dimensional reality that he usually lacks ... His account of the risings themselves is exemplary and he offers the best case yet for the nearness to success of the '45. What is usually seen as the last shiver of an anachronistic and romantic throwback emerges as a genuine alternative to Whiggery and the Act of Settlement.' Brian Morton, TES

'A broad canvas, dealing not only with sober historical truth but with the magic spell that either seduced or repelled Fielding, Sterne, Smollett, Burns, Scott, Borrow, Buchan, Stevenson and a hundred Irish poets...' Diarmaid O'Muirithe, Irish Independent

'McLynn is to be congratulated on a great success, a work ... of mature reflection, acute judgement and great humanity.' Jeremy Black, History

'A readable and fresh study ... thoroughly researched.' Esmond Wright, Contemporary Review

'Packed with fascinating detail.' Denis Hills, choosing his book of the year in the Spectator

'Fitzroy Maclean has found his Boswell in Frank McLynn.' Trevor Royle, Scotland on Sunday

'Most entertaining.' Richard West

'Important, timely and balanced.' Soldier