MAJESTIC RIVER : mungo park and the exploration of the niger

One of the greatest stories of world exploration ever told. By the late eighteenth century, the river Niger was a 2,000-year-old two-part geographical problem. Solving it would advance European knowledge of Africa, provide a route to commercial opportunity and help eradicate the evil of slavery. Mungo Park achieved lasting fame in 1796 by solving the first part of the Niger problem – which way did the river run? Park died in 1806, in circumstances which are still uncertain, in failing to solve the second – where did the Niger end? Numerous expeditions explored the river in the decades following Park’s death, but not until 1830 was its final course revealed following in-the-field exploration. By then, however, the Niger problem had been solved by ‘armchair geographers’ who had never even visited Africa. Majestic River celebrates Mungo Park's achievements and illuminates his rich afterlife – how and why he was commemorated long after his death. It is also the thrilling story of the many expeditions that sought to determine the Niger’s course and the facts of Park’s disappearance, as well as a biography of the Niger itself as the river slowly took shape in the European imagination. One of the greatest stories of world exploration ever told. Majestic River: Mungo Park and the Exploration of the Niger is about geography, exploration, and a 2000-year-old geographical mystery. By the eighteenth century, the river Niger was to Europeans a source of wonder, potential wealth, and a two-part problem. The first would be solved by Mungo Park in 1796. Parks death in 1806 in failing to solve the second prompted other expeditions which sought to determine the cause of his death and to trace the Nigers course. This book offers the first full length biography of Mungo Park for over forty years. It traces the expeditions who followed him. It documents for the first time Parks afterlife - how and why he was commemorated long after his death. The book shows how the Niger was slowly revealed, in texts, maps and through indigenous knowledge. The Niger problem was finally solved by exploration in 1830. But years before, it had already been solved by armchair geographers who never set foot in Africa and who, unlike Park, did not die trying. Park remains today one of Britains best known explorers and his classic Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa both became a bestseller and has remained in print for over 200 years. The mystery of Park's death and the ongoing fascination with the Niger problem prompted expedition after expedition well into the 19th century. This is not simply one of the great stories of world exploration but a rich and varied account of Africa and its cultures at the time. 'Punchy, eloquent, and infused with forensic research ...This book is in all senses a geographical epic' - Nicholas Crane, writer and presenter, BBC Twos Coast and author of The Making of the British Landscape This book offers the first full length biography of legendary explorer Mungo Park for over forty years. Tracing the expeditions who followed him it documents how and why he was commemorated long after his death. This is not simply one of the great stories of world exploration but a rich and varied account of Africa and its cultures at the time.