Volume 1

Sir Samuel Baker (1821-93) was one of the most famous Victorian explorers and hunters. First published in two illustrated volumes in 1866, this account of his most celebrated expedition is amongst the most important works of its type. Baker promises 'to take the reader by the hand, and lead him step by step ... through scorching deserts and thirsty sands; through swamp and jungle ... until I bring him, faint with the wearying journey, to that high cliff ... from which he shall look down upon the vast Albert Lake and drink with me from the sources of the Nile!' Volume 1 covers the first two years of the expedition, from Cairo to southern Sudan. Leading a party of 96 people, including his wife, and dealing with Arab duplicity, native aggression, and frequent mutinies amongst his porters, he maintains his resolve and writes with clarity and great colour.

Volume 2

Sir Samuel Baker (1821-93) was one of the most famous Victorian explorers and hunters. First published in two illustrated volumes in 1866, this account of his most celebrated expedition is amongst the most important works of its type. Baker promises 'to take the reader by the hand, and lead him step by step ... through scorching deserts and thirsty sands; through swamp and jungle ... until I bring him, faint with the wearying journey, to that high cliff ... from which he shall look down upon the vast Albert Lake and drink with me from the sources of the Nile!' Volume 2 finds Baker a prisoner of a native king. Baker offers a number of 'gifts' to buy his release, and after an arduous journey, with his wife in a coma, in March 1864 he reaches Luta N'zige, which he renames in memory of Prince Albert. A compelling account of an historic adventure.

Sir Samuel White Baker (1821-1893) was a traveller and explorer. A lifelong campaigner against slavery, he lived with and later married a woman he rescued from a slave auction in eastern Europe. This two-volume work of 1874 is his account of a military expedition under Ismail Pasha (Ismail the Magnificent, 1830-1895), Khedive of Egypt, to suppress the slave-trade in central Africa between 1869 and 1873. Having found Egyptian citizens exploiting the population of the lawless central lands, Ismail determined to colonize and modernize the Nile basin (now southern Egypt and Sudan). He appointed Baker governor-general and major-general in the Ottoman army. Illustrated with over 50 plates and maps of the area, and with Baker's lively observations of the country and of the society he was trying to reform, this book is a wonderful record of a lost world, and of an important stage in late Ottoman military expansion.

Published in 1867, Sir Samuel Baker's journal describes his expedition to Africa in search of the source of the Nile. Baker (1821-93), one of the most important British explorers of the nineteenth century, undertook a twelve-month journey to examine every individual tributary to the Nile, accompanied throughout by his wife Florence (whom he had first encountered in an Ottoman slave market). Reflecting his passion for exploring and his strength of character, Baker's highly descriptive, witty and fluid writing records his dangerous and difficult project, telling fascinating stories of the native people as well as relaying the facts of his exploration. From his hunting expeditions with the Hamran Arabs to his extensive journeys on camel-back and his life at camp, Baker's experiences are far removed from today's world, and his vivid descriptions provide the reader with an invaluable insight into what life was like in Africa in the mid-nineteenth century.

Ismailia: Volume 2

by Sir Samuel White Baker

Published 7 October 2011
Sir Samuel White Baker (1821-1893) was a traveller and explorer. This two-volume work of 1874 is his account of a military expedition under Ismail Pasha (Ismail the Magnificent, 1830-1895), Khedive of Egypt, to suppress the slave-trade of central Africa between 1869 and 1873. Having found Egyptian citizens exploiting the population of the lawless central lands, Ismail determined to colonize and modernize the Nile basin (now southern Egypt and Sudan). He appointed Baker governor-general and major-general in the Ottoman army. Illustrated with over 50 plates and maps, and with Baker's lively observations of the country and of the society he was trying to reform, this book is a wonderful record of a lost world, and of an important stage in late Ottoman military expansion. In the second volume Baker continues the story of his mixed military successes in the south, and assesses his achievements in Africa.

Sir Samuel Baker (1821-93) was one of the most famous Victorian explorers and hunters. First published in two illustrated volumes in 1866, this account of his most celebrated expedition is amongst the most important works of its type. Baker promises 'to take the reader by the hand, and lead him step by step ... to that high cliff ... from which he shall look down upon the vast Albert Lake and drink with me from the sources of the Nile!' Volume 1 covers the first two years of the expedition, from Cairo to southern Sudan. Volume 2 finds Baker a prisoner of a native king. Baker offers a number of 'gifts' to buy his release, and after an arduous journey, with his wife in a coma, in March 1864 he reaches Luta N'zige, which he renames in memory of Prince Albert. A compelling account of an historic adventure.