Tim Butcher Blood River : A Journey to Africa's Broken Heart

Reader: Tim Butcher

One man's remarkable lone journey through the Congo. Ever since Henry Morton Stanley first charted its mighty river in the 1870s, the Congo has epitomised the dark and turbulent history of a failed continent. However, its troubles only served to increase the interest of Daily Telegraph correspondent, Tim Butcher, who was sent to cover Africa in 2000. He remembered his mother's stories of her own genteel river journey there in the 1950s and his connection deepened when he discovered that Stanley's expedition was funded by the Telegraph. Before long, he became obsessed with the idea of recreating Stanley's original expedition - but travelling alone. Despite warnings from old Africa hands that his plan was 'suicidal', Butcher spent years poring over colonial-era maps and wooing rebel leaders before making his will and venturing to the Congo's eastern border with just a rucksack and a few thousand dollars hidden in his boots. His extraordinary account describes a country with more past than present, But the story of the Congo, told expertly and vividly in this book, is more remarkable still.

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