In the Victorian era, European explorers made their way through Africa in the name of "Christianity, Commerce and Civilization." The adventures of Burton, Stanley and Livingston are well known, but those of German scientist, historian and linguist Heinrich Barth are almost forgotten. In A Labyrinth of Kingdoms, Steve Kemper recounts the story of Barth's five-year, 10,000-mile journey through northern and central Africa.
The British Foreign Office hired Barth in 1849 as the lead scientist for an expedition through the central Sudan. When the other members of the expedition died, Barth traveled on alone. Beset by failed supply trains, bandits, avaricious rulers, anti-Christian violence, desert storms, floods and fever, Barth nonetheless wrote detailed accounts of everything he saw. Unlike other African explorers, he showed a deep respect for the peoples and cultures he encountered.
A Labyrinth of Kingdoms is a fascinating account both of one man's journey and of African cultures on the eve of European expansion. Like Barth himself, Kemper turns his attention beyond the narrow concerns of European imperialism and looks at the broader context of Islamic Africa. He gives the reader brief histories of the kingdoms Barth traveled through, including the fabled city of Timbuktu. He compares Barth's adventures and observations not only to those of the British explorers who were his contemporaries, but to the great Islamic travelers of the past who wrote about their experiences in the same regions.
Barth's story is equal parts adventure and scholarship. Kemper treats both with a sure hand. --Pamela Toler, blogging at History in the Margins