The White Nile

This was a really slow read for me. Not so much for the content, although that was incredibly dense, but because my paperback edition had incredibly small print and was very tightly line-spaced as to make it really hard to read. In fact, I read a book between each section of the book to rest my eyes! Perhaps I should have given up and bought a more suitable edition in normal sized font!

Anyways, this book is all things White Nile and more - expanding itself in a history all of the countries the White Nile passes through. It is very thorough - almost too thorough for a light history reader like me - I had expected it to pick up on each of the expeditions, each of the phases of control of Egypt and Sudan, but I had also thought it would act as a teaser for more specific books, when in fact for me it outlined in as much detail as I probably need, all these events.

Part 1 - The Exploration
This section covers discoveries of the source of the Nile - chapters provided for each of Burton & Speke; Speke and Grant; Baker; Livingstone; and Stanley. It covers the period of exploration from 1856 to 1877.

Part 2 - The Exploitation
The three chapters in this section cover Baker and Gordon in Sudan, their battle against the slave trade and the completion of the Suez Canal, and concludes just as British occupation of Egypt in 1882.

Part 3 - The Moslem Revolt
Britain operate Egypt as a protectorate, the Madhi (Muhammad Ahmad Ibn el-Sayyid Abdullah) a Nubian Sufi religious leader who unifies the factions in Sudan takes control of most of Sudan, then threatens to take control of Khartoum. Gordon is recalled to Sudan, established in Khartoum and is subject to a siege while waiting for military support, which of course arrives far too late.
The British attempt to extricate themselves from Sudan, and then a look back into (Buganda) Uganda, where it was all going wrong with the whites there too. Stanley makes another foray into East Africa, and the British withdrawal is complete.

Part 4 - The Christian Victory
Around 1885 German presses for involvement, and the British concede some of the land they have held (albeit poorly) in conjunction with Zanzibar. The British took control of Kenya, and later Uganda, the Germans Tanganyika, leaving just Zanzibar, two small islands and a strip of coastline for the Sultan of Zanzibar. In Britain there was more agitation for revenge in Sudan, and soon Kitchener was sent back ( he was part of the successful supporting of Gordon), via Egypt to retake Khartoum and press on upstream to displace the French who had established a small base on the White Nile. Politics in Britain dealt with the issue rather than on the ground, and the French withdrew, leaving the White Nile for its length in British control.

Epilogue
The epilogue provides a very brief contemporary look at the places which feature in the book just before 1960, when the book was published and it draws a few comparisons between the main players in the book.

This book is recognised as the go to for all things White Nile. Published in the 1960s it lacks some sophistication around racial sensitivity, but it can be overlooked for its wide view of events. I only wish I had bought an edition with larger font. Rare for me to take almost two months to deal with a book!

4 stars.