Stanley

This second part of Frank McLynn's biography covers the period 1877-1904. At the heart of the story lies Stanley's relationship with Leopold II, with whom he duped the great powers of Europe into carving a Belgian empire on the Congo. Their acrimonious parting resulted in Stanley's participation in the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition to the Ituri forests in 1886. The failure of this nightmare journey destroyed his reputation, and although he forged a political career and retired with a clutch of state and academic honours, his star was permanently dimmed. As in the first volume, "The Making of an African Explorer", McLynn looks behind the achievements to reveal the darker side of this complex man of action.