In the latter half of the 19th Century a group of particularly intrepid explorers navigated their way into the interior of Africa, documenting what they saw, mapping the territory they crossed, and competing with one another to be the first to discover the fabled 'source of the Nile'.

The dangers they faced in order to achieve their aims required incredible courage and endurance - from deadly wildlife such as lions, crocodiles and hippos, to the even deadlier unseen threats of Malaria, tropical ulcers and infection, or the risks of violence from the unknown tribes they encountered.

Of the seven explorers in this book, five of the texts relate to this era in particular, being the accounts of: Richard Francis Burton, John Hanning Speke, David Livingstone, Henry Morton Stanley and Samuel W. Baker. The other two accounts are by Mungo Park - one of the earliest 18th Century explorers of Africa - and Mary H. Kingsley, the first solo female explorer to document the account of her personal travels.

The texts in this Anthology are unexpurgated, and include appendices, but have all been formatted and optimized for e-readers, and include selected photos and maps from the expeditions themselves.