David Livingstone The Wayward Vagabond In Africa

David Livingstone: The Wayward Vagabond in Africa is an expression of doubt about the rason detre concerning the 19th Century explorers and missionaries in Africa. Led by David Livingstone, the Scottish explorer and missionary, they are said to have come to civilise backward Africans, which the author creatively re-imagines, arguing that it is far from the truth. Instead, their actions gave impetus to colonialism proper. In this book the omniscient narrator, Everywhere, is Gods special envoy mandated to witness history with far-reaching consequences for humanity. His investigation is to help nail David Livingstone on Judgment Day, much the same way St Peter chronicles events in the Book of Life. Read about how, Everywhere, the spirit rides on wind, walks on water, enters into his characters stream of consciousness and even discerns how they interpret the world around them. The novel retraces Livingstones early life, from his deprived childhood in Blantyre, Scotland; his ideological evolution and training in London and his dramatic sojourn in Monomotapa kingdom, which he half-believes is his destiny. The satirical tone in the novel aptly captures that delusional aspect of Livingstones God-ordained mission to the world.

"An examination of the life and accomplishments of the explorer and missionary who traveled southern Africa and was the first European to reach Victoria Falls"--Provided by publisher.

This book is the author's account of his lifelong African journeys and adventures, exciting exploits that tell a story of unsurpassed courage and determination.

In 1841, a twenty-eight-year-old Scottish missionary, David Livingstone, began the first of his exploratory treks into the African veldt. During the course of his lifetime, he covered over 29,000 miles uncovering what lay beyond rivers and mountain ranges where no other white man had ever been. Livingstone was the first European to make a trans-African passage from modern day Angola to Mozambique and he discovered and named numerable lakes, rivers and mountains. His explorations are still considered one of the toughest series of expeditions ever undertaken. He faced an endless series of life-threatening situations, often at the hands of avaricious African chiefs, cheated by slavers traders and attacked by wild animals. He was mauled by a lion, suffered thirst and starvation and was constantly affected by dysentery, bleeding from hemorrhoids, malaria and pneumonia. This biography covers his life but also examines his relationship with his wife and children who were the main casualties of his endless explorations in Africa. It also looks Livingstone’s legacy through to the modern day. Livingstone was an immensely curious person and he made a habit of making meticulous observations of the flora and fauna of the African countryside that he passed through. His legacy includes numerable maps and geographical and botanical observations and samples. He was also a most powerful and effective proponent for the abolition of slavery and his message of yesterday is still valid today in a continent stricken with drought, desertification and debt for he argued that the African culture should be appreciated for its richness and diversity. But like all great men, he had great faults. Livingstone was unforgiving of those that he perceived had wronged him; he was intolerant of those who could not match his amazing physical powers; and finally and he had no compunction about distorting the truth, particularly about other people, in order to magnify his already significant achievements. Illustrations: 40 colour illustrations

An intimate portrait of the nineteenth-century explorer considers such topics as the setbacks he experienced throughout the course of his career, the differing opinions that have shaped his posthumous reputation, and the motivations behind and impact of his slave journeys through Africa.