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In 1816 the British sent two large, ambitious expeditions to Africa, one to follow the Niger River to its outlet, the other to trace the Congo River to its source. Their shared goal was to complete the unfinished mission of Mungo Park, who had disappeared during a journey to determine whether the Niger and the Congo were the same river. Both quests ended disastrously and were soon forgotten. Telling the full story of these failed expeditions for the first time, Dane Kennedy argues that they provide fresh insight into British ambitions in Africa. He places them in the contexts of the imperial rivalry with France, the slave trade and the abolition campaign, and the independent power wielded by African states and peoples. He also shows that they were haunted by the same sense of hubris that would afflict many of the expeditions that followed. This hubris was Mungo Park's ghost.
List of contents
Introduction: Mungo Park's ghost; 1. In the shadow of the slave trade; 2. Grand ambitions; 3. Hopes and hubris; 4. Futility and folly; 5. The second time as farce; 6. Inquest; 7. Eating the country; Bibliography; Index.
About the author
Dane Kennedy is a historian of the British imperial world who has written eight books, including The Last Blank Spaces: Exploring Africa and Australia (2013), and has edited or co-edited three others. An emeritus professor of history and international affairs at George Washington University, he has served as Director of the National History Center and President of the North American Conference of British Studies and he has been awarded Guggenheim and National Humanities Center fellowships.
