Explorers

The New York Times bestseller: “a fascinating examination of the seven key traits of history’s most famous explorers” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

In 1856, two intrepid adventurers, Richard Frances Burton and John Hanning Speke, set off to discover the source of the Nile River. They traveled deep into an uncharted African wilderness together, arrived at two different solutions to the mystery, and parted ways as sworn enemies. The feud became an international sensation on their return to England, and a public debate was scheduled to decide whose theory was correct. What followed was a massive spectacle with an outcome no one could have foreseen.

In The Explorers, Martin Dugard shares the rich saga of the Burton and Speke expedition and guides readers through the seven traits that history’s most legendary explorers called upon to survive their impossible journeys. In doing so, Dugard demonstrates how we can apply these traits in our everyday lives.

We see St. Brendan the Navigator, driven by hope, sail into the unknown, and the curiosity that inspired John Ledyard to attempt to walk around the globe, and the perseverance Howard Carter needed to discover Tutankhamen’s tomb. From these and other examples, Dugard extracts lessons for unlocking the explorer in us all.