The Explorers

Starred review from March 31, 2014
Dugard (The Training Ground) uses Richard Francis Burton and John Hanning Speke’s quest to find the Nile’s source as a framing device to craft a fascinating examination of the seven key traits of history’s most famous explorers. Curiosity, hope, passion, courage, independence, self-discipline, and perseverance, Dugard says, are crucial traits explorers must possess in order to achieve their goals: “Take away one... and an expedition was doomed to failure.” He expands on this premise with examples of explorers who embodied (or lacked) those traits including Edmund Hillary’s exploration of Everest, Columbus’s quest for a new path to Asia, and Robert Falcon Scott’s trek to the South Pole. Detailed accounts of vicious attacks (including cannibalism), blindness from extreme exposure, and the constant threat of severe illness demonstrate the pitfalls many explorers encountered. Even when they did reach their goal, it rarely resulted in material wealth—Columbus, for example, was “considered a failure in his day.” The ultimate prize was immortality. In lesser hands, this exercise could come off as pedantic or pedestrian, but Dugard’s infusions of insight and enthusiasm carry the reader and drive his points home. Agent: Eric Simonoff, William Morris Endeavor.

May 1, 2014

Curiosity. Hope. Passion. Courage. Independence. Self-discipline. Perseverance. Dugard (coauthor, Killing Lincoln) identifies these as the qualities that successful explorers display over the course of their journeys and from which the rest of us can learn. As the foundation for his argument, the author uses the 1857-58 expedition of Richard Francis Burton (1821-90) and John Hanning Speke (1827-64) to find the source of the Nile River, noting the difficulties they experienced in traveling into Africa, the clash of their personalities, and the fallout from their conflicting conclusions regarding the river's source. Dugard arranges his chapters by the traits listed and investigates related psychological/behavioral research then meanders on a far-ranging journey through time and other explorers who have displayed similar attributes. VERDICT Unlike most exploration narratives, this book sets a different course while hitting the highlights of an expedition and its outcome. Dugard's writing so entertains that readers will not mind the various tangents and digressions.--Margaret Atwater-Singer, Univ. of Evansville Lib., IN

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.