If a title does not include a price, it is out of print. Check at a local or specialist library to see if it has a copy.

Contemporary reading

Zanzibar, City, Island and Coast by Richard Burton (2 vols, Tinsley Brothers, 1872).
Recommended by the writer Alan Moorehead as an excellent introduction to Burton's extraordinary mind: 'It is very strange. He contrives to be pedantic, exuberant, malicious, learned and highly colourful all at the same time. The effect on the reader is as if he were being rushed downhill by fits and starts - now the brakes, now full speed ahead.' These remarks give a clue as to why poor Speke found Burton so taxing a companion.

The Lake Regions of Central Africa by Richard Burton (Dover Publications, 1995) £9.23.
First published in two volumes by Longmans Green in 1860, this is Burton's account of the expedition to Lake Tanganyika, which should be read alongside ...

What Led to the Discovery of the Source of the Nile by John Hanning Speke (Blackwood, 1863).

Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile by John Hanning Speke (Dover Publications, 1996) £11.08.
First published by Blackwood in 1863, this contains an absorbing picture of the African kingdoms of Uganda as they were in the early 1860s. There are illustrations by James Grant.

The Nile Basin by Richard Burton and James M'Queen (Tinsley Brothers, 1864).
Published only a few months after Speke's death, this contains Burton's account of the Bath meeting, which follows fairly closely an account he published later in Zanzibar, City, Island and Coast.

How I Found Livingstone by Henry Morton Stanley (Sampson Low, 1872).
Stanley's vivid account of his epic journey to find Livingstone.

In Darkest Africa, or the Quest, Rescue and Retreat of Emin, Governor of Equatoria by Henry Morton Stanley (Sampson Low, 1890).
Stanley's account of his last expedition.

Through the Dark Continent by Henry M Stanley (Dover Publications, 1988) £7.99 (vol. 1), £7.37 (vol. 2).
Originally published in 1875.

Albert N'yanza, Great Basin of the Nile by Samuel Baker (2 vols, Macmillan, 1866).
Baker's account of the epic journey he undertook up the Nile with his remarkable wife.

Modern interpretations

The White Nile by Alan Moorehead (Penguin, 1991) £14.00.
First published in 1960, this is still the starting point for any study of the history of the exploration of the source of the Nile. This definitive book covers not only the heroic age of exploration in the mid-19th century but also deals with the later, imperial phase of the story, including the death of General Gordon at Khartoum in 1885 and the subsequent punitive expedition mounted by the British culminating in the battle of Omdurman in 1898. Although this is a relatively 'modern' rendition of the story, it is still distinctly 'un-PC' in terms of race and gender.

The Blue Nile by Alan Moorehead (Penguin, 1991) £13.99.
Moorehead's companion volume to The White Nile.

A Rage to Live by Mary S Lovell (Little Brown, 1998) £10.99.
The most recent biography of the extraordinary lives of Richard Burton and his wife Isabel.

Snow upon the Desert by Frank McLynn (John Murray, 1990).
A painstaking biography of Richard Burton.

Baker of the Nile by Dorothy Middleton (Falcon Press, 1949).
Excellent biography of the Bakers, one of the most remarkable husband-and-wife teams in Victorian history.

Livingstone by Tim Jeal (Pimlico, 1993) £12.50.
Well-written deconstruction of the Livingstone myth that looks at the contradictions and failures in Livingstone's life.

Journey to the Source of the Nile by Christopher Ondaatje (HarperCollins, 1999) £12.99.
A modern travelogue by a distinguished author, which makes an interesting comparison with contemporary accounts by Burton, Speke, Baker, Livingstone and Stanley.

Africa Then: Photographs 1840-1918, edited by Nicolas Monti (Thames & Hudson, 1987).
A fascinating collection of Victorian photographs of African landscape and life, with a useful accompanying text on the historical and cultural background.

Films

The Mountains of the Moon (US 1989): directed by Bob Rafelson, starring Patrick Bergin (Burton), Iain Glen (Speke), Richard E Grant, Fiona Shaw (Isabel Burton), John Savident, James Villiers, Adrian Rawlins, Peter Vaughan, Delroy Lindo, Bernard Hill.
Engrossing film version of Burton and Speke's search for the source of the Nile. According to Richard Schickel of Time magazine, 'Somehow it conveys, as few movies ever have, the miserable realities that underlay the 19th century's heroic age of exploration.'

Stanley and Livingstone (US 1939): directed by Henry King, starring Spencer Tracy (Stanley), Cedric Hardwicke (Livingstone), Richard Greene, Nancy Kelly, Walter Brennan, Charles Coburn, Henry Hull, Henry Travers, Miles Mander, Holmes Herbert.
American biopic that gives a consistent historical account.

Websites

Sir Richard F Burton on the Web
www.isidore-of-seville.com/burton/
A comprehensive web directory and guide to all things Burton, with more than 130 links to biographies, selections of his work, academic articles and more.

Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton
www.jinxmagazine.com/burton.html
Essay on the life of Burton.

Nile: A quest for the source
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/kenanderson/histemp/nilesource1.html
The story of the search for the source of the White Nile, complete with pictures and maps.