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Burton: A Biography of Sir Richard Frances Burton Audiobook
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(4.00) - 111 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Explorer and inventor, soldier and poet, archaeologist and diplomat, Richard Francis Burton (1821–1890) was the most versatile and remarkable man of his age. But he was foremost an adventurer: “an adventurer in the intellectual and the spiritual as well as the physical world.” The pioneering traveler in Central Africa who discovered Lake Tanganyika was also the translator of The Arabian Nights and the secret translator of Oriental sex manuals like The Perfumed Garden. The man who made a dangerous pilgrimage to Mecca in disguise also produced major writings on reptiles and religion, mining and mountain-climbing, slavery and sexuality.
Byron Farwell brilliantly recreates the sheer excitement of Burton’s achievements and astonishing range of interests in this fascinating biography.
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"An excellent and entertaining biography of the Victorian adventurer and explorer, who discovered the source of the Nile and was the first Westerner to enter Mecca, disguised as an Arab. The stuff that ripping yarns are made of. "
— David (5 out of 5 stars)
Burton Listener Reviews
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" Now this was a wild man. could speak 35 languages, traveled through Africa and Saudi Arabia in 1800s. "
— Jeri, 10/21/2013 -
" An excellent and entertaining biography of the Victorian adventurer and explorer, who discovered the source of the Nile and was the first Westerner to enter Mecca, disguised as an Arab. The stuff that ripping yarns are made of. "
— David, 11/12/2012 -
" Good overview of Burton's life. Farwell reveals some new material concerning Burton's Interest in and possible conversion to Sufism. "
— Ben, 9/19/2012 -
" He will always be the translator of the Arabian Nights for me... And I am sure he found the source of the Nile before Speke. "
— Lysergius, 4/8/2012 -
" Boring. Boring. Boring. Byron accuses Burton of writing books at included extraneous information but Byron is just as guilty. This book could have been written in half the length. And the print is very small. "
— Sam, 9/15/2011 -
" Boring. Boring. Boring. Byron accuses Burton of writing books at included extraneous information but Byron is just as guilty. This book could have been written in half the length. And the print is very small. "
— Sam, 2/15/2011 -
" Now this was a wild man. could speak 35 languages, traveled through Africa and Saudi Arabia in 1800s. "
— Jeri, 12/18/2010
About Byron Farwell
Byron Farwell (1922–1999) was an American military historian and biographer known for books on nineteenth and early twentieth-century British military colonialism. He published articles in the New York Times, Washington Post, American Heritage, and elsewhere; served as a contributing editor to Military History and World War II; and contributed to Collier’s Encyclopedia.
About Simon Vance
Simon Vance (a.k.a. Robert Whitfield) is an award-winning actor and narrator. He has earned more than fifty Earphones Awards and won the prestigious Audie Award for best narration thirteen times. He was named Booklist’s very first Voice of Choice in 2008 and has been named an AudioFile Golden Voice as well as an AudioFile Best Voice of 2009. He has narrated more than eight hundred audiobooks over almost thirty years, beginning when he was a radio newsreader for the BBC in London. He is also an actor who has appeared on both stage and television.