The Real-Life World's Most Interesting Men

Victorian Explorers Francis Burton and Richard M. Stanley: History 1-Hour Reads, Book 3

By: Michael Rank

Narrated by: Kevin Pierce

Everybody imagines the world's most interesting man to be a fictional, gray-haired lothario who drinks Mexican beer and boasts of his legendary exploits. But what if a man like this really lived?

It turns out he did, and there were two of them--both Victorian explorers. The first was Richard Franics Burton, an adventurer who learned 29 languages, went undercover as a Muslim on a pilgrimage to Mecca, and wrote 50 books on topics ranging from a translation of the Kama Sutra to a manual on bayonet exercises.

The second was Sir Richard Stanley, who led a massive expedition through Africa to find Dr. Livingston. By the time of his death in 1904, he had explored much of the continent and developed much of the interior. Stanley's greatest expedition was his 1874-1877 crossing of Africa on foot to the mouth of the Congo, traveling more than 7,000 miles and contending with the threat of malaria, unknown wild animals in the jungle, unfriendly tribesmen, harsh weather conditions, worries about running out of food, and any number of incomprehensible threats to their lives on that dangerous voyage.

Learn about the lives of these two extraordinary men and how a beer pitchman could never hope to live up to them.

©2014 Michael Rank (P)2015 Michael Rank