Journey to the Source of the Nile

In a series of experiences between 1856 and 1877, several British-born explorers tried to unravel the mystery of the source of the Nile. This river, the longest in the world, flowed through the desert, bringing life in its floodwater every year. Where did all this water come from? Christopher Ondaatje, long fascinated with Richard Burton and wishing to relive his 1856 African exploration, prepared for this journey by studying the expeditions of several Victorian travellers, for each had returned with part of the answer to the Nile's riddle. In 1996 Ondaatje followed the Victorian explorers' routes, to see for himself what they had seen. Although acutely aware that their claims of "discovering" a mountain or river were ridiculous, he quickly realized that he was indeed on a journey of discovery, and that the search for truth is often about finding new and better questions, not just answers. His trek across the Serengeti Plains to Olduvai Gorge provides the most striking revelation of all: the forces which shaped the Nile may also have triggered the evolution of the human race.

Science & Math

ONDAATJE, Christopher

Earth Sciences

Harpercollins Pub, Ltd.

Physical description; 237 p. : ill. (some col),maps, ports. ; 25 cm. Notes; Includes bibliographical references (p.225-226) and index. Subjects; Hemingway, Ernest 1899-1961 - Criticism and interpretation. Hemingway, Ernest 1899-1961 - Journeys - Africa.

Hemingway in Africa

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

The Power of Paper: A History, a Financial Adventure and a Warning

London: HarperCollins

Autobiographical account of a Sri Lanka born Canadian, woven around his journey through Sri Lanka.

The Man-Eater of Punanai: A Journey of Discovery to the Jungles of Old Ceylon

History

Asia

Harpercollins Canada

Sindh Revisited is the remarkable story of the author's fascination with the early life of Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821-1890). It is the story of an incredible journey, too - deep into the heart of British India, and the India and Sindh of today. Christopher Ondaatje's Sindh Revisited is the extraordinarily sensitive account of the author's quest to uncover the secrets of the seven years Richard Burton spent in India in the army of the East India Company from 1842 to 1849. "If I wanted to fill the gap in my understanding of Richard Burton, I would have to do something that had never been done before: follow in his footsteps in India...." The journey covered thousands of miles - trekking across deserts where ancient tribes meet modern civilization in the valley of the mighty Indus River. What was it that Burton discovered in India? What was it that changed him from a rebellious, wayward youth into a man of courage, imagination, wisdom and personal power? Through this unique book and the journey it describes, we come nearer than ever before to understanding the mystery of Richard Burton and the devils that drove him.

Sindh Revisited: A Journey in the Footsteps of Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton 1842-1849 : The India Years

Travel

Harpercollins

Light wear to cover. Shipped from the U.K. All orders received before 3pm sent that weekday.

Journey to the Source of the Nile : An Extraordinary Quest to Solve the Riddle of the World's Longest River

Africa

HarperCollin

Sindh Revisited

Woolf in Ceylon

HarperCollins Publishers Canada, Limited

An autobiography in essays by this renowned explorer and biographer of the British colonial period. Christopher Ondaatje is a true child of the British Empire. Born in Ceylon in 1933 and brought up on a tea plantation, he was sent as a teenager to boarding school in England. But soon after Ceylon was granted its independence in 1948, his family found themselves destitute, and the young Ondaatje left school and got a job. In 1956 he made his way to Canada with just thirteen dollars in his pocket. From this improbable beginning there followed a series of commercial triumphs until 1988 when he abruptly abandoned high finance at the peak of his career and reinvented himself as an explorer and author, focusing mainly on the colonial period. It is the curious encounters behind these often precarious adventures that make up The Last Colonial. The stories tell of Ondaatje’s childhood days in Ceylon, his early life in Canada, his fascination with inexplicable events and local superstitions, and his sometimes perilous travels researching biographies of Ernest Hemingway in Africa, Leonard Woolf in Ceylon, and Sir Richard Burton in India and Africa. Complemented by the artist Ana Maria Pacheco’s magical, sometimes disturbing illustrations, the stories conjure up a truly unique portrait of a world that is vanishing forever. 30 full-color illustrations

The Last Colonial

Arts & Literature

Thames&Hudson

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Books by ONDAATJE, Christopher