Richard F Burton Books

Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821 - 1890) was an English explorer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, ethnologist, linguist, poet, hypnotist, fencer and diplomat. He was known for his travels and explorations within Asia and Africa and below are only his works on Africa.

First Footsteps In East Africa: Or An Exploration Of Harar by Sir Richard Burton & J H Speke (1856) is the account of Burton's first expedition to explore the interior of the Somali country and particularly the forbidden city of Harar, which no European was thought to have seen. Free eBook

The Lake Regions Of Central Equatorial Africa by Sir Richard Burton (1860). The Royal Geographical Society expedition left Bagamoyo on the Tanzania coast, opposite Zanzibar, in June 1857. Burton and John Hanning Speke went west to Kaze, now Tabora, then to the Malagarasi River and Lake Tanganyika. On their return, Speke travelled north to Lake Victoria and back, from Kaze. Free eBook

Wanderings In West Africa by Sir Richard Burton (1863) recounts the long journey to the British diplomatic post at Fernando Po. Invaluable descriptions of African tribal rituals concerning birth, marriage and death, and of tribal fetishism, ritual murder, cannibalism and more. Free eBook

Two Trips To Gorilla Land And The Cataracts Of The Congo by Sir Richard Burton (1876) Vol I Free eBook Vol II Free eBook

Abeokuta And The Camaroons Mountains by Sir Richard Burton (1863). The work had two basic purposes including suggested measures to secure Britain's influence upon the seaboard of Yoruba and descriptions of Burton's explorations in the mountains. Vol I Free eBook Vol II Free eBook

A Mission To Gelele, King Of Dahome by Sir Richard Burton (1864). In 1863 Burton went to Dahomey as a representative of the British government to persuade the King to stop his participation in the slave trade and human sacrifice. Vol I Free eBook Vol II Free eBook

The Nile Basin by Sir Richard Burton (1864). This is Part 1. Part 2 was written by James M'Queen. This two-part work includes James M'Queen's scathing attack of John Speke's claim of the discovery of the source of the Nile. Free eBook

Wit And Wisdom From West Africa by Sir Richard Burton (1865) ia a collection of proverbs and sayings from many tribal languages. They offer outstanding evidence of accumulated folk wisdom. Free eBook

Zanzibar: City, Island And Coast by Sir Richard Burton (1872). Zanzibar was the setting off point for most of the travels into Africa initiated by the great explorers of the 19th century. This comprehensive guidebook covers every aspect of Zanzibar. Vol I Free eBook Vol II Free eBook

To The Gold Coast For Gold by Sir Richard Burton and Verney Lovett Cameron (1883). In 1881 Cameron joined Burton on a mission to West Africa. The two explorers examined the interior of the Gold Coast, searching for evidence of its gold-producing potential. Cameron also plotted the course of the Ankobrah River and they sent plants native to the Gold Coast to Kew Gardens. Vol I Free eBook Vol II Free eBook

Wanderings In Three Continents by Sir Richard Burton (1901). This posthumous volume of essays reveals Burton "in the aspect in which he was known best to the world - as a traveller and explorer." Free eBook

Click here to buy the 1990 movie Mountains of the Moon starring Patrick Bergin as Richard Burton, in DVD.

Fawn M Brodie

The Devil Drives: A Life Of Sir Richard Burton by Fawn M Brodie (1967) is a biography of the noted explorer, Sir Richard Burton, who was also talented as an ethnologist, archaeologist, poet, translater and one of the great linguists of his time. The author has drawn on original sources and on a collection of letters and papers that eluded Lady Burton's editing by fire.

Isabel Burton

Lady Isabel Burton (1831 - 1896) was the wife of explorer Sir Richard Francis Burton. She was also a writer but is probably best known for burning some of her husband's papers and manuscripts after his death.

Life Of Captain Sir Richard F Burton KCMG, FRGS by Isabel Burton (1893). Lady Burton's biography of her late husband continues, even with all of its flaws, to be the source for much that is known of Sir Richard Burton's life. Vol I Free eBook Vol II Free eBook

The Romance of Isabel, Lady Burton by Isabel Burton (1897) is the story of her life told in part by herself and by W H Wilkins. Isabel Burton died before completing her autobiography. Vol I Free eBook Vol II Free eBook

James Newman

Paths Without Glory: Richard Francis Burton In Africa by James Newman (2010) provides a portrait of Burton through careful examination of his journals and biographers’ analyses. Delving deepest into Burton’s later life and travels, Newman pinpoints the mainstays of his career as a diplomat and explorer.

Georgiana M Stisted

The True Life Of Captain Sir R F Burton by Georgiana M Stisted (1897) is a biography of Richard Burton by his niece. Free eBook

Mary S Lovell

A Rage To Live: A Biography Of Richard And Isabel Burton by Mary S Lovell (2000) is based on previously unavailable archives. Mary Lovell has written a compelling joint biography that sets Isabel in her proper place as Burton's equal in daring and endurance, a fascinating figure in her own right.

Norman M Penzer

An Annotated Bibliography Of Sir Richard Francis Burton by Norman M Penzer (1923)