Through the Dark Continent is essential reading for anyone interested in nineteenth century Africa and the European explorers who travelled through it.

Sir Henry Morton Stanley (1841-1904) was a Welsh-American journalist and explorer who was famous for his exploration of central Africa and his search for missionary and explorer David Livingstone. Upon finding Livingstone, Stanley reportedly asked, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" Stanley is also known for his search for the source of the Nile, his work in and development of the Congo Basin region in association with King Leopold II of the Belgians, and commanding the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition. He was knighted in 1899.