Born in Hamburg, Henry (Heinrich) Barth (1821 1865) studied history, archaeology, geography and Arabic. He joined James Richardson's 1849 expedition to Africa, which aimed to open the interior to trade and to study slavery. Following the deaths of Richardson (1851) and his colleague Overweg (1852), Barth led the expedition alone. His travels extended to Lake Chad in the east, Cameroon in the south and Timbuktu in the west. He was the first European to use the oral traditions of the local tribes for historical research, learning several African languages, and studying the history, resources...

Born in Hamburg, Henry (Heinrich) Barth (1821 1865) studied history, archaeology, geography and Arabic. He joined James Richardson's 1849 expedition to Africa, which aimed to open the interior to trade and to study slavery. Following the deaths of Richardson (1851) and his colleague Overweg (1852), Barth led the expedition alone. His travels extended to Lake Chad in the east, Cameroon in the south and Timbuktu in the west. He was the first European to use the oral traditions of the local tribes for historical research, learning several African languages, and studying the history, resources...

Born in Hamburg, Henry (Heinrich) Barth (1821 1865) studied history, archaeology, geography and Arabic. He joined James Richardson's 1849 expedition to Africa, which aimed to open the interior to trade and to study slavery. Following the deaths of Richardson (1851) and his colleague Overweg (1852), Barth led the expedition alone. His travels extended to Lake Chad in the east, Cameroon in the south and Timbuktu in the west. He was the first European to use the oral traditions of the local tribes for historical research, learning several African languages, and studying the history, resources...

Born in Hamburg, Henry (Heinrich) Barth (1821 1865) studied history, archaeology, geography and Arabic. He joined James Richardson's 1849 expedition to Africa, which aimed to open the interior to trade and to study slavery. Following the deaths of Richardson (1851) and his colleague Overweg (1852), Barth led the expedition alone. His travels extended to Lake Chad in the east, Cameroon in the south and Timbuktu in the west. He was the first European to use the oral traditions of the local tribes for historical research, learning several African languages, and studying the history, resources...

The prolific writer William Howitt (1792 1879) embarked for Australia in 1852 and spent two years there travelling and panning for gold. His experiences resulted in several books that appealed to the Victorian public's avid interest in Antipodean exploration. Published in 1865, when New Zealand had only been recognised as a country for a generation, this two-volume work describes 'scenes of danger and of wild romance, of heroic daring and devoted deaths, such as few countries have to show'. It gives a valuable account of early European exploration and settlement in Australia and New Zealand...

The prolific writer William Howitt (1792 1879) embarked for Australia in 1852 and spent two years there travelling and panning for gold. His experiences resulted in several books that appealed to the Victorian public's avid interest in Antipodean exploration. Published in 1865, when New Zealand had only been recognised as a country for a generation, this two-volume work describes 'scenes of danger and of wild romance, of heroic daring and devoted deaths, such as few countries have to show'. It gives a valuable account of early European exploration and settlement in Australia and New Zealand...

James Francis Hogan (1855 1924) wrote several histories of Irish colonisation in Australia. His family emigrated to Melbourne in 1856 where he became a respected author. After returning to Britain in 1893 he was elected a Member of Parliament, and he later became Professor of Irish History at University College Cork. This book, first published in 1891, retells the extraordinary life of Jorgen Jorgenson (1780 1841), a Danish adventurer, accomplished fraudster, amateur playwright and freelance preacher, who once declared himself the ruler of Iceland and eventually became Constable of Van...

Born in Hamburg, Henry (Heinrich) Barth (1821 1865) studied history, archaeology, geography and Arabic. He joined James Richardson's 1849 expedition to Africa, which aimed to open the interior to trade and to study slavery. Following the deaths of Richardson (1851) and his colleague Overweg (1852), Barth led the expedition alone. His travels extended to Lake Chad in the east, Cameroon in the south and Timbuktu in the west. He was the first European to use the oral traditions of the local tribes for historical research, learning several African languages, and studying the history, resources...

When the experienced Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin (1786 1847) was put in command of an expedition in 1845 to search for the elusive North-West Passage he had the backing of the Admiralty and was equipped with two specially-adapted ships and a three-year supply of provisions. Franklin was last seen by whalers in Baffin Bay in July 1845. When the expedition failed to return in 1848, enormous resources were mobilised to try to discover its fate. In 1852 H.M.S. 'Assistance' was sent to lead another search mission. It was captained by Edward Belcher (1799 1877), who eventually took the...

When the experienced Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin (1786 1847) was put in command of an expedition in 1845 to search for the elusive North-West Passage he had the backing of the Admiralty and was equipped with two specially-adapted ships and a three-year supply of provisions. Franklin was last seen by whalers in Baffin Bay in July 1845. When the expedition failed to return in 1848, enormous resources were mobilised to try to discover its fate. In 1852 H.M.S. 'Assistance' was sent to lead another search mission. It was captained by Edward Belcher (1799 1877), who recounts his unsuccessful...