Mary Kingsley

'While engaged on this hunt I felt the earth quiver under my feet, and heard a soft big soughing sound, and looking round saw I had dropped in on a hippo banquet...'Told with verve and self-mocking wi

Mary Kingsley (1862–1900) is one of the best known Victorian women travellers, whose solo adventures in West Africa made her a celebrity in England. This, her second book, published in 1899, was an instant best-seller. She travelled extensively, engaging in trade both to fund her trip and to get to know the African people, rather than merely observing as an outsider. Some of her views were considered controversial - she opposed the attempts by missionaries to impose European culture on native people, and defended polygamy and even slavery. She opposed direct colonial rule, and wanted Africans to have more self-determination. Her observations and interests are wide-ranging, and she showed an acute and sympathetic understanding of West African culture and society. For more information on this author, see http://orlando.cambridge.org/public/svPeople?person_id=kingma

Mary Kingsley (1862–1900) is one of the best-known Victorian women travellers, whose solo adventures in West Africa made her a celebrity in England. This, her first book, published in 1897, was an instant best-seller. She travelled extensively, engaging in trade both to fund her trip and to get to know the African people, rather than merely observing as an outsider. She brought back quantities of natural specimens, three of which were named after her. On her return to England she was asked to give numerous lectures. Some of her views were considered controversial - she opposed the attempts by missionaries to impose European culture on native people, and defended polygamy and even slavery. Her observations and interests are wide-ranging, and she showed an acute and sympathetic understanding of West African culture and society. For more information on this author, see http://orlando.cambridge.org/public/svPeople?person_id=kingma

A remarkable account by a pioneering woman explorer who was described by Rudyard Kipling as 'the bravest woman of all my knowledge'.Until 1893, Mary Kingsley lived the typical life of a single Victori