The events of Florence Baker's life read like a novel. Born in the 1840s into an aristocratic family who were all murdered in the Hungarian revolution, Florence fled to the Ottoman empire with her nurse. She was next heard of living in a harem, barely in her teens. In 1859 she was presented at auction, and it was in this most unlikely of settings that she met her soulmate Sam Baker, a wealthy English adventurer whose geographic discoveries proved crucial to England's understanding of the African landscape. Saving her from ...
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The events of Florence Baker's life read like a novel. Born in the 1840s into an aristocratic family who were all murdered in the Hungarian revolution, Florence fled to the Ottoman empire with her nurse. She was next heard of living in a harem, barely in her teens. In 1859 she was presented at auction, and it was in this most unlikely of settings that she met her soulmate Sam Baker, a wealthy English adventurer whose geographic discoveries proved crucial to England's understanding of the African landscape. Saving her from slavery, Sam offered his paramour much more a life of danger, excitement and passion exploring the uncharted interior of Africa in search of the source of the Nile. Florence's early life. Sam and Florence were to suffer years of deprivation and conflict with local tribes before their amazing fortitude brought ultimate victory. Sam named the source of the Nile Albert N'yanza, after the Queen's consort. But a larger challenge awaited them: winning acceptance in polite Victorian society. from beneath the shadow of her more famous husband. It is the story of a remarkable woman, of an extraordinary love affair, but also of the golden age of exploration. Reconstructed through journals, documents, maps and photographs, it chronicles the life of a tenacious, compassionate and unlikely explorer a woman who stood alongside some of the toughest men in history to face the unknown.
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Seller's Description:
Very good in Very good jacket. VGC. Bantam Press, 2004. First UK edition-first printing (1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2). Red hardback (gilt lettering to the spine, small nick and dent on the edges of the cover) with Dj (two small colour marks/stain inside the edges of the Dj cover, two small nicks and crease on the edges of the Dj cover), both in VGC. Illustrated with colour maps inside the front and back cover, b/w photos, drawings. Nice and clean pages with two small marks and some ink marks on the outer edges, light shelf wear on the Dj cover. 438pp including Author's note, notes, bibliography, a note on archives, index. Price un-clipped. Heavy book.
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Seller's Description:
As New in As New jacket. xviii + 428pp, end paper maps, b&w illustrations, some double page. As New in As New dustjacket. A biography of a unique and outstanding early woman traveller in unexplored Africa. First Edition. G41.