River of the Gods by Candice Millard

 River of the Gods: Genius, Courage and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile by Candice Millard -349 pages

The finding of the source of the Nile River at Lake Victoria by three explorers sent by the Royal Geographical Society in the late 1850s ended in tragedy for two of the men. John Henning Speke would make the actual discovery at Lake Nyanza (Victoria), but would die by suicide after engaging in a bitter dispute with the expedition's leader, Richard Francis Burton. Burton, a language expert and anthropologist before the term existed, would be professionally injured by the controversy surrounding an expedition beset with extreme hardship and illness. Their guide, Sidi Mubarak Bombay, would become one of the most widely traveled explorers of Africa. An interesting book on the exploration of Africa during the Victorian era.