This book is a fresh take on Henry Stanley and well worth the read. However, the book ends right after his second exploration, quite literally. For a book that poured over Stanley's early years, many pages to his 7- and under years, the paragraph (literally) that sums up his knighthood, authoring of more books, marriage and subsequent adventures is pretty disconcerting. It is like the author died and someone else tacked on an ending and called it done.

Really enjoyed this one. The research was thorough, the writing was crisp, and the insights into the tormented Stanley intriguing. Of all the Stanley biographies out there, this is the most thorough, scholarly and objective.