12+ Episode 95 (9 July 2024): In 1987, my wife and I shouldered our backpacks and set off from Australia. The plan was to live and work overseas in England for two years, using it as a base for UK and wider world travels. And the widest of these were inspired by reading books like Alan Moorehead's The White Nile and The Blue Nile.
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I wrote this travel post in February 2021. Earlier that month, a friend mentioned Alan Moorehead's White and Blue Nile books on social media, and we exchanged photos of our yellowed paperback copies.
Dusting off the books from my bookcase, I recalled how much they had meant to me in my early backpacking days and decided to pay homage to The White and Blue Niles on Tall And True.
Of Their Time
In addition to chronicling the quest for the twin sources of the Nile, the books contain first-hand accounts of other epic expeditions on the continent, and The White Nile includes one of the world's most famous meetings, between Henry Morton Stanley and Dr David Livingstone (I presume!).
The Nile books also provided an historical framework for the conquest and colonisation of Africa.
Moorehead's books are of their time—the quoted cover blurbs are proof of that:
"The amazing story of the explorers and conquerors of the most mysterious region on earth." ~ The White Nile
"The cruelty and splendour of Africa — and the men who conquered it." ~ The Blue Nile
But they're also detailed historical accounts of life along the rivers, the clashes with the European colonisers, and ultimately, the search for the source of the White and Blue Niles. As a young wannabe traveller and travel writer, I found them inspirational.
And as our modern times prove, we must learn from history to stop repeating its mistakes.
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© 2024 Robert Fairhead
N.B. You might also like this post introducing Tall And True Short Reads - Season Four.
Robert is a writer and editor at Tall And True and blogs on his eponymous website, RobertFairhead.com. He also writes and narrates episodes for the Tall And True Short Reads storytelling podcast, featuring his short stories, blog posts and other writing from Tall And True.
Robert's book reviews and other writing have appeared in print and online media. In 2020, he published his début collection of short stories, Both Sides of the Story. In 2021, Robert published his first twelve short stories for the Furious Fiction writing competition, Twelve Furious Months, and in 2022, his second collection of Furious Fictions, Twelve More Furious Months. And in 2023, he published an anthology of his microfiction, Tall And True Microfiction.
Besides writing, Robert's favourite pastimes include reading, watching Aussie Rules football with his son and walking his dog.
He has also enjoyed a one-night stand as a stand-up comic.
