This is the third biography that I have read of the 19th century explorer, adventurer, linguist, scholar, and Satan’s body double Richard Francis Burton, and it is by far the best. (Yes, Burton, who was tall, broad-shouldered, intimidating, and very dark, often shocked others with his Mephistophelean look; it didn’t help that Burton liked to shock.) As a young officer in British India, Burton learned several of the native languages and was able to pass, in the service of intelligence, as a traveling trader. However, when he was sent to report upon the boy-brothels of Karachi, his report was altogether too objective and candid for the Army and Foreign Office, permanently blighting his career. Leaving India, he went to Arabia, becoming the first Westerner to successfully complete the pilgrimage to Mecca—again in disguise; and he followed this with a major expedition to Africa that narrowly missed discovering the source of the Nile. Between these travels, he went to America and met Brigham Young.

Biographer Lovell found seven boxes of previously unknown letters and documents belonging to Isabel, Burton’s intrepid wife. These allowed her to correct several errors in earlier, otherwise excellent, biographies, most notably that of Fawn Brodie, and paint a fairer picture of Isabel, who previously was best known to history as the villainess who burned Burton’s papers and unpublished manuscripts after his death. Lovell gives this act its proper context, showing that the destruction was much less than has been thought, and that it resulted far less from prudery (Burton was the translator of the Kama Sutra, the unexpurgated Arabian Nights, and other works whose publication would probably have led to his prosecution for obscenity) than from a desire to preserve her husband’s legacy against profiteers and exploiters. She also weaves Isabel properly into the story of Burton’s life, showing how staunchly this daughter of privilege endured hardships and took on adventures infinitely beyond what might have been expected of her.

Burton was larger than life, and greatly misunderstood. He did not know how to curry favor and did not care to, and he loved to tell exaggerated stories portraying himself as a ruthless killer and libertine, when the truth was that he never killed except in self-defense—in fact, almost alone among his class, he loathed hunting—and he often went out of his way to protect the helpless. By giving his marriage new attention and examining his life through the perspective of Isabel’s newly discovered papers, Lovell gives a much more fully rounded picture of Burton’s life, both private and public. ( )

Carefully researched, this biography of Richard and Isabel Burton is an exciting, fast-paced read, if a tad too long. She mounts a strong defense of Isabel, refuting the claim that Isabel's Catholicism led her to burn all of Richard's papers. You see an Isabel who was highly intelligent and a masterful horsewoman willing to face all types of physical danger to be with her beloved husband. Lovell has also written a biography of Jane Digby who became Isabel's friend when the couple lived in Damascus and I plan to read that now as well. The two women chose to follow their own path rather than conform and so they led extraordinary lives. This biography provides much insight into what life was like in many parts of the world during the Victorian age. Anyone interested in Victorian explorations, global politics, and social and sexual mores will find this book well worth their time. ( )

a huge biography of one of the most exciting Victorian explorers and linguists. He was the first Englishman to enter Mekka )in disguise) ( )