| Blood River: A Journey to Africa's Broken Heart | 
 enlarge | Author: Tim Butcher
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
List Price: £7.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  58 reviews
Sales Rank: 63
Media: Paperback
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 4.9 x 1
ISBN: 0099494280
EAN: 9780099494287
ASIN: 0099494280
Publication Date: January 3, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Engaging but ultimately unfulfilling July 18, 2008
This is a page turner, no doubt. The details of his journey are mildly interesting, the people he meets much more so. But there are better books on the DRC and much of this feels over familiar and repetitious. Butcher writes well enough but lacks the ability to convey a deeper understanding. He aint no Kapucinski. But a worthy effort and hats off to him for meeting such a daunting challenge. More than I've ever managed. But, hey, I'm just an interested but slightly disappointed reader.
 Somewhat interesting July 9, 2008
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
I had high expectations for this book. The Congo is a hot African topic. There were certainly intersting segments, mainly the people Butcher encounters and the deplorable state of the Congo. There was n othing new really from his histrocial references. Much of the book seemed familiar to me and then I realized why after reading his bibliography; I had read most of his source books. Butcher frequently expresses his terror in the book (which is why I am surprised that he was so often described as "intrepid" by reviewers). I can't blame him but after reading for the umpteenth time how scared he was I couldn't help feeling it detracted from the book. For a really intrepd African traveller I recommend the books by the great Polish journalist (who spent over 30 years in Africa): Ryszard Kapuscinski. Especially his book "The Shadow of the Sun".
Is this man mad? July 8, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Initially, Tim Butcher's account of his "insanely dangerous" trip through the Congo raises the question why? Why put yourself through the very real risks of being captured or killed by the numerous rebel groups that infest the country? Why endure the mind-numbing boredom of hundreds and hundreds of kilometres on the back of motorcycles negotiating stiflingly hot jungle tracks? Why bother to retrace Stanley's already well documented expedition down the Congo river? Is this man mad?... certainly most of those he meets on this very strange journey think so.
But, mad or not, what he discovers makes for fascinating reading as he and we are taken into the heart of what has become an unbelievably shocking world... one that has degenerated in 50 years from ruthlessly harsh colonial discipline & order to complete and apparently irreversible anarchy. The roads are gone, the railways are gone, the buildings have been consumed by the jungle; there is no law and little or no administrative structure; towns have no electricity, clean water or medicine; bribery, theft and casual violence are rampant; people live in constant fear of raids from rebel groups, and hundreds of thousands are killed each year simply because they are in the wrong tribe or the wrong place. Sure, there are other third world countries in such a terrible condition but few with the huge natural resources and riches of the Congo, few where this state of affairs has existed for so long, and few that receive so little attention from the rest of the world.
Critics of the book suggest that the picture he paints is over-stated and that his grasp of the Congo's history is flawed - unless you or they are mad enough to emulate his trip who knows? But he's been around in enough of the world's trouble-spots to draw a measure over what he sees and, while his writing is less than tight in places and his understandable desire to "keep in the background" means that his discussions with the people he meets on the way are often cursory, the snapshots of life he returns with are vivid enough to make you question much more than his sanity in what is, in the end, a revealing and harrowingly thought-provoking account of one man's gruelling trek through a totally lost country.
 Only for the brave... July 3, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
A brilliant book mixing adventure travel with history, geography and anthropology. The author describes his brutal journey across the enormous expanse of land that is the Democratic Republic of Congo. Tracking Stanley's exploratory expedition, the book is shocking and horrifying in what it reveals about this destitute country. It is a great read that's filled with humour and compassion for the Congolese people. As someone about to travel to the DRC, this was an insightful introduction to an amazing country - all of its wonders and dangers. Now that I have safely returned from the Congo I have recommended this to all my family and friends.
Incredible July 1, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
From the moment I opened this book I couldn't put it down. It is a chilling account of Congo in decay, and about how the infrastructutre of civilisation has collapsed, making it a far more dangerous place today than it was decades ago. I thoroughly recommend it.
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