When ‘Daily Telegraph’ correspondent Tim Butcher was delivered to cover Africa in 2000 he quickly became enthusiastic about the idea of recreating H M Stanley’s well-known expedition – but travelling alone. Despite warnings that his strategy was ‘suicidal’, Butcher set out for the Congo’s eastern boundary with only a rucksack and a few thousand dollars concealed in his footwear. Making his way in an assortment of vessels including a motorbike and a dugout canoe, helped along by a solid of personas from UN aid workers to a campaigning pygmy, he followed in the footsteps of the great Victorian adventurers. Butcher’s trip was a remarkable feat, but the story of the Congo, informed expertly and vividly with this book, is even more remarkable still.