Livingstone's first book revolutionized the way European readers saw Africa and made him a hero in England. He returned again to the Zambesi with his brother Charles and others, this time with more equipment and funds. Again he faced hippopotami, crocodiles, impossible terrain, and disease, but his greatest enemies on this trip prove to be human.
The British eventually lost faith in the expedition, but Livingstone proved in the end to have had tremendous foresight. He doesn't romanticize, but he is often poetic in this account.