Sir Richard Francis Burton was the preeminent nineteenth-century British travel writer, a brilliant linguist and translator, an extraordinary explorer, a pioneer anthropologist, a poet, a civil engineer, a field cartographer, a soldier one of Europe's best swordsmen, a diplomat, and a geologist. He published more than thirty books describing his travels and explorations as well as many articles, all reflecting his extensive knowledge of the places and cultures he visited. In his accounts of his travels from India to Brazil Burton analyzed climate, labor and slavery, manufacturing, commerce, and economies history, literature, and folkfore.

Two impressive achievements established his stature as a travel writer and explorer: he was the first European to give a detailed, accurate description of the sacred Islamic city of Mecca, and his expeditions to central Africa in search of the source of the Nile River led to its discovery by his associate, John Hanning...