Summary

In “Into the Mouth of Hell,” the members of the failed expedition returned to England to find their country embroiled in the Crimean War. Burton determined to join the fight, and the failure at Berbera brought him under intense criticism in the press. Feeling slighted by Burton’s suggestion that Speke’s actions resembled cowardice, Speke began to turn against his commander. Unbeknownst to him, Burton further angered Speke by publishing Speke’s diaries alongside his own without giving him credit. Both Speke and Burton served in the Crimean War, and Burton continued to make enemies due to his burgeoning pride that accompanied his long list of accomplishments.

In “What a Curse is a Heart,” Burton began to fall in love with a young woman whom he had met several years earlier. Raised in a traditional Catholic family privy to the entitlements of...