Rating: 
Summary: Many Cultures, Many Selves
Review: Burton is not your typical English hero. In fact he is so complex he defies any easy description. I think of him like a very intricately woven and patterned rug and one that perhaps in the end has no meaning. Burton was a strange mixture of occident and orient and one suspects he had only one loyalty and that was to himself. He was not so much an explorer as he was a traveler. He could learn languages quickly but he also was greatly attracted to religions and not only the major ones but the minor ones as well. If he was out for personal glory he could have picked more fruitful routes through the continents he traveled upon. I'm sure he wasn't immune to glory or else he wouldn't have attempted to find the mountains of the moon(souce of the Nile) but I think glory was not the main task he set for himself. I think he collected realities like others collect spears or knives and he collected those things too. Burton was a master at disguise and he fit so well into other lands because I think he really became like those whose land he was in. I don't think it was a game of pretend. He is famous for seeing Mecca when few white men ever had. The episode that makes for the best reading is another journey to another forbidden city in Africa called Harar. What makes this worth reading is not so much Burtons achievements but his personality. He is like some character who someone invented and perhaps someone did, Burton.
Rating: 
Summary: A Good and Detailed Biography
Review: Edward Rice wrote quite a nice biography about Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton. I read this book because I am an admirer of Burton's -- both professionally, as a geographer of Africa, and personally as a role model. Richard Burton was a man ahead of his own Victorian Era and one driven by his unmatched curiosity and desire to blaze new intellectual trails. I also wanted to read this book because I had already read Fawn Brodie's treatment of Burton. I wanted a different perspective, and Rice provided one.
As has been said many times before, Burton's life was fantastic and unbelievable. If someone had invented such a character they would be laughed away as ridiculous. But, Sir Richard Burton WAS real. As a young man, he joined the East India Company seeking the life of a soldier; a life with higher potential for glory than the ecclesiastical one for which his parents were pushing. During his youth and a brief stint among the "grocers" at Oxford, Burton recognized his aptitude for linguistics, and in India he played upon this facility to become a player in the so-called "Great Game" going on in the 19th century in what is now Pakistan. While in the East, Burton also studies Islam. He was able to play the part so well that he could pass as one of the faithful on his expeditions to Medina, Mecca and Harar.
The next phase of Burton's life brought him to Africa where he searched with John Hanning Speke for the source of the Nile (with miserable results) and explored the ethnography of West Africa. Later in life, he served Her Majesty's government, generally with distinction but always with controversy, in South America and Syria. He even made a tour of the western United States to visit the Mormons and indulge his curiosity about polygamy.
As important and interesting as Burton's adventures were, they are all the more so because he wrote about them in great detail. Burton's mind was apparently a open flood gate with ideas and opinions gushing out at a rate that is, like so much of the man, unbelievable. In his Golden Years, too old to adventure, he took to translations of poetry, especially erotica. His presentations of the Arabian Nights and the Kama Sutra to his stuffy contemporaries are enough to make him a hero in my book.
Rice's treatment of Burton is good. I did find myself frequently having to re-read long sentences, trying to decide where the comma or hyphen should have been placed, but once I got used to the pattern, things went smoothly enough. There is copious detail about the people and places and political goings-on while Burton was in India, and, while stuck reading on a plane, I longed for a more detailed map than was provided. Rice's work I found engrossing and his arguments on subjects like Lady Burton, Burton's commitment to Islam and his pre-marital excursions compliment well Brodie's more dated style and conclusions.
Rating:
Summary: Good biography of a fascinating character
Review: Have not read other bios on Burton so I can't compare.However, I disagree with the previous reviewer. The life of Burton was fascinating and Rice does an excellent job.
Rating: 
Summary: Drier than the Sind
Review: I read this book back-to-back with "The Unequalled Self", Claire Tomalin's biography of the 17th-century diarist Samuel Pepys. There is little connecting the two other than they are both biographies of interesting historical figures. But whereas Tomalin's book magnificently brings Pepys to life, Rice's biography of Sir Richard does a good job of mummifying his subject. That he manages to write such a sullen and lumbering screed about one of the most romantic and dashing figures of the 19th century--and surely a model for Ian Fleming's James Bond?--is remarkable. Much should have been left out, not least numerous tangential chapters on secondary characters and esoteric subjects of little interest to the casual reader. The story only becomes interesting when Burton departs for Mecca, and that's over one-hundred pages in. I was also frustrated by the photographs and sketches reproduced in the book, which are of too poor quality to be of interest or use. Maps would have been a much better idea - despite having a relatively good grasp of georgraphy I frequently lost track of Burton's peregrinations. In sum, I would probably give this book four or five stars if I was an academic searching for a historically balanced tome on Burton. But if you are a casual reader, and someone who wants to be excited and inspired by Burton's life, look elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: Drier than the Sind
Review: I read this book back-to-back with "The Unequalled Self", Claire Tomalin's biography of the 17th-century diarist Samuel Pepys. There is little connecting the two other than they are both biographies of interesting historical figures. But whereas Tomalin's book magnificently brings Pepys to life, Rice's biography of Sir Richard does a good job of mummifying his subject. That he manages to write such a sullen and lumbering screed about one of the most romantic and dashing figures of the 19th century--and surely a model for Ian Fleming's James Bond?--is remarkable. Much should have been left out, not least numerous tangential chapters on secondary characters and esoteric subjects of little interest to the casual reader. The story only becomes interesting when Burton departs for Mecca, and that's over one-hundred pages in. I was also frustrated by the photographs and sketches reproduced in the book, which are of too poor quality to be of interest or use. Maps would have been a much better idea - despite having a relatively good grasp of georgraphy I frequently lost track of Burton's peregrinations. In sum, I would probably give this book four or five stars if I was an academic searching for a historically balanced tome on Burton. But if you are a casual reader, and someone who wants to be excited and inspired by Burton's life, look elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: A man who lived five lives worth of adventure
Review: I really enjoyed this biography. I read this book, and kept thinking, this would be the man from the ages to invite to my dinner table for outstanding conversation, the kind which keeps you up until all hours of the night.
Rating:
Summary: A facinating book about a facinating man
Review: Imagin the courage and resourcefulness of James Bond and playing the same game, add the intrepid spirit of a Captain Kirk but with Spocks brain, toss in the spiritual quest of Larry Darrell, the worldly spirit of Indiana Jones, and the libido of John Holmes and you would have a poor shadow of Burton.
Burton spoke some 28 or 29 languages plus dialects, was a spy in india, pakistan ( when it was part of india), and afganistan, travled in Africa seeking the source of the Nile ( a feat that has been compared to going to the moon today ), was the first known european to, by virture of his skill with language and disguise, to enter the mosque in Mecca, the first to enter Harrar in africa, one of the ealiest to argue for the sexual equality and pleasure of women in victorian england, survived a somalie native attack that saw a spear driven through one cheeck and out the other, serched for gold in south america, taveld to utah to write about the Mormens, wrote books on swords manship, history, his travels, held diplomatic posts, and ( probably what people today are most likely to remember him for ) tranlated such eastern works as the Kama Sutra, the Perfumed Garden, and the Arabian Nights. All that without even mentioning his deep study of religion that and the many hindu and islmaic sects that he joined, studied, and advanced in becore continuing his search.
This book is the best researched and most repscfull of the several biographies of this amazing man that I have read. Others skip over or downplay his sexual hijinx ( more prudish today than he was then ) and his religious dabbling ( this seems to be because of the efforts of Burtons wife to both sanitize and christianize him but could also be from a simple desire of british biographers to draw a national hero, even "that devil Burton" as a paragon of honour.) Rice has done extensive research, ( aided by Burtons voluminous writings and translations which were often heavily annotated and footnoted with personal observations and annedotes in the third person) and, not content with just the text, traveled to many places Burton traveled surching for oral history ( even, apparently finding a family of decendents via a naitive morgantic wife in india.) The result is a fine a detailed account of a man of incredible abilities, appitites, and passions that does not skimp on the mortal weaknesses of Burtons fondness for drugs and strong drink. While their are certainly gaps in the record, unlike other biographers, he is quick to state when he is speculating and support that speculation with reasoned explantions.
The only negative factor in this book is, despite the facination of the man, the minutia of his life ( very worthy of inclusion in a scholarly work) can become a bit dry at times and make you want to skip ahead to the next great adventure. Burton, while well know, was not as admired in his day as he deserved ( though I was re-reading ACD's "The Lost World" the other day and it had a young woman pineing for a man like Burton) with the publication of this book and a relatively recent film ( which does take many historical liberties), The Mountains of the Moon, he should never be forgotten. He is a wonderful example of the ideal abilities of man.
Rating:
Summary: A Passionate Pilgrim
Review: In Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton, A Biography, author Edward Rice sets his lens wider than a traditional portrait of the extraordinary nineteenth-century explorer might allow, obliging the judicious reader to crop as desired. Little wonder, though, for these absorbing 600 pages, harnessing a vast array of sources, including the dozens of books pouring from the often prolix pen of Burton himself, depict the life and world of a man who appears to have known few limits.Imposing in appearance and formidable in intellect, at 21 years of age the Englishman, fluent already in French and Italian after youthful years on the Continent, broke off studies at 1840s Oxford, 'a hotbed of toadyism and flunkeyism', to take up a commission with the army of the East India Company. Beginning in Baroda and then posted to Sind, on the lower reaches of the Indus, it was here and in neighbouring states such as Gujarat and the Punjab that he spent much of his seven Indian years imbibing oriental languages and immersing himself in local life and customs while engaged in the region's deadly undercover espionage operations known as the Great Game. His unquenchable thirst for languages, sport, cultures, religions, drink, opium and cannabis, mystical knowledge and sexual wisdom, together with his unrequited lusting after the wealth afforded by diamonds or gold, lasted for much of a life staggering in its boundless curiosity and relentless activity. Disguised as an Arab, and now a practising Muslim, albeit of uncertain religious commitment, he risked his life in making the pilgrimage to Mecca. In the undiscovered darkness of East Africa, he was the first white man to return from a visit to the legendary city of Harar and later penetrated as far as Lake Tanganyika on the first, unsuccessful search for the source of the Nile. During further explorations in Somaliland, Burton's party was attacked and he returned to London to be treated for wounds suffered when a spear pierced both his cheeks, knocked out four teeth and split his palate. Characteristically undeterred, and despite the uncertain relationship this protean adventurer shared with authority, not least his government, soon after marrying at 40 years of age he left his wife behind to take up a three-year posting as British consul in West Africa. In so doing, he unwittingly lost his army commission, forever retaining the modest rank of Captain. This post was followed by similar ones, now with doting spouse, Isabel, a determined personality who did much to obtain him his consulships, in Brazil, Syria and, for the eighteen years until his death in 1890, in Austro-Hungarian Trieste. Far from content exploring only the world around him, from his earliest days on the subcontinent Burton journeyed deep into the personal realms of sex and the soul. In India he had a 'native wife' and indulged voraciously here and elsewhere in countless women, including courtesans and prostitutes. Besides providing sexual adventure, these encounters - on occasion, some maintain, with males - supplemented his long hours of more conventional study, resulting in ability in a phenomenal 29 languages and many dialects. His early days in India saw him initiated into an obscure Brahminical Hindu sect and later into a similarly unorthodox sect of Islam. He was also initiated into Sikhism, although mainly for reasons of political expedience. But it was in Sufism, the esoteric dimension of Islam, that he found greatest appeal, and despite his wavering devotion, he remained Muslim in his sympathies for the rest of his life. Rice offers excellent background information, sometimes inevitably dense with foreign names and words, on the various Asian religions Burton experienced. Originally published on the centenary of Burton's death, this biography reveals a multifaceted character by turns high-spirited, driven, sarcastic, kind, moody, amorous, drunken, brawling, loquacious, jocular, robust, blackguardly and even bitter and angry. For all his worldly experience and exuberant individualism, he was in many respects a product of imperially self-confident and racially proud upper-class Victorian Britain. His prejudices were legion and included a racist belief in white superiority. Ironically, he was dark-skinned for a Caucasian and was often described as having gypsy eyes and the high cheekbones of an Arab. But in a frank view casting light on the imperial milieu he inhabited, while believing enlightened rulers bring progress, he admitted Indians would gladly have rid themselves of the British. Today Burton is probably best remembered for his highly accomplished creative translations of oriental literature. After his decades of collecting source material, these issued in a flood from Trieste, most famously the Arabian Nights, but also the Kama Sutra and other Asian works focused largely on sex. Sadly, similar works, together with all manner of Burton's writings and personal papers, were destroyed immediately after his death. A worshipful Isabel, intent on shaping the immortal image of a husband she had called her Earthly God and King, and at times purportedly directed by an apparition of the dead man himself, burned innumerable documents believed to have been rich in sexual content. But it is in Burton's surviving translations and annotations, in particular his 200-page scholarly Terminal Essay following the Arabian Nights, that Rice finds insight into the soul of a man who considered himself driven by the devil. Although a self-professed, if doubtful, agnostic, and despite his lasting Muslim allegiances, Burton believed undue emphasis on the afterlife caused disruption in this life. From the many Asian faiths he explored, he attempted to fashion a worldly one of his own, a combination of Eastern humanitarianism and the sceptical Western scientific spirit. Like the Sufi, Burton was a true pilgrim. Drawn to the limitless diversity in humanity, perhaps he hoped to approach enlightenment as if by a process of elimination - 'finding every petty race wedded to its own opinions', he might ultimately discover the immutable truth that only exists within. After reading his fascinating life story, one wonders whether in the end he indeed found the exquisite perfection of nothing but 'the whispers of the desert-wind; the tinkling of the camel's bell.'
Rating:
Summary: simurgh
Review: in spite of some slow passages and too much time spent on speke, and isabel for that matter, it is a delightful read. a must for any neophyte or any aspirant to the paths it touches on as well for the adventurous soul. a generous work of no small scholastic achievement
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating, and riveting.
Review: Rice's treatment of Burton's life is extraordinary, and the definitive biography of this man's many lives. If this were a novel the reader would find the narrative impossible. All the more to admire in this biography of one of the most unlikely, curious, and talented characters of the nineteenth century.
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