Blood River

A masterpiece

John le Carre

A remarkable, fascinating book by a courageous and perceptive writer. One of the most exciting books to emerge from Africa in recent years

Alexander McCall Smith

An intrepid adventure. In making and describing this journey, Tim Butcher has followed in the footsteps of Stanley and Conrad. It takes a lot of guts to yomp through the Congo and he obviously has plenty of those. But it is the wit and passion of the writing which keeps you engrossed

Giles Foden

Blood River represents a remarkable marriage of travelogue and history, which deserves to make Tim Butcher a star for his prose, as well as his courage

Max Hastings

From his adventure he has plundered a wealth of terrific stories, and survived to recite a rosary of unstinting horror

Nicholas Shakespeare, Daily Telegraph

It throws light on a place that lives in such extreme darkness, most of us have lost sight of it completely. In doing so, it reminds us that travel writing can still be exciting, uncompromising and politically relevant

Spectator

It's a fine book, and I greatly enjoyed it. It's a story of the extraordinary courage, tenacity and endurance of two men: H. M. Stanley, and Tim Butcher, who wrote it...a great achievement

John Simpson

This is a terrific book, an adventure story about a journey of great bravery in one of the world's most dangerous places. It keeps the heart beating and the attention fixed from beginning to end

Fergal Keane

Tim Butcher deserves a medal for this crazy feat. I marvel at his courage and his empathy

Thomas Pakenham

Tim Butcher’s book is the latest in a long line, running through Joseph Conrad, Graham Greene, VS Naipaul…his account of a hair-rising trip from east to west, against all advice... is gripping and harshly informative

Sunday Times