Candice Millard

Magic City Books is proud to welcome back best-selling author and historian, Candice Millard, for an exclusive, in-person program to celebrate her new book, River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile. Millard is the author of the best-selling books; The River of Doubt, Destiny of the Republic, and Hero of the Empire.

For millennia the location of the Nile River’s headwaters was shrouded in mystery. In the 19th century, there was a frenzy of interest in ancient Egypt. At the same time, European powers sent off waves of explorations intended to map the unknown corners of the globe – and extend their colonial empires.

In River of the Gods Candice Millard has written another peerless story of courage and adventure, set against the backdrop of the race to exploit Africa by the colonial powers.

Tickets on sale!

Each ticket includes one (1) copy of River of the Gods and one (1) seat at the event on Thursday May 19, 2022.

Up to four (4) tickets may be purchased per transaction. Please provide the full name and email address of each ticket holder so that all event notifications and information can be sent to all attendees.

The event will be hosted in the Algonquin Room at Magic City Books, 221 E. Archer Street in downtown Tulsa. Tickets will be required to attend the event.

Books will be available to pick up at Magic City Books starting on May 17 and will be available at the event.

If you have a ticket and are unable to attend the event, you will be able to pick up your book at Magic City Books during normal business hours. The last day for ticket holders to pick up River of the Gods by Candice Millard is Friday, July 1, 2022. We will make an effort to have signed books available for pick up but can not guarantee a signed copy.

About River of the Gods:

The harrowing story of one of the great feats of exploration of all time and its complicated legacy–from the New York Times bestselling author of The River of Doubt and Destiny of the Republic.

For millennia the location of the Nile River’s headwaters was shrouded in mystery. In the 19th century, there was a frenzy of interest in ancient Egypt. At the same time, European powers sent off waves of explorations intended to map the unknown corners of the globe – and extend their colonial empires.

Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke were sent by the Royal Geographical Society to claim the prize for England. Burton spoke twenty-nine languages, and was a decorated soldier. He was also mercurial, subtle, and an iconoclastic atheist. Speke was a young aristocrat and Army officer determined to make his mark, passionate about hunting, Burton’s opposite in temperament and beliefs.

From the start the two men clashed. They would endure tremendous hardships, illness, and constant setbacks. Two years in, deep in the African interior, Burton became too sick to press on, but Speke did, and claimed he found the source in a great lake that he christened Lake Victoria. When they returned to England, Speke rushed to take credit, disparaging Burton. Burton disputed his claim, and Speke launched another expedition to Africa to prove it. The two became venomous enemies, with the public siding with the more charismatic Burton, to Speke’s great envy. The day before they were to publicly debate, Speke shot himself.

Yet there was a third man on both expeditions, his name obscured by imperial annals, whose exploits were even more extraordinary. This was Sidi Mubarak Bombay, who was enslaved and shipped from his home village in East Africa to India. When the man who purchased him died, he made his way into the local Sultan’s army, and eventually traveled back to Africa, where he used his resourcefulness, linguistic prowess and raw courage to forge a living as a guide. Without Bombay and men like him, who led, carried, and protected the expedition, neither Englishman would have come close to the headwaters of the Nile, or perhaps even survived.

In River of the Gods Candice Millard has written another peerless story of courage and adventure, set against the backdrop of the race to exploit Africa by the colonial powers.

Candice Millard is the author of the New York Times bestsellers The River of Doubt, Destiny of the Republic, and Hero of the Empire. She lives in Kansas City, Kansas, with her husband and three children.