Sindh Revisited: A Journey in the Footsteps of Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton 1842-1849 : The India Years

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Since reading a biography of him more than 25 years ago, Christopher Ondaatje has been fascinated with the still-enigmatic Sir Richard Francis Burton, 19th-century explorer, scholar, poet and British secret agent. With his dashing dark and sensual looks, towering physical presence and razor-sharp tongue, Richard Burton could have been invented by a Victorian novelist -- but he was very real, accomplishing an amazing range of intellectual and physical exploits. From his discovery and translation of the Kama Sutra, to his exploration of the source of the Nile, to his pilgrimage to Mecca, and his widely known beliefs on female sexuality, Burton was the star -- and scandal -- of the Victorian age.

Despite the presence of several biographies on Burton, Ondaatje believed there were large gaps in the startling drama that was the explorer's life. Sindh Revisited is the author's account of his personal and physical quest to uncover the secrets of the early life of Richard Burton, and to discover the "devil" that drove this brilliant and restless adventurer.

Ondaatje began his quest in Bombay, trying to discover' what it was about India (ha changed Richard Burton from a rebellious wayward youth into a man of courage, imagination, wisdom and power. His retracing of Burton's travel, through India is a passionate and richly layered meeting of past and present, magnificently illustrated with full cole photographs and historical illustrations.The result is not just a simple biography, but an account of a man's psychological and philosophical journey in search of answers the have long mystified biographers and historians.

Christopher Ondaatje and Sir Richard Burton are kindred spirits; theintersection of their lives makes for wholly absorbing reading.