**THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER**A compulsively readable account of an African country now virtually inaccessible to the outside world and one journalist's daring and adventurous journey. When war correspondent Tim Butcher was sent to cover Africa in 2000 he quickly became obsessed with the idea of recreating H.M. Stanley's famous nineteenth century trans-Africa expedition - but travelling alone. Despite warnings that his plan was 'suicidal', Butcher set out for the Congo's eastern border with just a rucksack and a few thousand dollars hidden in his boots.