In the first half of the nineteenth century; only a small handful of Westerners had ventured into the regions watered by the Nile River on its long journey from Lake Tana in Abyssinia to the Mediterranean-lands that had been forgotten since Roman times; or had never been known at all. In The Blue Nile; Alan Moorehead continues the classic; thrilling narration of adventure he began in The White Nile; depicting this exotic place through the lives of four explorers so daring they can be considered among the world's original adventurers -- each acting and reacting in separate expeditions against a bewildering background of slavery and massacre; political upheaval and all-out war.
#3669367 in Books 2003-07-08 2003-07-08Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.00 x 1.08 x 5.31l; .76 #File Name: 0060936878480 pages
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. UnbiasedBy ZilinaThis is an excellent investigative and thorough book.It is a very sensitive and emotional subject that has been treated by the authors with tact. John Authers and Richard Wolffe have done an excellent job at remaining unbiased and even handed which cannot be said for some of the other books on the same subject.0 of 2 people found the following review helpful. DisappointingBy Charles M. WyzanskiThis topic is fascinating but deserves a thorough historical and analytical treatment; not a series of often disjointed anecdotes and descriptions of personalities of the moment. I expected more from reporters of the Financial Times.9 of 9 people found the following review helpful. An epic account of an epic struggleBy Walter SnurdThe publisher says "John Authers and Richard Wolffe offer a spellbinding investigative account" of the international struggle to retrieve some of the debts owed to Holocaust victims for more than half a century by bankers; insurers and industrial executives. I rarely agree with a publisher's endorsement of abook but in the case of "The Victim"s Fortune" I can only agree with the judgement.The authors meticulously give their sources for what participants say and do; and; by having visited many of the major protagonists are able to sketch accurate and very lively pen-pictures not only of people but of locations: there are 45 pages of notes and sources and a full index - the general reader may not need them but they are there to reinforce the veracity of the account.It would have been easy to have been less than even-handed to some of the powerful characters encountered in the book: it is a tribute to the authors that they maintain an even keel while charting the reader through a variety of events which could easily have seemed an incoherent maelstrom. The story starts in 1995 and culminates in June 2001 when payments of $5000 begin to be made to the dwindling band of holocaust survivors. The six years saw the involvement of a swathe of characters; from Jewish leaders; lawyers; bankers; insurers; judges; to President Clinton and Christoph Meili; a security guard at UBS who found in the course of his patrol that key documents had been put ready in the shredding room. In return for his whistle-blowing he had to flee his native Switzerland when he received death threats and warnings that his children would be kidnapped; and make a home in USA; the first Swiss citizen ever to seek asylum there on grounds of political persecution.It is a roller-coaster of a book with new; well-defined and important characters arriving in most chapters. It is a fascinating read both for the issues involved and the egos on display. I have only had time to read the book once and will certainly do so again. It is no exaggeration to refer to the epic battle over the debts of the holocaust: I am profoundly grateful to the authors for opening my eyes to the reality of how deals get made; who truly benefits in such a tangled web. Lawyers; companies; governments even; had their own agenda: the payment was too little; too late; to quote one former slave-labourer "if it had been earlier or larger; it would have been no more moral".This book is a triumph and deserves to be widely read.
