Dr Czech strayed from writing his bibliographies to penning a fictional account of Samuel and Florence Baker. Sam was an English explorer, who was given credit (among other things) of finding a source of the Nile, Lake Albert, in the 19th century. What is interesting, is that before Sam went on this African expedition, he made a sporting trip to the Ottoman Empire and purchased a woman, Florence von Sass in a slave market. This Hungarian woman ended up being his Africa travel companion and later his wife. The reader will wonder how all their trials and tribulations could be true, but this story is all based on historical fact, fictionalized by an expert of the Baker's and this time period.
Without giving away too much of this fast-paced adventure, just some of the incidents the Baker's found themselves were being chased by slavers, elephant hunting, ravaged by fevers, escaping floods and a leopard Prince, and shooting buffalo. Meeting other historical characters of the period also helped to make the story interesting.
The characters were well developed too, showing their strengths and weaknesses. One scene I thought was really well done was when Florence was sick with a fever and Sam, who was in an exhausted state from helping her, envisioned his four children from his previous marriage speaking to him asking him to come home. Talking about the romance element of this story, I felt Dr Czech handled it very well. It was not over done, but you knew how Sam and Florence felt towards each other and Sam's struggles of the values of 19th century England.
Finally, there are only two other things I need to say about this book. First, the editing was excellent for a privately printed book. I do not think I found even one mis-spelled word and as Dr Czech is an exceptional writer, the story flowed well. Second, the book leaves the reader wanting Dr Czech to finish the story of Sam and Florence. I hope a second volume is in the works!!! Well done!!!
EUR 2.56 with 82 percent savings
Print List Price: EUR 14.51 
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