Adventures of an extraordinary man who went into Africa with his wife whom he had bougt in a Turkish slave market in the Balkans and equaled or surpassed Burton, Livingstone and other better-known explorers. Baker laid the groundworks for Stanley's later expedition to find the source of the Nile; most of his time is spent bribing petty tribal chiefs, hunting, and keeping the locals and the people working for him in check. Baker was unusual in one regard though, he took his wife along with him, probably to make the story more exciting, as she's constantly getting into trouble.