Livingstone's 'lives'

<p>David Livingstone the 'missionary-explorer' has attracted more commentary than nearly any other Victorian hero. Beginning in the years following his death he soon became the subject of a major biographical tradition. Yet out of this extensive discourse no unified image of Livingstone emerges. Rather he has been represented in diverse ways and in a variety of socio-political contexts. <br><br>Until now no one has explored Livingstone's posthumous reputation in full. This book meets the challenge. In approaching Livingstone's complex legacy it adopts a metabiographical perspective: in other words this book is a biography of biographies. Rather than trying to uncover the true nature of the subject metabiography is concerned with the malleability of biographical representation. It does not aim to uncover Livingstone's 'real' identity but instead asks: what has he been made to mean? <br><br>Crossing disciplinary boundaries Livingstone's 'lives' will interest scholars of imperial history postcolonialism life-writing travel-writing and Victorian studies.</p>