Books by Dane Kennedy

The challenge of opening Africa and Australia to British imperial influence fell to a coterie of proto-professional explorers who sought knowledge, adventure, and fame but often experienced confusion, fear, and failure. The Last Blank Spaces follows the arc of these explorations, from idea to practice, intention to outcome, myth to reality.

Though best known as an adventurer who entered Mecca in disguise and sought the source of the White Nile, Richard Burton contributed so forcefully to his generation that he provides us with a singularly panoramic perspective of the Victorian world. This book is an important contribution to our understanding of a remarkable man and a crucial era.

Focusing on Britain and her Empire, this survey provides an introduction for readers coming to the subject for the first time. It covers the economics and politics of expansion, and the social and cultural impact of the Empire.