River Road to China

The Mekong River was a source of mystery, danger and opportunity for centuries. In 1866, six Frenchmen decided that the time had come to solve the great river's secrets and they embarked on a two-year journey through 4000 miles of previously unmapped territory.


A New York Times Notable Book of the Year


'A compelling, finely researched account of an adventure that was hailed as one of the grandest explorations of the nineteenth century.' -The Washington Post


In the mid-nineteenth century, no one in the Western world knew the full course, or indeed the source, of the great Mekong River. In 1866, however, six Frenchmen set out with an expedition to seek a trade route up the Mekong into China.


In the era of great European expeditions in Africa by men such as Burton and Speke, this was judged on its conclusion to be 'the happiest and most complete of the nineteenth century', and Garnier shared an award with Livingstone. It was also a story of courage, endurance and tragedy. Great obstacles were overcome by disease-weakened men as they travelled up the river. During two years they mapped over 4,000 miles of previously unsurveyed territory, as their journey took them from Saigon, Phnom Penh, and the tropical heat of Vietnam and Cambodia to the bitter cold of the mountains of southwestern China.


It is a stirring and epic story, enhanced not only by the excitement of the events, but also by the readability and drive of Dr Osborne's narrative and his academic and first-hand knowledge of Southeast Asia. This edition, only the second in twenty years, includes a new postscript by the author and features a new selection of original illustrations of the expedition by its artists, Louis Delaporte.


'[The] party's advance up on the Mekong is the highest of high adventure. ... [Osborne's] documentation is flawless.' -The New Yorker


'As exciting as it is historically illuminating ... A tale of heroism that has seldom been duplicated, spurred by the continuing, fatal attraction of the "Great River."' -The New Republic 


'With personalities writ large and exploits gruesome enough to satisfy the most jaded tourist ... Osborne introduces us to a party of French explorers whose attempt to follow the Mekong to its source should rank them with Livingston and Burton.' -The New York Times Book Review