---
product_id: 2591513
title: "Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton: A Biography"
price: "₨16356"
currency: LKR
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 10
url: https://www.desertcart.lk/products/2591513-captain-sir-richard-francis-burton-a-biography
store_origin: LK
region: Sri Lanka
---

# Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton: A Biography

**Price:** ₨16356
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## Description

Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton: A Biography [Rice, Edward] on desertcart.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton: A Biography

Review: Definitive Biography of Fascinating Man - My interest in Richard Francis Burton arose from my encounter with "The Book of 1,000 Nights and One Night" otherwise known as "The Arabian Nights". I wanted to learn more about the man who had done one of the several translations of this enormous and wonderful collection of stories into English. While this is the only biography about Richard Burton that I have read, I get the sense from having read it and from other reviews that it is now the definitive biography about him. The reason for this is that Edward Rice comprehensively covers the adventures but also the intellectual and spiritual development and accomplishments of his subject, all of which were multitudinous. The man traveled all over the world and wrote over 40 books while doing so. And many of these books were long multi-volume works. And he did this in the 19th century without any modern technology. And that wasn't even all he accomplished. The man was truly amazing. While this biography has an average rating of 4.5 stars, it is clear that some readers have not really liked the book. Some have complained about too many digressions and too much detail. I suspect that this is due to Rice's coverage of the intellectual and spiritual aspects of Burton's life beyond his more physical adventures. I don't mean this in a condescending way; but someone who had heard that Burton was a famous adventurer and explorer could easily view the other material as digressive. For my part, I found it all very interesting. I think the extra material makes Burton a more interesting person. It also gives you a sense of how different he was from his contemporaries. While other Europeans were also explorers, most remained intrinsically western during their adventures. In contrast, Burton embraced the cultural and spiritual beliefs of the peoples he encountered and gained a better understanding of them for it.
Review: epic - This was an incredible biography, which was much better than Byron Farewell's much dryer work. This version- all 500 pages of it- reads like an epic novel, full of mind twists and adventures. Picture emerges Burton the what he was, a towering intellectual, an intrepid explorer. A compulsive writer who churned out massively detailed works between his exploits of discovery in the wilds of India, Arabia, and Black Africa, scandalizing Victorian England mostly by his views on female sexual liberation (he translated the Kama Sutra) or to the superiority of Islam over Pauline Christianity- although Rice mistakenly concluded that Burton was a faithful convert to this religion for most of his life (he seems rather to have been a confirmed skeptic). In an age of hypocrisy, he certainly stands out as a not afraid to speak his mind- and he had a lot of opinions.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #283,272 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #318 in Historical British Biographies #1,030 in Traveler & Explorer Biographies #6,939 in Memoirs (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars (128) |
| Dimensions  | 5.65 x 2.4 x 8.5 inches |
| Edition  | reprint |
| ISBN-10  | 030681028X |
| ISBN-13  | 978-0306810282 |
| Item Weight  | 1.75 pounds |
| Language  | English |
| Print length  | 664 pages |
| Publication date  | June 1, 2001 |
| Publisher  | Grand Central Publishing |

## Images

![Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton: A Biography - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81Pg7gEswqL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Definitive Biography of Fascinating Man
*by R***D on February 20, 2009*

My interest in Richard Francis Burton arose from my encounter with "The Book of 1,000 Nights and One Night" otherwise known as "The Arabian Nights". I wanted to learn more about the man who had done one of the several translations of this enormous and wonderful collection of stories into English. While this is the only biography about Richard Burton that I have read, I get the sense from having read it and from other reviews that it is now the definitive biography about him. The reason for this is that Edward Rice comprehensively covers the adventures but also the intellectual and spiritual development and accomplishments of his subject, all of which were multitudinous. The man traveled all over the world and wrote over 40 books while doing so. And many of these books were long multi-volume works. And he did this in the 19th century without any modern technology. And that wasn't even all he accomplished. The man was truly amazing. While this biography has an average rating of 4.5 stars, it is clear that some readers have not really liked the book. Some have complained about too many digressions and too much detail. I suspect that this is due to Rice's coverage of the intellectual and spiritual aspects of Burton's life beyond his more physical adventures. I don't mean this in a condescending way; but someone who had heard that Burton was a famous adventurer and explorer could easily view the other material as digressive. For my part, I found it all very interesting. I think the extra material makes Burton a more interesting person. It also gives you a sense of how different he was from his contemporaries. While other Europeans were also explorers, most remained intrinsically western during their adventures. In contrast, Burton embraced the cultural and spiritual beliefs of the peoples he encountered and gained a better understanding of them for it.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ epic
*by M***R on July 31, 2005*

This was an incredible biography, which was much better than Byron Farewell's much dryer work. This version- all 500 pages of it- reads like an epic novel, full of mind twists and adventures. Picture emerges Burton the what he was, a towering intellectual, an intrepid explorer. A compulsive writer who churned out massively detailed works between his exploits of discovery in the wilds of India, Arabia, and Black Africa, scandalizing Victorian England mostly by his views on female sexual liberation (he translated the Kama Sutra) or to the superiority of Islam over Pauline Christianity- although Rice mistakenly concluded that Burton was a faithful convert to this religion for most of his life (he seems rather to have been a confirmed skeptic). In an age of hypocrisy, he certainly stands out as a not afraid to speak his mind- and he had a lot of opinions.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Definitely Worth the Read
*by A***R on November 28, 2015*

I first discovered Sir Richard Francis Burton when seeing his Arabian tent tomb in Mortlake, London. Felt like it was the coolest thing that I saw in London. Arriving home I started researching the man. That is when I bought this book. It is fascinating to read about him., His adventures, discoveries, accomplishments and views of life and love. I highly recommend this book. I have found one movie about him discovering the source of the Nile, but many more movies could be made about the different aspects of his life. I was shocked to discover that he came to America to learn about Mormonism. Really?

## Frequently Bought Together

- Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton: A Biography
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*Product available on Desertcart Sri Lanka*
*Store origin: LK*
*Last updated: 2026-03-19*