I consider Candice Millard to be one of America's finest young scholar writers.

Ms.. Millard is a former author and editor for National Geographic.

She grew up in Lexington, Ohio, and is a graduate of Baker University in Baldwin City, Kansas.

Millard earned a master's in literature from Baylor University.

Ms. Millard is the author of four truly amazing books.

Her first book was River of Doubt, which came out in 2005.

It is a history of the Roosevelt-Rondon scientific expedition of the Amazon rainforest in 1913-14.

Mallard's description of Theodore Roosevelt's scientific expedition down the River of Doubt in Brazil, later renamed the Roosevelt River, is a captivating page turner, providing multiple insights into the character and determination, some would say stubbornness of the former president.

This book was a New York Times bestseller.

My large next book was Destiny of the Republic, which came out in 2011.

In 1880, President James Garfield was shot only four months after becoming president.

This assassination attempt shattered the fragile mood of the country, created a behind the scenes struggle for power, and served as a chilling example of archaic and unsanitary medical measures.

This book was also a New York Times best seller.

Winston Churchill was the subject of Millards third book in 2016 entitled Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, A Daring Escape and the Making of Winston Churchill provides a deep dive into the early adventures of this amazing man who, at age 24, was utterly convinced it was his destiny to become Prime Minister of England.

Having devoured and enjoyed her previous books, I was excited to learn of her newest book, which came out in 2022, and I was not disappointed in River of the Gods.

The book is aptly subtitled Genius, Courage, Betrayal and the Search for the Source of the Nile.

And it offers a true and dramatic story of the harsh realities of exploration and discovery in East Africa in the mid 1800s.

Millard worked on River of the Gods for five years and she literally traveled the world and doing her research, much of it done while the world was locked down dealing with the global pandemic.

Her research itinerary included Kenya, Zanzibar, Tanzania, Uganda, the Kingdom of Buganda, Edinburgh, London and Cambridge.

Clearly, this book was thoughtfully and thoroughly researched.

The principal protagonists in this book are Sir Richard Francis Burton, a famed explorer, writer, poet and anthropologist, as well as one of the world's most accomplished linguists.

Speaking more than 25 languages and at least another dozen dialects, John Hanning Speke, whose life as an explorer began in earnest when he met Richard Burton and joined his expedition and Sidi Mubarak Bombay, who served as a principal guide with Burton and Speke.

Bombay also traveled with Henry Morton Stanley to find David Livingstone, and he was considered to be among the most accomplished guides in the history of African exploration at the time of his death, at age 65.

Determined to solve the geographical mystery that had fascinated philosophers and geographers for millennia, finding the source of the White Nile, The Royal Geographical Society sponsored the Burton and Speke Expedition, which covered a period of three years from 1856 to 1859.

It was an expedition of remarkable hardships, life threatening diseases and injuries jealousy, intrigue, success, failure and tragedy.

Tonight, we have focused on the works of Candice Millard, a Kansas resident who is a deserved award winning writer.

I recommend her books to you with my highest praise.

That's our show.

I look forward to our next book chat here on PBS Kansas.

Good night.