Critical Praise

"Julian Smith, a talented travel writer, evokes Grogan, his adventures and his world with both insight and panache."

—Washington Post

"Like David Grann’s best-selling The Lost City of Z, this is two stories, of an explorer and of the author’s search for him, and both are compelling. Recommended for anyone who has ever been or wants to go on a quest."

—Library Journal

"Though the golden age of exploration is long past, and the blank spots on maps are filled in, Julian Smith’s Crossing the Heart of Africa demonstrates a basic truth about the best travel writers: they arrive at the most interesting and worthwhile destinations when they look not only out at the scenery, but inward as well. His trek across Africa, in the footsteps of Victorian ubermensch Ewart Grogan took grit and persistence. But his journey toward unraveling the mysteries of his own heart required real courage. You’ll be glad to have traveled in his company."

—Oliver Relin, New York Times bestselling co-author of Three Cups of Tea

"In Crossing the Heart of Africa, Julian Smith deftly weaves two stories of love and adventure, his own and that of Ewart Grogan, a 25-year-old Cambridge dropout who dodged cannibals and puff adders on an epic turn-of-the-century trek aimed at wooing his high-born love, Gertrude. As Smith, a reluctant romantic, chases gorillas and Grogan’s ghost across sub-Saharan Africa, also earning worthiness for a love waiting at home, he banishes his demons and spins a charming, wise, and captivating tale.”"

—Dean King, bestselling author of Skeletons on the Zahara