“A compelling, finely researched account of an adventure that was hailed as one of the grandest explorations of the nineteenth century.” —The Washington Post A New York Times Notable Book In 1866, six Frenchmen set out on a dangerous mission to seek a trade route up the Mekong. During the two years that followed, they would journey through more than four thousand miles of unmapped territory, from the tropical heat of the swamps of Vietnam and Cambodia to the bitter cold of the mountain ranges of southwestern China. Their historic expedition is the dramatic subject of River Road to China, a story of courage, endurance, and determination in the face of unpredictable dangers and near-insurmountable odds. This edition has been updated to include a new postscript by the author and more than thirty full-color illustrations by the expedition’s artist. “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
