Brokering in colonial exploration: Biographies, geographies and histories

Abstract

The history of exploration has often been thought of as a heroic drama in which the explorer is the principal, sometimes exclusive, protagonist and narrator. This edited volume treats exploration as a collective effort and experience involving a variety of people from across social strata and cultures coming together, sometimes for a sustained time, at others only briefly, in various kinds of relationships and interactions, focusing primarily on the intermediaries - the guides, translators, hosts, labourers and myriad other 'locals' - who became involved.