David Livingstone: Missionary, Explorer, Abolitionist

Award of Distinction in the Missions & Global Church category of The Gospel Coalition's 2023 Book Awards

David Livingstone was one of the most consequential individuals who lived in the nineteenth century. An unpretentious Scottish missionary doctor, explorer and abolitionist, he opened the door for Christianity in southern Africa. Vance Christie’s biography is the most comprehensive and accurate ever written about Livingstone.

During his lifetime he was a hero in Britain and beyond, and gained a degree of respect, trust, appreciation and even affection with many African people. He was a man who overcame many deprivations and discouragements, and displayed the utmost measure of courage, self–control, faith, wisdom and ingenuity. Christie takes a balanced look at Livingstone’s amazing achievements, but also at his very real flaws. This gripping in–depth biography is a must–read insight into a fascinating man.

768 pages.

View excerpt here.

Comprehensive and judicious, intended for edification, it is now the best place to start for people looking for a detailed description of this titan’s life and work interpreted in relation to the history of the modern British Empire and Western colonialism.

Douglas A. Sweeney, Dean, Beeson Divinity School, Samford University, Birmingham, Alabama

I thank God for this fresh biography of David Livingstone, the pioneering missionary explorer of central Africa. He died in 1873 and his heart was buried in Zambia. On the centenary of his death, Zambians held commemorative events in several stadia in honour of this man. Also, the only town in Zambia that remains with a foreign name after its political independence from Great Britain is Livingstone. If you want to understand why a people who were once steeped in spiritual darkness should honour a Christian missionary in this way, read this definitive biography! 

Conrad Mbewe, Pastor, Kabwata Baptist Church, Kabwata, Zambia; Founding Chancellor, African Christian University, Lusaka, Zambia