Archaeologist and writer Neil Oliver follows in the footsteps of four Scottish explorers. Today, he travels down the Zambesi river to reveal how David Livingstone took the faith of his nation to the ends of the earth and exploited his celebrity to end the slave trade. His was a moral mission: to reshape British values and bring commerce, Christianity and civilisation to the African continent.
Following in the footsteps of a scientific explorer who has become all but lost to history, Neil charts the remarkable story of William Speirs Bruce, one of Britain's greatest, but least-known, explorers. Bruce set out to conquer Antarctica, not for imperial glory, but to advance scientific knowledge in an era when exploration had become harnessed to national prestige.
Neil Oliver recounts the life of John Muir, who was instrumental to the modern conservation movement and one of the founders of America's National Park movement.
Neil Oliver follows in the footsteps of four Scottish explorers who planted ideas rather than flags - ideas that shaped the modern world we know today. In the last of the series, Neil travels to Japan to uncover the extraordinary story of Thomas Blake Glover. Blending adventure with commerce, Glover was a rogue trader who helped rebel samurai clans overthrow the shogun and lay the foundations for one of the most aggressive and powerful economies in the world.
