Between Man and Beast: An Unlikely Explorer, the Evolution Debates, and the African Adventure that Took the Victorian World by Storm

In 1856, Paul Du Chaillu traveled deep into the wilderness of Gabon in search of its mysterious and elusive inhabitant, the gorilla. Poor and without a noted family heritage, Du Chaillu hoped that undertaking this extraordinarily dangerous expedition and bringing back evidence of his encounters with this believed ferocious monster would lead to his acceptance in the scientific community. At the same time, Charles Darwin was completing On the Origin of Species, and when Du Chaillu returned to London, the topic of gorillas had begun to turn up in discussions of human evolution. Rumors began to circulate about Du Chaillu's credibility, and whether or not he really ever confronted gorillas in the wild. In order to respond to these attacks, Du Chaillu left on a second gorilla expedition to Gabon, one better equipped and with the intention of true scientific documentation. This is a fascinating look back at the Victorian Age, filled with wonderment at discoveries we now take for granted. Bob Walter inspires a sense of the Victorian era with his excellent narration.