Thus, Livingstone was already celebrated when he arrived home in 1856 and that celebrity was more than confirmed by the publication of his Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa in 1857, for it is a truly remarkable book, excitingly written not least for its powerful descriptions of the African landscape, full of observations on the geology, meteorology, hydrology, philology, anthropology, and botany of Africa, sometimes amusing, often sentimental, strikingly free of racism, immensely valuable even without its inevitable overlay of natural theology and evangelical religious purpose. Not least it is impressive for its respect for indigenous knowledge, for the efforts of its author to learn from the peoples among whom he travelled.