author
Fred Burnaby
1842–1885
An oversized Victorian adventurer with a taste for danger, he became famous for daring journeys, balloon flights, and battlefield courage. His books turned real exploits into lively travel reading that still carries the thrill of the era.
1 Audiobook
On Horseback Through Asia Minor, Volume 1 (of 2)
by Fred Burnaby
About the author
Born in Bedford in 1842, Frederick Gustavus Burnaby was a British Army officer who joined the Royal Horse Guards while still very young. He became known not just as a soldier but as a larger-than-life public figure: tall, fearless, fluent in several languages, and always drawn to difficult journeys.
Burnaby won wide attention in the 1870s through his travels in Russia, Central Asia, and Asia Minor, and through spectacular balloon ascents at a time when flight itself still felt astonishing. He wrote popular books based on these adventures, including A Ride to Khiva and On Horseback Through Asia Minor, bringing distant places and political tensions to Victorian readers in a vivid, first-hand style.
His life ended in military service when he was killed at the Battle of Abu Klea in Sudan on January 17, 1885. Even in his own time he was remembered as a bold, restless character who seemed made for action, and that mix of travel writer, showman, and soldier still makes him stand out today.