Hunting the Assassin Who Brought the World to War

The Trigger

The Hunt for Gavrilo Princip - the Assassin who Brought the World to War

A trek through the Balkans, an exploration of the life of an assassin (the teenager who killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand and so triggered the First World War), and a journey into the history of this complex and fascinating part of the world...

The most original of First World War centenary books; it is a travel narrative of rare resonance and insight

Superb... Highly readable but profoundly researched

A triumph… A marvellously absorbing book on the nature of one man’s political grievance and its terrible aftermath

The most imaginative and singular book on the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War to date... This is expeditionary journalism at its best – a historical inquest radiated through the mind and experience of an outstanding reporter

A masterpiece of historical empathy and evocation... This book is a tour de force

A fascinating study of one of those rare individuals whose act of violence changed the history of the world. An incisive, shrewd, wholly compelling investigation of an assassin’s life and times

A fabulous book that all First World War historians will now have to take account of… Superb

A splendid book. It takes its place among classics of Balkan history

Tim Butcher goes from strength to strength. I enjoyed every paragraph

Insightful, useful and delightfully written… A great book – one to be recommended to professional and amateur historian alike

General Sir David Richards, former Chief of the Defence Staff

This is first class history and in a year swamped with First World War centenary books, it’s the one you should read first

A compelling and fascinating read...a shadowy assassin brought to life by an writer who gets to grips with a century of Balkan intrigue

A marvellously absorbing book... A triumph of research, it will appeal to the layman and historian alike

Extremely well written, taut and evocative... Despite its complex subject, Butcher makes this an easy and engaging read with his breezy style and fascinating encounters

Illuminating... Butcher achieves something remarkable with Princip. He promotes him quite plausibly from mad man to everyman; a warning to the future whom the future foolishly forgot

Arguably the most important story of the war

As a travel writer, Butcher takes some beating. He packs balls as well as ballpoints

A triumph of storytelling... [A] highly original gem of a book

A page-turning exploration of how the forgotten past continues to inform the present... Important, and relevant

[Princip’s] story as Butcher now tells it has a resonance far beyond the Balkans

Elegant, horrifying and enlightening… A book which is not only a good piece of detective work, it is the finest contribution so far this year to the rapidly expanding literature on the Great War

Tim Butcher has produced the most imaginative and singular book on the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War to date. It is a lot more than a study of Princip… It is a piece of expeditionary journalism, an investigation in time, place and spirit, of the highest order

A revealing insight into the mind and journey of the boy who escaped the narrow confines of his village, and whose political aspirations for his native country had such far-reaching effects on the world

Utterly absorbing… If journalism is the first draft of history, Butcher marries both disciplines with boldness and originality – as well as sympathy for his shadowy subject

Insightful and entertaining, this blows the cobwebs off the history of that day

Positive proof that fact can be as gripping as fiction…rich and timely… Amongst so many books published around the anniversary of the First World War, this one stands out

A fascinating investigation… An absorbing read

Despite its serious subject matter, the book is a rollicking read, full of amusing details and sarcastic humour

A brilliant and haunting journey through the Balkans

In the centenary year of the death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, what better read than Tim Butcher’s The Trigger

Highly readable but profoundly researched, The Trigger represents a bold exception to the deluge of First World War books devoted to mud, blood and poetry

a fascinating original portrait of a man and his country

Tim Butcher is a best-selling author who blends travel with history. His first book, Blood River, was a number one bestseller, a Richard &amp; Judy Book Club selection and was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize, while his next, Chasing the Devil, was longlisted for the George Orwell Prize. A journalist with the Daily Telegraph from 1990 to 2009, in 2010 he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Northampton for services to writing. Born in Great Britain, he is based in Cape Town with his family.

‘The most original of First World War centenary books; it is a travel narrative of rare resonance and insight’ Sunday Times 
 
On a summer morning in 1914, a teenage assassin fired the starting gun for modern history. 
 
 It was a young teenage boy named Gavrilo Princip who fired that fateful shot which killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo and ultimately ignited World War War. A hundred years later, Tim Butcher undertakes an extraordinary journey to uncover the story of this unknown boy who changed our world forever. By retracing Princip’s journey from his highland birthplace, through the mythical valleys of Bosnia to the fortress city of Belgrade and ultimately Sarajevo, he illuminates our understanding both of Princip and the places that shaped him while uncovering details about Princip which have eluded historians for more than a century. 
 
‘A masterpiece of historical empathy and evocation...This book is a tour de force’ Guardian

On Foot Through Africa's Killing Fields

Chasing the Devil

The bestselling author of Blood River is back with a second thrilling adventure, illuminating the war-torn, complex and forbidding region of Sierra Leone and Liberia

Engaging...descriptions of walking through the bush, of sweltering heat, sweat and swelling blisters are juxtaposed against moments of beauty...a test of endurance

A brave book by a writer of skill and principle... He exposes the toxic cocktail of colonial exploitation, tribal conflict, ritual violence and blood diamonds that spits out regional monsrosities such as Charles Taylor... an admirable book

Tim Butcher has a respect and affection for West Africa that is genuine and touching, writing in a way that brings out the exuberance and wit of its people. This book is required reading for anyone even vaguely interested in this remote and enigmatic region

Butcher is really a Victorian explorer and writer endowed with the sterling grit of that age... He is tough and he's honest

Butcher's book is packed with incident... fascinating, harrowing and eventful

An inspirational account of humanity's wonderful spirit to survive

This is a very fine, very depressing, travel book

This an engaging, well-written book. Anyone who enjoyed Blood River will enjoy this. The narrative skilfully interweaves Greene's experiences with that of the author and the history and the anthropology of the territory through which he is passing

The unflinching descriptions of the horrors of the recent wars in both countries are hard to shake from the mind.

A clear-sighted view of the recent atrocities in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

A multi-layered and thought-provoking account of the attractions of danger and his encounters with the devastation of ritual violence, child soldiers, blood diamonds and the "devil" guarding remote jungle communities

Butcher's research, combined with the inescapable fact that not a lot is widely known in the west about the place, makes for a fairly entertaining read as the author, his companion and two guides stay faithful to Greene's trek, hacking and plodding along this 350-mile path. This is a well-written account of an unusual adventure, even if the "killing fields" seem a long way away

Butcher's travelogue is a mix of nervous adventuring through a landscape littered with shell casings, and historical assessment peppered with Greeniana. Sobering and illuminating

'Chasing the Devil is an adventure story, complete with swinging rope bridges, murderous chimpanzees, deathly diseases, heart-eating cannibals and the shadowy omnipotence of the "village devil" '

For many years war made Sierra Leone and Liberia too dangerous for outsiders to travel through. Facing down demons from his time in Africa as a journalist, Tim Butcher heads deep into this combat zone, encountering the devastation wrought by lawless militia, child soldiers, brutal violence, blood diamonds and masked figures who guard the spiritual secrets of remote jungle communities. 
 
On an epic journey that demands courage, doggedness and sheer luck, Butcher treks for 350 blistering miles through rainforest and malarial swamps to gain an extraordinary ground-level view of an overlooked region on the cusp of a remarkable recovery.

The Search for Africa's Fighting Spirit

The bestselling author of Blood River ventures into Sierra Leone and Liberia in the footsteps of Graham Greene... Travelogue, history and audacious adventure.

From blood diamonds to child soldiers, with a little ritual cannibalism and a few dancing devils thrown into the mix, this is an eye-opening read.

Chasing the Devil is a brave and fascinating successor to the bestselling Blood River.

For many years Sierra Leone and Liberia have been too dangerous to travel through, bedevilled by a uniquely brutal form of violence from which sprang many of Africa's cruellest contemporary icons - child soldiers, prisoner mutilation, blood diamonds. With their wars officially over, Tim Butcher sets out on a journey across both countries, trekking for 350 miles through remote rainforest and malarial swamps. Just as he followed H M Stanley through the Congo - a journey described in his bestseller Blood River - this time he pursues a trail blazed by Graham Greene in 1935 and immortalised in the travel classic Journey Without Maps. Greene took 26 bearers, a case of scotch, and hammocks in which he and his cousin Barbara were carried. Tim walks every blistering inch to gain an extraordinary ground-level view of a troubled and overlooked region. 
 
As a journalist in Africa, Tim came to know both countries well although the wars made trips to the jungle hinterland far too risky. This is where he now heads, exploring how rebel groups thrived in the bush for so long and whether the devil of war has truly been chased away. He encounters other 'devils', masked figures guarding the spiritual secrets of jungle communities. Some are no more threatening than schoolmasters but others are much more sinister, relying on ritual cannibalism as a source of their magical power. Tim encounters these devils on an epic journey that demands courage, doggedness and good fortune. 
 
Chasing the Devil is a dramatic travel book touching on one of the most fraught parts of the globe at a unique moment in its history. Weaving history and anthropology with personal narrative - as well as new discoveries about Greene - it is as exciting as it is enlightening.

Because I am a Girl

EIGHT AUTHORS, EIGHT COUNTRIES, EIGHT UNFORGETTABLE STORIES

Edgy and bold...not your standard do-good, feel-good collection at all

Because I am a girl I am less likely to go to school 
Because I am a girl I am more likely to suffer from malnutrition 
Because I am a girl I am more likely to suffer violence in the home 
Because I am a girl I am more likely to marry and start a family before I reach my twenties. 
 
Eight authors have visited eight different countries and spoken to young women and girls about their lives, struggles and hopes. The result is an extraordinary collection of writings about prejudice, abuse, and neglect, but also about courage, resilience and changing attitudes. 
 
Proceeds from sales of this book will go to PLAN, one of the world's largest child-centered community development organisations.

A Journey to Africa's Broken Heart

Blood River

A compulsively readable account of an African country now virtually inaccessible to the outside world and one journalist's daring and adventurous journey.

A remarkable, fascinating book by a courageous and perceptive writer. One of the most exciting books to emerge from Africa in recent years

An intrepid adventure. In making and describing this journey, Tim Butcher has followed in the footsteps of Stanley and Conrad. It takes a lot of guts to yomp through the Congo and he obviously has plenty of those. But it is the wit and passion of the writing which keeps you engrossed

This is a terrific book, an adventure story about a journey of great bravery in one of the world's most dangerous places. It keeps the heart beating and the attention fixed from beginning to end

Tim Butcher deserves a medal for this crazy feat. I marvel at his courage and his empathy

Blood River represents a remarkable marriage of travelogue and history, which deserves to make Tim Butcher a star for his prose, as well as his courage

It's a fine book, and I greatly enjoyed it. It's a story of the extraordinary courage, tenacity and endurance of two men: H. M. Stanley, and Tim Butcher, who wrote it...a great achievement

From his adventure he has plundered a wealth of terrific stories, and survived to recite a rosary of unstinting horror

It throws light on a place that lives in such extreme darkness, most of us have lost sight of it completely. In doing so, it reminds us that travel writing can still be exciting, uncompromising and politically relevant

Tim Butcher’s book is the latest in a long line, running through Joseph Conrad, Graham Greene, VS Naipaul…his account of a hair-rising trip from east to west, against all advice... is gripping and harshly informative

**THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER** 
 
A compulsively readable account of an African country now virtually inaccessible to the outside world and one journalist's daring and adventurous journey. 
 
When war correspondent Tim Butcher was sent to cover Africa in 2000 he quickly became obsessed with the idea of recreating H.M. Stanley's famous nineteenth century trans-Africa expedition - but travelling alone. 
 
 Despite warnings that his plan was 'suicidal', Butcher set out for the Congo's eastern border with just a rucksack and a few thousand dollars hidden in his boots. Making his way in an assortment of vessels including a motorbike and a dugout canoe, helped along by a cast of unlikely characters, he followed in the footsteps of the great Victorian adventurers. 
 
 Butcher's journey was a remarkable feat, but the story of the Congo, told expertly and vividly in this book, is more remarkable still. 
 
‘A masterpiece’ John Le Carré 
 
‘Extraordinary, audacious, completely enthralling’ William Boyd 
 
‘A remarkable marriage of travelogue and history, which deserves to make Tim Butcher a star for his prose, as well as his courage’ Max Hastings

Tim Butcher

A remarkable, fascinating book by a courageous and perceptive writer. One of the most exciting books to emerge from Africa in recent years

An intrepid adventure. In making and describing this journey, Tim Butcher has followed in the footsteps of Stanley and Conrad. It takes a lot of guts to yomp through the Congo and he obviously has plenty of those. But it is the wit and passion of the writing which keeps you engrossed

Blood River represents a remarkable marriage of travelogue and history, which deserves to make Tim Butcher a star for his prose, as well as his courage

A story of the extraordinary courage, tenacity and endurance of two men: H. M. Stanley, and Tim Butcher...a great achievement.

A Journey to Africa's Broken Heart (Vintage Voyages)

A compulsively readable account of an African country now virtually inaccessible to the outside world and one journalist's daring and adventurous journey. 
 
When Daily Telegraph correspondent Tim Butcher was sent to cover Africa he quickly became obsessed with the idea of recreating H.M. Stanley's famous expedition - but travelling alone. Despite warnings that his plan was 'suicidal', Butcher set out for the Congo's eastern border with just a rucksack and a few thousand dollars hidden in his boots. Making his way in an assortment of vessels including a motorbike and a dugout canoe, helped along by a cast of characters from UN aid workers to a campaigning pygmy, he followed in the footsteps of the great Victorian adventurers. 
 
VINTAGE VOYAGES: A world of journeys, from the tallest mountains to the depths of the mind

Tim Butcher

Praise for Blood River

A remarkable, fascinating book by a courageous and perceptive writer. One of the most exciting books to emerge from Africa in recent years

An intrepid adventure. In making and describing this journey, Tim Butcher has followed in the footsteps of Stanley and Conrad. It takes a lot of guts to yomp through the Congo and he obviously has plenty of t ...

Blood River represents a remarkable marriage of travelogue and history, which deserves to make Tim Butcher a star for his prose, as well as his courage

A remarkable, fascinating book by a courageous and perceptive writer. One of the most exciting books to emerge from Africa in recent years

An intrepid adventure. In making and describing this journey, Tim Butcher has followed in the footsteps of Stanley and Conrad. It takes a lot of guts to yomp through the Congo and he obviously has plenty of t ...

Blood River represents a remarkable marriage of travelogue and history, which deserves to make Tim Butcher a star for his prose, as well as his courage

A remarkable, fascinating book by a courageous and perceptive writer. One of the most exciting books to emerge from Africa in recent years

An intrepid adventure. In making and describing this journey, Tim Butcher has followed in the footsteps of Stanley and Conrad. It takes a lot of guts to yomp through the Congo and he obviously has plenty of t ...

Blood River represents a remarkable marriage of travelogue and history, which deserves to make Tim Butcher a star for his prose, as well as his courage

Books by Tim Butcher

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter