Tim Butcher

<h2 id="career">Career</h2>
<h3>Journalism</h3>
As a journalist between 1990 and 2009 Butcher worked for <a href="/facts/The_Daily_Telegraph/aHa5nNw5">The Daily Telegraph</a> newspaper, holding a series of positions including <a href="/facts/Leader_writer/IRh30jfT">leader writer</a>, <a href="/facts/War_correspondent/EPAFyQyB">war correspondent</a>, Africa Bureau Chief, and Middle East <a href="/facts/Correspondent/5Y6jFQQU">Correspondent</a>. He remains a regular contributor to the BBC radio programme <a href="/facts/From_Our_Own_Correspondent/4BntUq6w">From Our Own Correspondent</a> and has written for numerous British, US and international publications.

<h3>Author</h3>
As an author he published in 2007 his first book <a href="/facts/Blood_River:_A_Journey_to_Africa%27s_Broken_Heart/UICwIQSh">Blood River: A Journey to Africa's Broken Heart</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1">1</a> an account of his 2004 journey through <a href="/facts/Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo/E2KmHDdv">Democratic Republic of the Congo</a> ("DR Congo") overland from <a href="/facts/Lake_Tanganyika/H76Jdg5X">Lake Tanganyika</a> and down the <a href="/facts/Congo_River/VmRMnn8k">Congo River</a>, following the route of <a href="/facts/Henry_Morton_Stanley/gGLUwb3h">Henry Morton Stanley</a>'s 1874–77 trans-Africa expedition. The book, published by <a href="/facts/Chatto_%26_Windus/VTYLssIz">Chatto & Windus</a>, reached Number 1 in the <a href="/facts/Sunday_Times/15om0zLf">Sunday Times</a> best-seller list<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2">2</a> and also appeared on the New York Times best-seller list.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3">3</a>
Translated into six languages, Blood River was the only non-fiction title in the <a href="/facts/Richard_%26_Judy/4Y6CXhHE">Richard & Judy</a> Book Club 2008 and was shortlisted that year for a number of British writing awards including the <a href="/facts/Samuel_Johnson_Prize/VCApVunY">Samuel Johnson Prize</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4">4</a> the <a href="/facts/Dolman_Best_Travel_Book_Award/gopUE9hG">Dolman Best Travel Book Award</a>, and the <a href="/facts/Writers%27_Guild_of_Great_Britain/c19ohqlc">Writers' Guild of Great Britain</a> Best Book award. The book's Polish version, Rzeka Krwi (translated by Jakub Czernik and published in 2009 by Carta Blanca), was longlisted for the 2010 <a href="/facts/Ryszard_Kapu%C5%9Bci%C5%84ski/pFxrLYQ1">Ryszard Kapuściński</a> Prize.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5">5</a>
In 2009, Butcher wrote a chapter for <a href="/facts/Because_I_Am_a_Girl_(campaign)/R4AL6gQF">Because I am a Girl</a> (January 2010),<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6">6</a> a charitable compilation of stories focusing on the plight of young women and girls in the developing world. Published by Vintage, the book was the brainchild of <a href="/facts/Plan_(aid_organisation)/yqQUPcWp">Plan International</a>, a leading children's rights aid group.
Butcher's second major work, Chasing the Devil: The Search for Africa's Fighting Spirit (2010),<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7">7</a> describes a 350-mile trek through <a href="/facts/Sierra_Leone/gWP9YL0v">Sierra Leone</a> and <a href="/facts/Liberia/U99yfl2k">Liberia</a> following a trail blazed by <a href="/facts/Graham_Greene/8QtlMGJW">Graham Greene</a> and recounted in Greene's <a href="/facts/Journey_Without_Maps/cEU48C27">Journey Without Maps</a> (1936). It was longlisted for the <a href="/facts/Orwell_Prize/axnwj3BK">Orwell Prize</a> for political writing.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8">8</a>
In 2010, he received an honorary Doctorate from the <a href="/facts/University_of_Northampton/Xfthumck">University of Northampton</a> in the United Kingdom, for service as a journalist and author.
He also contributed a chapter to Ox Travels: Meetings with Remarkable Travel Writers (Ox Tales) (released in May 2011),<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9">9</a> another compilation, this time on behalf of <a href="/facts/Oxfam/rvUukVzl">Oxfam</a>, the international confederation working against poverty and injustice.
In 2012, Blood River became a text used in AS Level English Language and Literature Combined, alongside <a href="/facts/Joseph_Conrad/WSrhX7pT">Joseph Conrad</a>'s <a href="/facts/Heart_of_Darkness/4SQlzfHw">Heart of Darkness</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10">10</a>
In 2013, he was awarded the <a href="/facts/Mungo_Park_Medal/rJNzmTNe">Mungo Park Medal</a> by the <a href="/facts/Royal_Scottish_Geographical_Society/UCc8WYVx">Royal Scottish Geographical Society</a>, in recognition of achievements as an explorer and educator.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11">11</a>
His most recent book, The Trigger – Hunting the Assassin who Brought the World to War was published in May 2014 by Chatto & Windus.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12">12</a> It tells the story of <a href="/facts/Gavrilo_Princip/dSoWnzLq">Gavrilo Princip</a>, the teenage assassin who triggered the <a href="/facts/First_World_War/vITTUanQ">First World War</a> by assassinating <a href="/facts/Archduke_Franz_Ferdinand_of_Austria/WlVflUd9">Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria</a> in <a href="/facts/Sarajevo/IzawfJRg">Sarajevo</a>, on 28 June 1914.

<h2 id="sources">Sources</h2>

<ul><li><a href="http://kevinegperry.com/2008/10/10/journeying-to-africas-broken-heart-tim-butcher/">"Tim Butcher interview on Blood River"</a>. KevinPerry.com. 10 October 2008.</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Geoff_Wisner/otv6s6zC">Geoff Wisner</a> (2008). <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB122541355388886513">"Solo in the Congo: Review of Blood River"</a>. The Wall Street Journal.</li>
<li><a href="http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article6975847.ece">"Amanda Ross on Why Blood River Did Well in the Richard & Judy Book Club"</a>. The Times.[dead link‍]</li></ul>

<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>
<ul><li><a href="http://www.tim-butcher.com">Tim Butcher's Official Site</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1">Butcher, Tim (2007). Blood River: A Journey to Africa's Broken Heart. Chatto & Windus. <a href="/wiki/Blood_River:_A_Journey_to_Africa%27s_Broken_Heart" target="_blank">/wiki/Blood_River:_A_Journey_to_Africa%27s_Broken_Heart</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:2">Sunday Times UK non-fiction bestseller lists 8/3/2008 and 15/3/2008 <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20100605093019/http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20100605093019/http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:3">New York Times e non-fiction bestseller list 5/7/2015 <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/2015-07-05/e-book-nonfiction/list.html" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/2015-07-05/e-book-nonfiction/list.html</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:4">Samuel Johnson Prize shortlist 2008 <a href="http://www.thesamueljohnsonprize.co.uk/sjnav/books/10/" target="_blank">http://www.thesamueljohnsonprize.co.uk/sjnav/books/10/</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:5">[1] Ryszard Kapuscinski Award longlist 2009 <a href="http://www.kulturalna.warszawa.pl/kapuscinski,4,872.html?locale=en_GB" target="_blank">http://www.kulturalna.warszawa.pl/kapuscinski,4,872.html?locale=en_GB</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:6">Tim Butcher; Xiaolu Guo; Joanne Harris; Kathy Lette; Henning Mankell; Deborah Moggach; Marie Phillips; Irvine Welsh (2010). Because I am a Girl. Vintage. <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:7">Butcher, Tim (2010). Chasing the Devil: The Search for Africa's Fighting Spirit. Chatto & Windus. <a href="/wiki/Chatto_%26_Windus" target="_blank">/wiki/Chatto_%26_Windus</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:8">[2] Orwell Prize longlist 2011 <a href="http://theorwellprize.co.uk/longlists/filter/type-Book%20Prize/year-2011/" target="_blank">http://theorwellprize.co.uk/longlists/filter/type-Book%20Prize/year-2011/</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:9">Mark Ellingham; Peter Florence; Barnaby Rogerson, eds. (2011). Ox Travels: Meetings with Remarkable Travel Writers (Ox Tales). Profile Books. ISBN 978-1-84668-496-8. <a href="978-1-84668-496-8" target="_blank">978-1-84668-496-8</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:10">"English Language and Literature B Subject content Unit 2 – Themes in Language and Literature". AQA. Retrieved 18 September 2016. <a href="http://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/english/as-and-a-level/english-language-and-literature-b-2725/subject-content/unit-2" target="_blank">http://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/english/as-and-a-level/english-language-and-literature-b-2725/subject-content/unit-2</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:11">Mungo Park 2013 medal award announcement <a href="http://rsgs.org/inspiring-people/medals-awards/mungo-park-medal/" target="_blank">http://rsgs.org/inspiring-people/medals-awards/mungo-park-medal/</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:12">Butcher, Tim (2014). The Trigger – Hunting the Assassin who Brought the World to War. Chatto & Windus. <a href="/wiki/Chatto_%26_Windus" target="_blank">/wiki/Chatto_%26_Windus</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
</ol>

Tim Butcher open-in-new

Tim Butcher