William Winwood Reade (26 December 1838 – 24 April 1875) was a British historian, explorer, novelist and philosopher. His two best-known books, the universal history The Martyrdom of Man (1872) and the novel The Outcast (1875), were included in the Thinker's Library. Reade published one novel under the pseudonym, Francesco Abati. Biography Early life Born in Perthshire, Scotland, in 1838, William Winwood Reade was a "scion of a wealthy landed family". Having failed at Oxford University and, despite having composed two novels, "failed in any conventional sense as a novelist", Reade decided to begin geographical exploration. Travels to Africa Thus, at age 25, using his private funds and with sponsorship from the Royal Geographical Society, he departed for Africa, arriving in Cape Town by paddle steamer during 1862. After several months of observing gorillas and travelling through Angola, Reade returned home and published his first travel account, Savage Africa. Although criticised for its juvenile style, the book is notable for its anthropological inquiries, as well as for its exculpatory passages concerning the slave trade and its prophecy of an Africa divided between Britain and France in which black Africans have become extinct. In 1868 Reade secured the patronage of London-based Gold Coast trader Andrew Swanzy to journey to West Africa. After failing to get permission to enter the Ashanti Empire, Reade set out north from Freetown to explore the areas past the Solimana capital of Falaba. He was detained in Falaba by the local King Seedwa, who imprisoned him for three months under conditions of physical and mental hardship. Legend has it that King Seedwa set four gruelling tasks for Reade each day of his captivity, all of which Reade completed with aplomb. Though Reade travelled over some unexplored territory, his findings excited little interest among geographers, due mostly to his failure to make accurate measurements of his journey as his sextant and other instruments had been left behind at Port Loko. However, his experiences of West Africa were not entirely lost to science, thanks to his correspondence with Charles Darwin. Darwin subsequently used information given by Reade for his publication The Descent of Man (1871). Soon after Reade's return, he published his The African Sketch-Book (1873), an account of his travels that also recommended greater British involvement in West Africa. Reade returned to Africa in 1873 to serve as a correspondent for the Ashanti War, but died not long