Georgia–Russia relations
Internal conflicts in Georgia
Georgian Civil War
1991–1992 South Ossetia War
War in Abkhazia (1992–1993)
Rose Revolution
2004 Adjara crisis
2006 Georgia–Russia crisis
2006 North Ossetia pipeline explosions
2006 Russian ban of Moldovan and Georgian wines
2006 Georgian–Russian espionage controversy
2006 deportation of Georgians from Russia
2007 Alleged air space violations
2007 Georgia helicopter incident
2007 Georgia missile incident
2007 Georgia plane downing incident
2007 Russian ambassador controversy
2008 Russo-Georgian War
2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis
2019 Georgian protestsvt
The Revolution of Roses, often translated into English as the Rose Revolution (Georgian:ვარდების რევოლუცია vardebis revolutsia), describes a pro-Western peaceful change of power in Georgia in November 2003. The revolution was brought about by widespread protests over the disputed parliamentary elections and culminated in the ouster of President Eduard Shevardnadze, which marked the end of the Soviet era of leadership in the country. The event derives its name from the climactic moment, when demonstrators led by Mikheil Saakashvili stormed the Parliament session with red roses in hand.
Consisting of twenty days of protests from 3 to 23 November 2003, the Revolution triggered new presidential and parliamentary elections in Georgia, which established the United National Movement as the dominant ruling party.[1] Following the Rose Revolution, Georgia pursued a decidedly pro-Western foreign policy and declared European and Euro-Atlantic integration as its main priority; this change in trajectory contributed to Georgia's tensions with Russia, which continue to this day.
Precipitating factors
Fragmentation of the political elite
The Citizens' Union of Georgia (CUG) had been the ruling party for most of Eduard Shevardnadze's Presidency, and represented the interests of Shevardnadze loyalists.[2] The ineffectiveness of the government and the decreasing popularity of the regime led to the defection of numerous parliamentary deputies from the ruling party in 2000.[3] The first group to leave the CUG represented the business community and would go on to form the New Rights Party (NRP) in 2000. This began the collapse of the party, as numerous party officials and deputies defected to join or form other parties. Eduard Shevardnadze himself resigned from the chairmanship of the CUG in September 2001.[4]  Fatefully, Mikheil Saakashvili (the Minister of Justice) left the ruling party in September and would form the National Movement opposition party one month later.[5] The defections continued for the next two years, and left the Citizens' Union of Georgia as a far weaker party with support clustered in a few regions, and a leadership notorious for accumulating wealth illegally through their positions in government.[6] The disintegration of the party highlighted the weakness of the Shevardnadze regime and dispersed the political elite amongst a number of new parties and independent platforms.
The collapse of the Citizens' Union of Georgia and more apparent public discontent with Shevardnadze allowed for the formation of numerous new parties after 2000.[7] The former ruling party showed its vulnerability in the 2002 local elections, losing decisively to independents and new parties. The local elections saw independents secure 2754 seats, with the New Rights Party (NRP) being the most successful political party, obtaining 558 parliamentary seats. The Citizens' Union of Georgia won only 70 out of approximately 4,850 parliamentary seats.[8]
Following the disastrous 2002 local elections, Shevardnadze made a concerted attempt to rebuild a political coalition that could support him. The CUG was rebuilt before the 2003 parliamentary election, which was understood to be a key trial before the 2005 presidential election. However, President Shevardnadze's popularity rating had plummeted to around 5%, undermining any attempt to revive the CUG under his leadership. The new CUG further found itself divided over internal disputes, and lacking effective leadership to replace those that had defected.[9]
Rise of non-governmental organizations
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) played a significant role in the Rose Revolution. By the end of 2000, the number of NGOs estimated to be in Georgia numbered around four thousand. The 1997 Civil Code made the registration of an NGO relatively easy, and they operated in Georgia with few restrictions.[10] Though only a small portion of those likely had influence on the government or were successful in lobbying, several had leverage in parliament.[11] While public participation in these NGOs was relatively low, they were ultimately successful in mobilizing the population to play a more active role in government. Two of the most important were the Georgian Young Lawyers Association and the Liberty Institute, both of which were active in the promotion of human rights and freedom of information legislation before the Rose Revolution.[12]
Shevardnadze had allowed the development of NGOs before the Rose Revolution, and numerous large and relatively uninhibited NGOs were able to operate in Georgia prior to the 2003 parliamentary elections. Georgia's weak economy allowed these NGOs, who were often partially foreign funded, to pay decent salaries that would not have been available in working for the Georgian state.[13] As early as the Summer of 2002, there was great concern amongst the leaders of Georgia's most influential NGOs that Shevardnadze was not prepared to relinquish power voluntarily, and that other ways to remove him from power might be necessary. Some of these leaders hoped to make the 'Serbian scenario' a reality in Georgia, in the sense that they wanted to promote non-violent protests to force the resignation of an authoritarian leader.[14] Before the Rose Revolution, a large network of NGOs with foreign financial support already existed in the country that could later coordinate protest.
Foreign support
Foreign support for the Shevardnadze regime declined from 2000 to 2003, with notable figures outwardly calling for a more democratic transition.[15] These included George Soros, Richard Miles (the US ambassador to Georgia), and allies of the Bush administration, including a visit from James Baker (the former U.S. Secretary of State) who pressured Shevardnadze to accept parallel vote tabulation and pushed for free election standards.[16]
In the three years before the Rose Revolution, foreign financial support for the regime began to become severely limited. Instead, foreign states and organizations gave financial assistance to NGOs and opposition parties within Georgia, worsening the desperate budget situation of the Shevardnadze government. The United States announced a reduction in aid, coinciding with a decision by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to suspend aid to Georgia.[17] As international support for the regime deteriorated (particularly in the West), public perceptions of Shevardnadze's political weakness increased. A significant source of funding for NGOs and election monitoring organizations came from foreign governments and individuals. The U.S. and European governments gave the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) the funds to support foreign election observers.[18] The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)§ spent $1.5 million to computerize Georgia's voter rolls. The Open Society Institute (OSI), funded by George Soros, supported Mikheil Saakashvili and a network of pro-democratic organizations. The OSI additionally paid for a number of student activists to go to Serbia and learn from Serbians who had helped to topple Slobodan Milošević in 2000.[19] Western democracy promoters also circulated public opinion polls and scrutinized election data throughout Georgia.[20]
Role of the media
An important factor in the Rose Revolution was the independent television channel Rustavi-2, which served as an ally for the opposition movement for years. It was highly critical of the regime, and openly supported the opposition.[21] Georgia's broad Freedom of Information law gave media outlets the legal protection to criticize the government, making it a leader amongst the former Eastern Bloc.[22] Nonetheless, the government tried repeatedly to shut Rustavi-2 down. The station operated out of Tbilisi and managed to survive the regime's harassment and intimidation techniques. Rustavi-2 was partially financially supported, trained, and sometimes protected by USAID and the Eurasia Foundation, which often mobilized public and international support to prevent government interference in the station's reporting.[23]   The broadcasts of Rustavi-2 ended up being instrumental in building the opposition and encouraging protest.
Two events in 2001 caused an outcry of public opinion against the government. In July, a popular anchor for the Rustavi-2 network, Giorgi Sanaia, was murdered. The consensus among Georgian journalists and the public was that he was killed because of his anti-government work on the Chechen conflict and corruption investigations.[24] In October, agents from the National Security Ministry raided the headquarters of Rustavi-2. The tax-raid was broadcast on television from outside the building. Upwards of seven thousand student-led protestors, many mobilized by the Liberty Institute NGO, amassed outside the headquarters and demanded the resignation of the Shevardnadze government. Shevardnadze responded by sacking his cabinet and his minister of security.[25] Importantly, this event triggered the defection of Mikheil Saakashvili and the abdication of Zurab Zhvania from their positions in the Citizens' Union of Georgia, eventually leading to the formation of the National Movement and United Democrats opposition parties.[26]
While still the target of government harassment, Rustavi-2 continued to air anti-Shevardnadze material until 2003. This included the repeated airing of Bringing Down a Dictator, a film portraying the fall of Slobodan Milošević in the nonviolent Serbian revolution. Other networks, such as Imedi television and Mze began to report on the political process more objectively, possibly influenced by Rustavi-2's defiance.[27]  Rustavi-2 would eventually be the network to commission and broadcast the exit poll results of the 2003 parliamentary election, which found Saakashvili's National Movement party victorious over the pro-Shevardnadze bloc.[28]
Economic factors
The susceptibility of Shevardnadze's government and his plummeting popularity between 2000-2003 can partially be traced to economic problems and mismanagement. Beginning in 1998, actual national budget revenues began to fall far short of projections. In 1999, the Georgian state collected only 70% of its projected revenue, a state of affairs that would continue through 2003. To address this problem, the government began to use deceptive accounting techniques to mask budget deficiencies.[29]  Shevardnadze's government found itself both starved of funds and unable to meet IMF standards for international loans. The IMF finally suspended its own funding for Georgia in 2002. Without access to international loans, Georgia would not be able to restructure or repay its significant debts.[30]
In the period before 2003, the growth rate of the Georgian economy fell. The 1998 economic crisis in Russia, Georgia's main energy provider and trade partner, put an end to Georgia's modest recovery.[31] While there was some economic growth in 2003, a budgetary crisis weakened the state. The Georgian government's meager program of public goods and basic services had been chronically underfunded for years.[32]  By the end of 2003, debt in the form of unpaid salaries and pensions reached $120 million. Deterioration of public infrastructure was also poorly addressed by Shevardnadze's government. Georgian businesses lost an average of 110 business days per year because of failures in infrastructure (usually in the energy sector).[33]   The state was unable to repair the crumbling infrastructure or consistently enforce the law.[34] Social conditions also further deteriorated, with over half of the population finding itself under the poverty line, creating even greater dissatisfaction with the Shevardnadze administration.[35]
Corruption among state officials and police, while not new, was certainly exacerbated by Georgia's lack of budget revenue. The official salary of a Georgian state minister was around 150 Lari in 1998 (approximately US$75). Low pay forced many state employees to turn to alternative sources of income, often involving corrupt activities.[36] President Shevardnadze came to be seen as a man who was unwilling to break the Soviet patterns of personal power, political corruption, and authoritarian rule embedded in traditional Soviet cadre politics.[37]  Corruption had become so rampant, that off-the-record deals may have accounted for 60-70% of Georgia's total economic activity.[38] The Shevardnadze regime was not seen as being capable of addressing corruption. Opposition candidates, such as Saakashvili, could successfully gain much support with an anti-corruption political platform.[39]
Elections and protests
Georgia held parliamentary elections on November 2, 2003. At stake were 235 seats in parliament of which 135 would be decided by a nationwide proportional party-list system and 85 were "majoritarian" contests in which a first-past-the-post winner would be determined in each of Georgia's 85 electoral districts. In addition, a nationwide referendum was held on whether the future parliament should be reduced to 150 members. Voters used a separate ballot for each of these three contests, folding them together and placing them in a single envelope which was then put in the ballot box. This was not a presidential election; that was set to occur in the spring of 2005, at the expiration of President Shevardnadze's second and final term.
In July 2003, U.S.president George W. Bush sent former secretary of state James Baker to meet with both opposition leaders and President Shevardnadze. To the latter, Baker delivered a letter from Bush sternly stressing the need for free elections. Baker proposed a formula for representation of the various parties on the electoral commissions at each level. Shevardnadze agreed, but immediately began maneuvering against the Baker formula.
On 3 November the International Election Observation Mission, composed of the Parliamentary Assemblies of the OSCE and the Council of Europe, the European Parliament and the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), concluded that the 2 November parliamentary elections in Georgia fell short of a number of OSCE commitments and other international standards for democratic elections.[40] Mikheil Saakashvili claimed that he had won the elections (a claim supported by independent exit polls). This was confirmed by an independent parallel vote tabulation (PVT) conducted by the ISFED (International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, a local election monitoring group). Saakashvilli and the United Opposition accepted ISFED's PVT as "official" results, and urged Georgians to demonstrate against Shevardnadze's government and engage in nonviolent civil disobedience against the authorities. The main democratic opposition parties united to demand the ousting of Shevardnadze and the rerun of the elections.
In mid-November, massive antigovernmental demonstrations started in the central streets of Tbilisi, soon involving almost all major cities and towns of Georgia in a concerted campaign of civil resistance.[41] The "Kmara" ("Enough!") youth organization (a Georgian counterpart of the Serbian "Otpor!") and several NGOs, like the Liberty Institute, were active in all protest activities. Shevardnadze's government was backed by Aslan Abashidze, the semi-separatist leader of the autonomous Adjara region, who sent thousands of his supporters to hold a pro-governmental counter-demonstration in Tbilisi.
Change of power
The opposition protest reached its peak on November 22, when President Shevardnadze attempted to open the new session of parliament.  This session was considered illegitimate by two of the four major opposition parties. Supporters of two of those parties, led by Saakashvili, burst into the session with roses in their hands (hence the name Rose Revolution), interrupting a speech of President Eduard Shevardnadze and forcing him to escape with his bodyguards. He later declared a state of emergency and began to mobilize troops and police near his residence in Tbilisi. However, the elite military units refused to support the government. In the evening of November 23 (St George's Day in Georgia), Shevardnadze met with the opposition leaders Saakashvili and Zurab Zhvania to discuss the situation, in a meeting arranged by Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov. After the meeting, the president announced his resignation. That prompted euphoria in the streets of Tbilisi. More than 100,000 protesters celebrated the victory all night long, accompanied by fireworks and rock concerts.
 Following the resignation of Eduard Shevardnadze, new elections were planned to bring power to a new leader. The outgoing speaker of parliament, Nino Burjanadze, assumed the presidency until new elections could be held. The Supreme Court of Georgia annulled the results of the parliamentary elections. New elections happened six weeks later on January 4, 2004.  Unopposed and with 96.2 percent of the vote, Saakashvili became the new president of Georgia and was inaugurated on January 25. He became the youngest European president at the age of 36.  On March 28, 2004, new parliamentary elections were held, with a large majority won by the Saakashvili-supporting National Movement - Democrats, and a minority representation of the Rightist Opposition.
After being elected, Saakashvili wasted no time in passing a series of legislation and reforms. Criticized as being very "pro-western," his agenda was able to improve the country's economy and launch a new anti-corruption campaign. He was able to bring the country's rating according to the World Bank from 122nd to 18th in the world by expanding the banking sector by 40 percent, increasing foreign investment to $3 billion, and maintaining an annual growth of 9.5%.
International involvement
Many countries watched Georgia transition from an autocracy to a democracy, but the key players were primarily Russia and the United States. Russia was suspected of being involved in Georgia's affairs from the beginning as it was assumed to have been involved in various coup and assassination attempts of Shevardnadze. Georgia, a state that was previously under Soviet influence, took independence in the 1990s, but saw much disarray in the form of separatist
Groups, particularly those that were Russian-backed.
The United States felt the revolution was a good opportunity to make a serious attempt in the establishment of democracy not only in Georgia, but the region it was in.  The U.S. Agency for International Development was reported to have spent $1.5 million on modernizing Georgia's voting system.  They also invested in 3,000 election observers throughout the country.[42]
One of the biggest forms of international involvement was with George Soros and the Open Society Foundation located in the United States.[42] A non-governmental organization that's mission is to promote democracy, human rights, and reform in various areas, such as the economy helped in the making of Kmara, a student movement that was brought to Serbia by the foundation to get insight for the resistance, particularly training in nonviolent methods of protest.[42] Translating as "Enough," it resembled a Serbian organization that played a heavy role in the Bulldozer Revolution that happened three years prior and which ended the presidency of Slobodan Milošević in Yugoslavia.
A significant source of funding for the Rose Revolution was the network of foundations and NGOs associated with Hungarian-American billionaire financier George Soros. The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies reports the case of a former Georgian parliamentarian who alleges that in the three months prior to the Rose Revolution, "Soros spent $42 million ramping-up for the overthrow of Shevardnadze.[43] Speaking in T'blisi in June 2005, Soros said, "I'm very pleased and proud of the work of the foundation in preparing Georgian society for what became a Rose Revolution, but the role of the foundation and my personal has been greatly exaggerated."[44]
Among the personalities who worked for Soros' organizations who later assumed positions in the Georgian government are:
Alexander Lomaia, Secretary of the Georgian Security Council and former Minister of Education and Science, is a former Executive Director of the Open Society Georgia Foundation (Soros Foundation), overseeing a staff of 50 and a budget of $2,500,000.
David Darchiashvili, presently the chairman of the Committee for Eurointegration in the Georgian parliament, is also a former Executive Director of the Open Society Georgia Foundation.
Former Georgian Foreign Minister Salomé Zourabichvili wrote:
These institutions were the cradle of democratization, notably the Soros Foundation ... all the NGOs which gravitate around the Soros Foundation undeniably carried the revolution. However, one cannot end one's analysis with the revolution and one clearly sees that, afterwards, the Soros Foundation and the NGOs were integrated into power.—Salomé Zourabichvili, Herodote (magazine of the French Institute for Geopolitics), April, 2008

The amount of international involvement created a variety of conspiracy theories. The most popular implies that the United States was responsible for the overthrow of Shevardnadze. Many non-governmental organizations from the U.S. were in Georgia actively educating the people on human rights and the ideals of democracy. Also, the U.S. Ambassador in Georgia at the time, Richard Miles was also the U.S. Ambassador in Belgrade coincidentally during the Bulldozer Revolution.
Adjara

In May 2004, the so-called "Second Rose Revolution" took place in Batumi, Adjara. After months of extreme tension between Saakashvili's government and Aslan Abashidze, the virtual dictator of the autonomous region, thousands of Adjarans, mobilized by the United National Movement and Kmara, protested against Abashidze's policy of separatism and militarization. Abashidze used security forces and paramilitary groups to break up the demonstrations in the streets of Batumi and Kobuleti. However, he failed to suppress the protests, and they grew in size and scope. On May 6, 2004 (again St George's Day), protesters from all Ajara gathered in Batumi despite being dispersed by force the day before. Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania and Interior Minister Giorgi Baramidze negotiated with Adjaran Interior Minister Jemal Gogitidze to withdraw his forces from the administrative border at the Choloki River and led Georgian Special Forces into the region. Abashidze bowed to the inevitable, resigned in the same evening and left for Moscow. President Saakashvili visited Batumi the next day and was met by celebrating Adjarans.
International effects
The Orange Revolution, which followed the disputed November 2004 Ukrainian presidential election, is said to have been partly inspired by the Georgian Rose Revolution.[45]
See also
2007 Georgian demonstrations
2009 Georgian demonstrations
2011 Georgian protests
Orange Revolution
Tulip Revolution

Further reading
Michael Barker, , 1 November 2006
Dan Jakopovich, , Debatte: Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe, August, 2007.
Tinatin Khidasheli, , International Herald Tribune, Paris, 8 December 2004

 U.S. Institute of Peace Report, July 2006
 – daily updated online magazine and web portal on human rights in Georgia

Who took power of Georgia during the Revolution of Roses?


Main PageThe American Epic Sessions is a documentary film in which an engineer restores the fabled long-lost first electrical sound recording system from 1925, and twenty contemporary artists pay tribute to the momentous machine by attempting to record songs on it for the first time in 80 years.[1][2][3] The film was directed and co-written by Bernard MacMahon and stars Nas, Alabama Shakes, Elton John, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Jack White, Taj Mahal, Ana Gabriel, Pokey LaFarge, Beck, Ashley Monroe and Steve Martin.[1]
The film employed a diverse line-up of performers both ethnically and musically to represent the breadth of cultures that were first given a national platform through the invention of this recording machine.[3][4][5] It also explored the extent to which the recordings made on it in the 1920s influenced and inspired contemporary music.[3][5][6]
The film involved a decade of work restoring the machine, which was pieced together from spare parts scattered across the globe,[7] in order to better understand the origins of modern recording technology,[8][5] and the influence the machine had on world culture.[9][10] The machine would go on to put sound on motion pictures.[4][11][5][12] The recreation of a live 1920s-style recording session, explored the essence of what makes a great recorded performance[13][14]
The film resulted in unexpected insights into how sound recording was developed and perfected and its impact on how musicians communicate on recordings today.[13][5] MacMahon filmed the live performances like a Hollywood musical in single unedited takes to focus on the music, the sound the machine produced, and the impact it had on the artists performances.[15][16] The technical aspects of the recording were covered in sequences interspersed throughout the film where, with rigorously filmed tracking shots and extreme close-ups using a macro lens, the viewer could observe and understand the inner workings of the machine.[17][6]
The film received widespread acclaim for its direction, musical performances, sound and cinematography.[3][7][18][19][20][6] The film won the Discovery Award and the Audience Award at the Calgary International Film Festival[21], was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award,[22] Bernard MacMahon and Allison McGourty were nominated as Breakthrough Talents by the British Academy Film Awards[23] and won a Grammy Award for the Alabama Shakes performance of “Killer Diller Blues”.[24]
Film synopsis
The film's title sequence begins with a series of cards announcing that “In 1925 the invention of electrical sound recording revolutionized the phonograph industry. In 1926 this equipment was taken across America to record rural music for the very first time – blues, gospel, Cajun, country, Hawaiian, Native American and more…Only a few of these machines were made, and none are known to have survived. All the musical performances in this film are live. The audio you hear is taken directly from the discs it was recorded to, with no editing or enhancements.” Thereafter a series of contemporary musicians enter an exact replica of a 1920s recording studio[2] and record songs live onto a single microphone attached to the first electrical recording system and a pulley driven cutting lathe.[7] Their performances are filmed in single takes. Some of the performers are seen arranging their songs and Elton John is seen actually writing his song live on camera.[25] These scenes are interspersed with interviews with engineer Nicholas Bergh explaining how the machine works, its cultural and technological importance, how the 1920s field recording sessions were organized and the observations of the contemporary performers participating.[5][17][6] Some of the artists’ performances are prefaced by ethereal scenes where the camera explores the dark corridors of the empty studio, accompanied by the recordings that were made on the machine 90 years ago distantly playing in the background, while the camera zooms in on framed portraits of those long-deceased musicians hanging on the walls of the studio. These ghostly scenes are followed by a contemporary artist covering the same song.[26] Numerous potentially fatal disasters befall the machine during the sessions including the pulley cable that holds the weight breaking, which Jack White repairs at an upholstery shop, the amplifier overheating and blowing up during an Avett Brothers recording and a fraught 13 take session where Beck's 12-piece choir battle with an overdriven and distorting microphone.[25] To capture the eclecticism of a 1920s recording session, a very diverse selection of artists is seen participating in the film, from Hispanic performers like Ana Gabriel and Los Lobos to Hawaiian steel guitar bands like The Hawaiians and Cajun acts like The Lost Bayou Ramblers, pop singers like Elton John, rock and roll groups like Alabama Shakes and Jack White and hip hop artists like Nas.[11] The film culminates with the last filmed performance of Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson recording a song, Haggard has written for the film, “The Only Man Wilder Than Me”[25]  followed by a cover of Bob Wills’ “Old Fashioned Love” closing the film with the lines; “Although the land may change to sea, There'll be no change in me, I've got that old fashioned love in my heart.”[25]
Origins
MacMahon stated that the idea for the film was born out of a desire to understand on a practical level how the pivotal 1920s recordings were made, “you can only truly appreciate history, and understand why things were done the way they were done, by actually going out and doing them yourself.”[27] Two initial sessions were filmed at the producers' expense prior to the commissioning of the films by the BBC and PBS.[1][28] These were with Frank Fairfield and The Americans.[14] This was done, according to MacMahon, “as a proof of concept and to ensure the look and style of the film was indelibly stamped from the outset with our own artistic sensibilities and thereby limit the level of outside interference.” He also added “The American Epic Sessions film was the carrot to get the three historical films made. This meant we shot Sessions way ahead of the production of the rest of the films to engender an incentive to tackle the vast undertaking that was the historical films. Making Sessions was like the Olympic 100 metres. The historic films were the marathon.”[29] MacMahon has commented that he prefers to shoot the endings of films first so he can determine the pace to the climax more effectively.[29]
Film production
Location
The film was shot in one main location: Vox Recording Studios in Hollywood, California.[30] Originally built in 1936 and named Electro-Vox, the studio is “said to be the oldest private recording studio in the world”.[31] The studio was emptied of all current sound recording equipment and furniture, then dressed in period fixtures and fittings before bringing in the Western Electric Recording System.[14] The set designer attempted to make the studio feel as close to how a studio would have felt in the 1920s in an attempt to give the musicians the feeling of being taken back in time to an actual recording session as described in the American Epic documentary series.[32] The film had one secondary location, Sophie's Seat Design in Hollywood, California, which was featured when former upholsterer, Jack White, took the broken belt of the recording lathe to be re-sewn.[7]
Artist selection
The artists were principally chosen by MacMahon in consultation with the film's producers and co-writers Duke Erikson and Allison McGourty, and executive producers T Bone Burnett and Jack White.[29] The performers were chosen for their musical and ethnic diversity and their ability to record in a rigorous and demanding manner.[11] MacMahon insisted on having three previously unrecorded acts at the sessions; The Americans, Christine Pizutti and Jerron “Blind Boy” Paxton.[29]
Song selection
The musicians were encouraged to record both a vintage song and a song they had written.[17] MacMahon and Erikson compiled a list of old songs that they wanted to feature in the film and in some cases specifically chose songs for particular performers; “Mal Hombre” for Ana Gabriel,[11] “On the Road Again” for Nas, “Tomi Tomi” for the Hawaiians and “Nobody's Dirty Business” for Bettye LaVette.[33] Other performers researched the period and selected their own vintage songs; Jack White unearthed “Matrimonial Intentions”, the Avett Brothers chose “Jordan Am a Hard Road” and Rhiannon Giddens chose “One Hour Mama”. Most of the performers recorded two songs although the duration of the film precluded all these performances appearing in the finished film.[33] Some performers wrote songs specifically for the film like Merle Haggard who composed “The Only Man Wilder Than Me” as a duet for him and Willie Nelson to perform.[5] Elton John arrived at the studio with a lyric entitled “Two Fingers of Whiskey” that Bernie Taupin had written specifically for the film. Elton John then proceeded to write the melody live on camera and arrange the song with Jack White and recorded the song live direct to disc without leaving the room during the whole process.[34][35] All the performances in the film and many additional songs not featured in the movie were released by Columbia Records/Lo-Max on Music from The American Epic Sessions: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.[36]
Score
A non-diegetic score was occasionally used in the film.There were four main instances, a section revealing how the Western Electric Amplifier Rack and Microphone work, a section discussing the social impact the Western Electric Recording System had on the world and its eventual demise, the arrival of the final two musicians in the film, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard, and finally, the closing credits.The score was written by Duke Erikson and Bernard MacMahon and performed by Duke Erikson and Chris Wagoner.[37]
Cinematography
The film was storyboarded extensively by MacMahon in advance of the shoot along with detailed diagrams of the lighting designs. He explained; “I’d have an idea in advance of what the set-up might be musically so I painted out lighting design and storyboards in advance. Those were in a constant state of flux,”[14] Producer Allison McGourty commented “It was like a theatrical production—Bernard designed different lighting for each session to give [each song] a different feel.”[15] MacMahon said that he wanted the film to look like a painting “I wanted a rich color palette so it looks like a Velázquez painting,” he said, with the lighting falling off to heavy shadows in the corners of the picture to conceal the dolly tracks in the studio.[12][14]
“My inspiration in filming The American Epic Sessions was Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly films, where they perform these dances in a single, continuous take. I wanted to let the audience know that they were looking at a live performance, so almost all of the performances are shot in one continuous take.”[38]
– Bernard MacMahon
MacMahon filmed principally on an Arri Alexa on a camera dolly.[29] The decision to have the camera in a constant state of subtle motion was designed to give the film a musical rhythm and momentum.[39] As the musicians in the film were forced to record their tracks in a single unaltered take, MacMahon decided the camera should do the same and choreographed complex single take moves to mirror the tempo of the music whilst landing on the musicians the moment their part came to the foreground.[14] McGourty explained “he would rehearse with our house band before the performers arrived, and rehearse the camera crew with all the dolly moves so they would know when the lead vocalist would be singing; then it would go into a chorus, then the guitar or the banjo. There was a huge amount of preparation, because it was not just the music that had to be captured in one three-minute take—we had to capture the whole experience on film, and make it look natural, and do it smoothly enough that we didn’t interfere with the performers.”[15] MacMahon said he took some of his inspiration from John J. Mescall's cinematography on James Whale productions like the Bride of Frankenstein.[14] MacMahon wanted viewers to feel like they were standing in the studio watching the performance, so the camera never moved lower than a crouch or higher than someone standing on their tip toes, nor did the camera zoom in closer than a guest in the studio would stand.[14][29] A test session was filmed with Frank Fairfield and The Americans to perfect the cinematic style of the film.[28][14] In stark contrast to this policy was his use of extreme macro photography when the film discusses the recording system.[17][6]Shot using macro lenses, the cinematography used in these sections was designed to take the viewer inside the inner workings of the 1920s Western Electric amplifier and microphone and the 1920s Scully cutting lathe, and to give the recording system a larger than life persona.[12] Exterior shots of the dilapidated and nondescript studio building were occasionally employed with pedestrians walking by oblivious to the activities going on inside.[6] MacMahon said this was to “remind people that behind every door there are a thousand stories.”[29]
Sound recording
Western electric recording system
In 1925, Western Electric launched a new electronic recording process that could capture the nuances of the human voice and subtle instrumental shadings that had eluded the old acoustic systems.[40] The machine revolutionized the recording of music because it could record every type of instrument and voice whereas the acoustic horn recordings that predated it were severely limited in what they could record effectively.[41][42][9]
"This equipment is the beginning of things being wired. It's the blueprint for the next 60 years of audio recording."[43]
– Nicholas Bergh
The new system consisted of an electrical microphone whose signal was amplified by a 6’ amplifier rack. The amplified signal was then sent to a cutting head that cut a wax disc on a Scully lathe that was pulley powered by a 100Ib brass weight.[44] In the 1920s as radio took over the pop music business, record companies were forced to expand their markets and leave their studios in major cities in search of new musical styles and markets.[45] They organized field recording sessions across America and recorded blues, gospel, Cajun, country, Hawaiian, Native American and many other hitherto unrecorded types of music using the Western Electric system which technologically made these recordings possible.[1] These recordings would go on to have vast cultural impact in North America and the rest of the world.[4][5][40] The recording system was leased out to the major record labels who had to pay a royalty on every record sold to Western Electric.[5] The success of music recordings led to the system being leased by the major Hollywood studios for talking pictures after initial resistance.[12][46] Although there are no records of how many of these machines were leased out to the record companies, estimates range from a dozen to two dozen.[40] Prior to the release of The American Epic Sessions the recording system was mysterious and had not been seen in almost 80 years.[21][47] Engineer Nicholas Bergh explained, “I had two mentors when I was getting into audio who started their careers in the late 1930s in America and both of them told me that even by the late ‘30s this system was basically mythical and they had never seen any components of it or even pictures. So even in ten years it had basically disappeared off the face of the earth.”[44]
Restoring the recording system
At the outset of the pre-production of the American Epic documentary series there were no known photos or film footage of the full Western Electric system. Locating visual documentation became of paramount importance to the producers.[47][48] Midway through the research on the film, MacMahon and McGourty were introduced to sound engineer Nicholas Bergh as a possible collaborator. After a year of getting to know each other, Bergh revealed he had spent almost a decade attempting to restore the Western Electric system.[8] Bergh had scavenged spare parts from around the world, in places as far away as Japan and Europe, in his quest to complete the system.[5] “All the individual items had to come from different places, often thousands of miles apart” he explained “I was able to confirm my progress by studying the few crude music studio pictures that started to show up.”[8] However, Bergh was missing a vital part of the set up – the pulley driven Scully lathe. On an exploratory trip to the Scully family, looking for photographs, MacMahon and McGourty discovered perhaps the only surviving 1924 Scully lathe in the family's basement and persuaded them to loan it to the production.[49][50] MacMahon then set about persuading Bergh to engineer a session with contemporary artists recording on the system. Bergh was nervous about doing this as “moving that [the recording system] into a production environment, that was a major change.”[36]
“The idea was from day one that it had to be real. The validity of the film would lie in, once that needle drops, you’re actually hearing the sound of what they’re recording. There were no production mics involved.”[51]
– Bernard MacMahon
MacMahon persuaded Bergh to participate in a test session with two new artists so as to limit the pressure. Frank Fairfield and The Americans were the first musicians to record on the system in over 80 years.[2][28][14] “The results were satisfactory” MacMahon explained “but Nick wanted to operate the machine more effectively”.[29] Producer and co-writer Allison McGourty gained access to the AT&T archive which kept the research documents for Western Electric. Within the archive they located engineers’ casebooks and accounting forms that gave some more clues as to how to operate the machine. They also managed to locate 1920s photographs of the recording system being used in the Western Electric laboratory.[29][52] Armed with this new information Bergh agreed to MacMahon's plan to attempt to film a full recording session with twenty artists. MacMahon hired T Bone Burnett and Jack White to produce and arrange songs for the sessions and booked all the artists.[53]
Recording process
The Western Electric system was a live direct-to-disc recording method. The earliest condenser microphone was wired into a six-foot amplifier rack comprising a preamplifier, a first level meter, a monitor amplifier, a line amplifier to drive the cutting head which etched the grooves onto a wax disc on the turntable of a Scully cutting lathe that was rotated by a pulley system and a 100lb weight.[44] The performers gathered around the microphone and carefully positioned themselves to achieve the correct balance.[3] The performers were cued into when they needed to start and stop playing by a light system operated by the sound engineer that hung in the live room.[27]
"Today it’s like everything is so lit up, everyone’s an automatic star. Back then you’d barely see a picture of these artists—we have it good now, it’s amazing now compared to then—but still, they had something sacred, they had something that we don’t possess. It was just music, people expressing themselves with the sound at that time, and it had nothing to do with the video, it had nothing to do with anything but the song. It shows me there’s so much more to do, there’s so much further I can go, but now I know the beginnings; this gives me the roots of all of it."[54]
– Nas
The pulley allowed approximately three and a half minutes to record before the weight hit the floor. The calibration of the lathe has determined the length of the pop single to this day.[5][39]The Western Electric recording system favored small vocal led groups and this had a fundamental influence on them being the dominant musical aggregation to this day.[9] The recording system did not allow for any changes to be made to the live recording.[14] The Scully lathe itself predated the switch from acoustic to electric recording. In the acoustic era, the lathe was connected to a large conical horn which the musicians had to gather around and sing and play at the loudest possible volume to create enough air pressure to physically vibrate a diaphragm attached to the cutting head.[4] During the filming, MacMahon persuaded Jack White and his band to make an acoustic recording on the lathe, replacing the microphone with two horns – the first such recording made in 90 years. A rough cut of the film containing this sequence was screened at the BFI London Film Festival but it was subsequently cut from later versions to bring the film's duration to under two hours.[29]
Editing
The editing style of the film was designed to feel like a dance between the camera and the musicians and was devised between editor, Dan Gitlin, and MacMahon.[30] The use of cutaways were infrequently employed in favor of full takes of the musical performances, to make clear that the performances were live and unaltered.[14] Before each performance, as the cutting head needle was lowered onto the disc, the production audio was replaced with a needle drop of the unadorned mono master disc recording.[3] Tracking shots of the dark corridors of the studios accompanied by the audio of vintage performances recorded on the equipment, were used as a recurring theme in the film to signify trips into the past where original recordings of songs that are about to be recorded in the film are heard. These sequences were constructed to give the viewer an understanding of the music from the 1920s and 30s.[29]
Reception
Release
The film was previewed as a work in progress at film festivals around the world throughout 2016, including a Special Event at Sundance hosted by Robert Redford,[55] SXSW,[56] International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam,[57] Denver International Film Festival,[58] Sydney Film Festival,[59] and the London Film Festival.[60] The film was completed in February 2017 and aired on PBS in the US and BBC in the UK in May and June 2017. An NTSC DVD and Blu-ray of the series was released in the US in June 2017.[1]
Critical reception
The film was released to widespread critical acclaim, with many publications praising the direction, performances, the quality of the sound, the cinematography and lighting.[3][17][19][12][39][61]
Joe Boyd wrote in The Guardian “for two hours we revel in filmed performances in front of that single microphone, as the camera lovingly follows the sound through anaconda-like cables to the cutting head. As soon as the blank disc starts spinning, our soundtrack switches from the film-maker’s 21st-century handheld digital stereo to the glorious mono of the single microphone. There are no faders; if Burnett or White want more of this musician and a bit less of that one, they move them closer to or away from the microphone. It’s brilliant theatre, beautifully filmed and makes for glorious television. Miss it at your peril.”[3] Stephen Dalton in The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the film was “a mammoth project with worthy intentions and a big heart - a feast of musical and educational riches.”[20] Steve Appleford in Rolling Stone observed that “in the final performance of Sessions, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard perform the duet "The Only Man Wilder Than Me." Haggard has a look of complete joy on his face throughout the session in the old-timey recording set-up once used by his musical heroes.”[7] Mike Bradley in The Observer said The American Epic Sessions was “one of the most interesting music programmes ever broadcast. Wonderful.”[19] Michael Watts in The Economist wrote the film was “unmissable and uncovers the origins of popular music.”[61] Iain Shedden in The Australian noted “one of the highlights (and audience prizewinner) of last year’s Sydney Film Festival was the American Epic series of documentaries by British filmmaker Bernard MacMahon and producers Allison McGourty and Duke Erikson. The American Epic Sessions, brought together a wealth of contemporary talent. It’s an exquisite representation of the primitive power of American roots music and its enduring charm - music that stirs the soul.”[62] Greil Marcus in The Village Voice praised the film for “performances so good you can hardly listen without thinking of how close each recording is to not existing at all.”[63] Liz Jobey in the Financial Times hailed the film as “an extraordinary journey back through American song recording”[64] and Ludovic Hunter-Tilney in the same paper remarked that “New York Rapper Nas does a superb cover of the Memphis Jug Band’s “On the Road Again”, exposing the hip-hop blueprint within the 1928 stomper.”[65] Danny Eccleston in Mojo pointed out that “in one of the series’ most extraordinary moments, Elton John arrives toting a box-fresh lyric by Bernie Taupin and works it up in an instant, the song materializing in front of the viewers eyes before John and Jack White go for the take. There's the magic right there.”[35] L. Kent Wolgamott in the Lincoln Journal Star praised it as “a fascinating picture. Among its highlights: A killer performance in Spanish by Ana Gabriel on a song originally done by Lydia Mendoza; Taj Mahal’s powerhouse take on Charley Patton’s “High Water Everywhere”; and Bettye Lavette's heartfelt recollections of being pushed away from early blues as “Uncle Tomish” in the ‘60s before she nails “When I Woke Up This Morning.”[66] Stephen Thompson at NPR wrote that “watching Alabama Shakes' members tear into this brief but potent cover of "Killer Diller", you get insights into the magic of the equipment and studio, the timelessness of the song, and Alabama Shakes' own genre-and era-busting charisma.”[67] James Moore in Gigwise observed “This need for greatness within that three-minute take is captured perfectly in the film, moments of silence before a blue light indicates “go” seeping with nail-biting tension and atmosphere. In every case, the results are astounding and the artists always deliver. When you watch, this cinematic choice feels absolutely perfect, the lack of cuts capturing the immediacy of the song and reflecting the fact that the musicians have no choice to cut and start again either. Oh, and the sound...Wonderfully visceral, raw and untampered with, every original recording is layered with character and charisma, the beautifully complex machine always manages to draw the very best from its chosen subject. Handled with wonderful care, romanticism and respect for the technology and the incredible talent it facilitated, the film is a viewing experience like no other and should be sought out by music fans of all tastes and ages.”[39] Brian McCollum in the Detroit Free Press wrote that the film “brings a lost musical era back to life”[10] and praised “a documentary which pairs a scholarly eye for detail with a buoyant fan passion.”[10] Chris Willman in Variety praised the film for being “all about romance” and posited that “the ultimate star of this show is a meticulously reconstructed recording machine from the 1920s that seems to have talismanic qualities on those who enter its orbit even 80 years after it was last in use. This antiquated, cleaned up piece of studio equipment is so fetishistically photographed, it relegates the 19 musical acts that drop by for an old-school session to supporting players. Fortunately, it’s a stunt that pays off, in pristine contemporary recordings you can scarcely believe went directly through a cutting stylus direct to disc. Bernard MacMahon, who championed this project for the better part of this century, makes the best case for this beautiful monstrosity of a machine representing the pre-homogeneity democratization of American music.”[17] Robert Lloyd in the Los Angeles Times confided "I don’t mind telling you I got a little emotional watching this, and you might too."[68] Kurt Gardner in Blogcritics called the film “An amazing journey through musical history. Lovers of music and early Americana alike will be fascinated by Bernard MacMahon and Allison McGourty’s The American Epic Sessions. The enormous device, made of pulleys, flywheels, weights, and wood, was set up in a Los Angeles recording studio whose nondescript exterior gave no hint of the magic taking place inside. There, the film is lit in nostalgic, burnished hues, and loving close-ups of the marvelous contraption in operation are interspersed with performances by such talents as The Avett Brothers, Los Lobos, Alabama Shakes, Taj Mahal, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, and Elton John. Historically fascinating and musically entertaining, The American Epic Sessions was the perfect film to watch during SXSW at Austin’s historic Paramount Theatre, surrounded as we were by the ghosts of entertainers who’d graced the stage over its 100-year history.”[6] James Jackson in The Times wrote “none of these machines survive, but for this high-class film the engineering has been lovingly reassembled for today’s stars to try. It’s all very muso, but completely enriching too – watching Elton John compose a song with Jack White is a thrill.”[69] Euan Ferguson, in The Observer summarized “I have to say all acquitted themselves phenomenally. Everyone who has ever been even the tiniest bit interested in music should watch this.”[70]
The film has received a number of awards, including the Foxtel Audience Award at the 2016 Sydney Film Festival,[71][22].  At the 2016 Calgary International Film Festival, it won the Audience Award and garnered director Bernard MacMahon the Discovery Award.[21] The film was also nominated for a Primetime Emmy 2017 for Outstanding Musical Direction, Bernard MacMahon and Allison McGourty were nominated by the British Academy Film Awards in 2018 as Breakthrough Talents for The American Epic Sessions[23] and the film won a Grammy Award for Alabama Shakes performance of “Killer Diller Blues".[24]
Awards and nominations

Album
The original motion picture soundtrack was a three-LP and two-CD album released on June 9, 2017.[74] It contained many performances not featured in the film, including "One Mic" by Nas, " “Mama's Angel Child" by Jack White, "Come on In My Kitchen" by Stephen Stills, and "Josephine" by Pokey Lafarge.
Performances

Performers
Groups

Alabama Shakes
Zac Cockrell - Bass
Heath Fogg - Guitar
Brittany Howard - Vocals, Guitar
Steve Johnson - Drums
Ben Tanner - Piano
The Americans
Tim Carr - Steel Guitar
Jake Faulkner - Upright Bass
Patrick Ferris - Guitar
Zac Sokolow - Mandolin
The Avett Brothers
Scott Avett - Vocals, Banjo
Seth Avett - Vocals, Acoustc guitar
Bob Crawford - Upright Bass
Joe Kwon - Cello
Beck
Beck Hansen - Vocals And Guitar
Roger Manning - Piano
Emanuel Bennet - Vocals
Jennifer M. Brown - Vocals
Claire Hafteck - Vocals
Shana May Jackson - Vocals
Michelle Jones - Vocals
Fred Martin - Musical Director
Dwanna Orange - Vocals
Tai Phillips - Vocals
Kevin Shannon - Vocals
Ari Sorko-Ram - Vocals
Fawn Sorko-Ram - Vocals
Marc Sorko-Ram - Vocals
Frank Fairfield
Frank Fairfield - Vocals, Slide Guitar

Ana Gabriel
Jay Bellerose - Drums
Ana Gabriel - Vocals
Van Dyke Parks - Accordion
Omar Rodríguez-López - Guitar
Gabe Witcher - Fiddle
Rhiannon Giddens
Rhiannon Giddens - Vocals
Hubby Jenkins - Banjo
The Hawaiians
Dom Flemons - Guitar, Backup Vocals, Bones
Bobby Ingano - Lap Steel
Auntie Geri Kuhia - Vocals
Charlie Kaleo Oyama - Vocals
Fred Sokolow - Lap Steel
Elton John
Elton John - Vocals, Piano
Pokey Lafarge
Chloe Feoranzo - Clarinet
Joseph Glynn - Upright Bass
Adam Hoskins - Guitar
Ryan Koenig - Percussion
Pokey LaFarge - Vocals, Guitar
Matthew Meyer - Drums
TJ Muller - Cornet
Bettye LaVette
Bettye LaVette - Vocals
Los Lobos
David Hidalgo - Vocals, Requinto Jarocho
Conrad Lozano - Vocals, Guitarron
Louie Pérez - Vocals, Jarana
Cesar Rosas - Vocals, Guitar

Lost Bayou Ramblers
Robert Carruth - Guitar
Eric Heigle – Drums
André Michot - Accordion
Louis Michot - Vocals, Fiddle
Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal - Vocals, Ukelele
Steve Martin & Edie Brickell
Edie Brickell - Vocals
Steve Martin - Banjo
Ashley Monroe
Ashley Monroe - Vocals, guitar
Nas
Nas - Vocals
Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard
Merle Haggard - Vocals, Guitar
Willie Nelson - Vocals, Guitar
Jerron “Blind Boy” Paxton
Jerron "Blind Boy" Paxton - Vocals, Guitar
Raphael Saadiq
Raphael Saadiq - Vocals
Jack White
Carla Azar - Percussion
Dominic Davis - Upright Bass
Fats Kaplin - Mandolin
Lillie Mae Rische - Vocals, Fiddle
Jack White - Vocals, Guitar

Other musicians
Daru Jones - Drums
Alfredo Ortiz - Drums
Joshua Smith - Guitar

Footnotes

Bibliography
Wald, Elijah & McGourty, Allison & MacMahon, Bernard. American Epic: The First Time America Heard Itself. New York: Touchstone, 2017. ISBN978-1501135606.

 on IMDb


John Hanning Speke (4 May 1827– 15 September 1864) was an English explorer and officer in the British Indian Army who made three exploratory expeditions to Africa. He is most associated with the search for the source of the Nile and was the first European to reach Lake Victoria. He is also known for propounding the Hamitic hypothesis in 1863, in which he supposed that the Wahuma ethnic group were descendants of the biblical figure Ham, and had lighter skin and more Hamitic features than the Bantu over whom they ruled.[2][3]
Life
Speke was born on 4 May 1827 at Orleigh Court,[4] Buckland Brewer, near  Bideford, North Devon.[5]  In 1844 he was commissioned into the British Army and posted to India, where he served in the 46th Bengal Native Infantry under Sir Hugh Gough during the Punjab campaign and under Sir Colin Campbell during the First Anglo-Sikh War. He was promoted lieutenant in 1850 and captain in 1852.[6][7] He spent his leave exploring the Himalayan Mountains and Mount Everest and once crossed into Tibet.
In 1854 he made his first voyage to Africa, first arriving in Aden to ask permission of the Political Resident of this British Outpost to cross the Gulf of Aden and collect specimens in Somaliland for his family's natural history museum in Somerset.[8]  This was refused as Somaliland was considered rather dangerous.  Speke then asked to join an expedition about to leave for Somaliland led by the already famous Richard Burton who had Lt William Stroyan and Lt. Herne recruited to come along but a recent death left the expedition one person short. Speke was accepted because he had traveled in remote regions alone before, had experience collecting and preserving natural history specimens and had done astronomical surveying. Initially the party split with Burton going to Harrar, Abyssinia, and Speke going to Wadi Nogal in Somaliland . During this trip Speke experienced trouble with the local guide who cheated him and after they returned to Aden, Burton who had also returned, saw that the guide was punished and jailed and killed. This incident probably led to larger troubles later on.[8] Now all 4 men traveled to Berbera on the coast of Somaliland from where they wanted to trek inland towards the Ogaden.  While camped outside Berbera they were attacked at night by 200 spear wielding Somalis.[8] During this fracas Speke ducked under the flap of a tent to get a clearer view of the scene and Burton thought he was retreating and called for Speke to stand firm. Speke did so and then charged forward with great courage shooting several attackers.  The misunderstanding of this incident laid the foundation of their disputes and dislikes much later. Stroyan was killed by a spear, Burton was seriously wounded by a javelin impaling both cheeks and Speke was wounded and the only one captured, Herne came away unwounded. Speke was tied up and stabbed several times with spears, one thrust cutting through his thigh along his femur and exiting.  Showing tremendous determination he used his bound fists to give his attacker a facial punch and this gave Speke an opportunity to escape,[8] albeit he was followed by a group of Somalis and he had to dodge spears as he was running for his life.  Rejoining Burton and Herne the trio eventually managed to escape with a boat passing along the coast. The expedition was a severe financial loss and Speke's natural history specimens from his earlier leg were used to make up for some of it.  Speke handed Burton his diaries that Burton used as an appendix in his own book on his travels to Harrar. It seemed unlikely that the two would join again and Burton believed that he would not lead an expedition to the interior of Africa, his fervent hope, after this failed journey.[8]
Search for the Nile source 1856–1859

In 1856, Speke and Burton went to East Africa to find the Great Lakes, which were rumored to exist in the center of the continent. It was hoped that the expedition would locate the source of the Nile. The journey, which started from Zanzibar Island in June 1857, was extremely strenuous and both men fell ill from a variety of tropical diseases once they went inland. By 7 November 1857 they had traveled over 600 miles on foot and donkey and they reached Kazeh (Tabora), where they rested and recuperated among Arab slave traders who had a settlement there. In Kazeh Burton became gravely ill and Speke went temporarily blind as they travelled further west.[8] After an arduous journey, the two arrived in Ujiji in February 1858 and became the first Europeans to reach Lake Tanganyika (although Speke was partially blind at this point and could not properly see the lake).[8] They decided to explore the lake but it was vast and they only could get small canoes from the locals.  Burton was too ill to journey and thus Speke crossed the lake with a small crew and some canoes to try to rent a larger vessel from an Arab who, they were told, had a large boat and lived on the west side of the lake.[8] (Lake Tanganyika is over 400 miles long on the north-south axis but only about 30 miles wide.) During this trip Speke, marooned on an island, suffered severely when he became temporarily deaf after a beetle crawled into his ear and he tried to remove it with a knife. Unable to rent the larger vessel from the Arab, Speke returned. The pair were unable to explore Lake Tanganyika properly and they initially misunderstood that a river flowed out of it from the north side. A few weeks later Sidi Mubarak Bombay confirmed via locals that the river flowed into the lake; however, since neither man actually saw this river, this remained a source of speculation.[8]
Speke's travels to Lake Victoria
They had also heard of a second lake to the north-east, and in May 1858, they decided to explore it on the way back to the coast. But Burton was too weak to make the trip and thus stayed in base camp when the main caravan halted again at Kazeh.[8] Speke went on a 47-day side trip that was 452 miles up and down in which he took 34 men with Bombay and Mabruki as his captains[8] and on 30 July 1858 became the first European to see Lake Victoria and the first to map it.[9] It was this lake that eventually proved to be the source of the River Nile. However, much of the expedition's survey equipment had been lost at this point and thus vital questions about the height and extent of the lake could not be answered easily. Speke's eyes were still bothering him and he only saw a small part of the southern end of the lake and his view was blocked by islands in the lake so he could not judge the size of the lake well. However, Speke did estimate the elevation of Lake Victoria at 4000 feet by observing the temperature at which water boiled at that level.[8] (This lake's being substantially higher than Lake Tanganyika did make it a more likely candidate for the source of the Nile.)
From the beginning, the relationship of Speke and Burton was one of opposites; Burton considered Speke inferior linguistically and a less experienced traveler in remote regions (which was partially true) but Burton himself appears to have been jealous and far less able to relate to the safari caravan to keep the expedition motivated and moving (a vital factor as they were completely dependent on their safari crew).[8] While Speke enjoyed hunting and thus provided the caravan with meat, Burton was not much interested in such pursuits. Burton was appointed the head of the expedition and considered Speke the second in command, although the pair seemed to have shared the hardships and labors of the journey pretty much evenly. Once it became clear that Speke might have found the source of the Nile the relationship deteriorated further. Why Burton did not journey back to Lake Victoria with Speke to make a better reconnoitre of the Lake after Speke returned to base camp in Kazeh is unclear. Burton was incapacitated and had to be carried by bearers but this had been true for a great deal of the trip.[8]
While Speke and Burton were instrumental in bringing the source of the Nile to the wider world and were the first to record and map this section of Africa, the efforts and labors of Sidi Mubarak Bombay and Mabruki were instrumental in discovering the lake.[8] Bombay was captured as a child near Lake Nyasa by slave traders and was sold to Indian merchants on the coast of Africa who took him to Sindh.[8] Thus he spoke Hindustani and after his master's death he sailed back to Zanzibar where Speke and Burton met and hired him.[8] Both spoke Hindustani, which greatly facilitated the travel in the interior as Bombay spoke several native languages beside Swahili. Speke was much attached to Bombay and spoke highly of his honesty and conscientiousness. Bombay's efforts in dealing with hostile tribes, interpreting and keeping the safari crew on track was a great help to the expedition.[8] Less is known of Mabruki, the other caravan leader, but he was later known as Mabruki Speke,[8] and like Bombay became one of East Africa's great caravan leaders and was also a member of the Yao tribe like Bombay. Because of Speke's recommendations both Bombay and Mabruki served on Henry Stanley's 1871 expedition to find Livingstone.[8]
Return to England and debate over the source of the Nile
On 26 September 1859 the return journey from Kazeh was started with 152 porters; both men had to return as their military leaves were coming to and end although Jeal[8] contends that they could have extended the trip by asking for an extension as their clear mission statement of the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) was to find the source of the Nile. The expedition had lost a great many people [8] through desertions, disease and hostilities but in Kazeh, on the return journey, Mabruki had recruited local porters. Again Speke and Burton suffered from severe illnesses and had to be carried in a litter (machilla) by the porters some of the way. Once Speke and Burton were back on the coast they went by ship to Zanzibar and then traveled to Aden. When back at the coast Burton had written a letter to Norton Shaw of the Royal Geographical Society (which had partially sponsored the journey) in which Burton enclosed a map of Lake Victoria made by Speke and wrote "there are grave reasons for believing it (the map) to be the source of the principal feeder of the White Nile."[8] Once in Aden, Burton was not granted a medical certificate to travel and thus Speke left on HMS Furious and arrived in England on 8 May 1859.  Burton was not far behind and he arrived on 21 May 1859.
Now further disagreements developed; Burton maintained that they had promised each other in Aden not to make public announcements till they both were back in England and Burton accused Speke of a breach of promise by publicly claiming the source of the Nile was found on their trip. Burton now turned against the theory that Lake Victoria was the source of the Nile (and now said the river flowing out of the north side of Lake Tanganyika was the source) and thus also reversing himself from the position he took in the letter to Norton Shaw. In that same letter to Shaw, Burton had also stated that Speke would present his findings to the RGS as he was prevented from traveling as he was in poor health and would be in England a short time after Speke.[8]:105–111 Jeal concludes that Burton's claim of a promise from Speke to not go to the RGS was improbable. The jealousies and accusations between the two men got ever greater, further inflamed by their respective circles of friends and people who stood to gain from the feud such as book publishers and newspapers.  Burton was still extremely weak and once he appeared in front of a committee of the RGS he was not able to make a convincing case for his leading a second expedition to settle the outstanding matters about the Nile. The rift widened, and perhaps became irreversible, when Speke was chosen to lead a subsequent expedition instead of Burton.[10] The two presented joint papers concerning the expedition to the Royal Geographical Society on 13 June 1859.[11]
Second journey to the source of the Nile, 1860-1861
Together with James Augustus Grant, Speke left Portsmouth on 27 April 1860 and departed from Zanzibar in October 1860. The expedition approached the lake from the south west but Grant was often sick and was not able to travel with Speke much of the time.  As during the first trip, in this period of history, Arab slave traders had created an atmosphere of great distrust towards any foreigners entering central Africa, and most tribes either fled or fought when encountering them as they assumed all outsiders to be potential slavers.[8] Lacking a great deal of guns and soldiers, the only thing the expedition could do was make peace offerings to locals, and both men were severely delayed and their supplies depleted by demands for gifts and passage fees by smaller local chieftains. After numerous months of delays Speke reached Lake Victoria on 28 July 1862, and then travelled on the west side around Lake Victoria but only seeing it from time to time; but on the north side of the lake, Speke found the Nile flowing out of it and discovered the Ripon Falls.[8] Whilst being at the court of Muteesa I, the Kabaka (or King) of Buganda, the local kingdom, who treated Speke with kindness, he was given two girls of about 12 and 18 out of the entourage of the Queen Mother. Speke took a serious liking to the elder, Meri, whom he fell in love with, according to his diaries (which were redacted when they were published as books later).[8] While Meri proved loyal to Speke and fulfilled her task at being a "wife" as commanded by the Queen Mother, she showed no emotional attachment to Speke, and this left Speke heart-broken because he sought a relationship of mutual emotional feelings.  Speke spent several months at the court of Mutesa and when he had given up winning Mere's heart, tried to arrange a better relationship for Mere with another man, without success it seems.[8] Finally, given permission by Mutesa in June 1862 to leave, Speke then travelled down the Nile now reunited with Grant. Because of travel restrictions placed by the local chieftains, slave raiding parties, tribal wars and the difficulty of the terrain, Speke was not able to map the entire flow of the Nile from Lake Victoria north.  Why he did not make more efforts to do so is not clear, but the enormous hardships of the journey must have played a large role.[8] By January 1863 Speke and Grant reached Gondokoro in Southern Sudan, where he met Samuel Baker and his "wife". (Her name was Florence von Sass and she had been rescued by Baker from a slave market in Vidin during a hunting trip in Bulgaria.)[8] Speke had expected to meet John Petherick and his wife Katherine at Gondokoro, as they had been sent by the RGS south along the Nile to meet Speke and Grant.[8] However the Pethericks were not there but on a side expedition to trade ivory, as they had run out of funds for their expedition. This caused some hard feelings between Pethrick and Speke, and Baker played into this so he could assume a greater role as an explorer and co-discoverer of the Nile.  Speke, via Baker's ship, then continued to Khartoum  from which he sent a celebrated telegram to London: "The Nile is settled."[12]
Speke's expedition did not resolve the issue, however. Burton claimed that because Speke had not followed the Nile from the place it flowed out of Lake Victoria to Gondokoro, he could not be sure they were the same river.[13]
Baker and Florence, meanwhile, stayed in Gondokoro and tried to settle the flow of the river from there to Lake Victoria by travelling south. They eventually, after tremendous hardships, such as being racked by fevers and held up by rulers for months on end, found Lake Albert and the Murchison Falls.[14]
Return to London and third expedition
Speke and Grant now returned to England where they arrived in June 1863 and were welcomed as genuine heroes.[8] This did not last long in Speke’s case however; disputes with Burton, who was relentless in his criticisms and a very compelling public speaker and gifted writer, left Speke’s discoveries in less than an ideal light.  Speke had also committed to write a book for John Blackwood which he found hard and time consuming as he was not naturally a gifted writer.[8]  He failed to give a good and full report to the RGS for many months and thus in effect was not defending his positions of discovery.  In addition Speke had a public dispute with the Pethericks who had by and large acted according to their RGS instructions but Speke had felt they had not.[8]  All this led Roderick Murchison, president of the Royal Geographical Society, to start disliking Speke and a third expedition, led by Speke, was becoming less likely as it would have to be funded by the people Speke was now not on good terms with.[8] It appears that just as Burton had overplayed his hand after the first trip Speke now did the same. Now the RGS asked that a public debate should be held between Speke and Burton to try and settle the Nile.[8]
Death

A debate was planned between Speke and Burton before the geographical section of the British Association in Bath on 16 September 1864,[15] but Speke had died the previous afternoon from a self-inflicted gunshot wound while shooting at Neston Park in Wiltshire.[16]
A contemporary account of the events surrounding his death appeared in The Times:
Speke set out from his uncle's house in company with his cousin, George Fuller, and a gamekeeper, Daniel Davis, for an afternoon's shooting in Neston Park. He fired both barrels in the course of the afternoon and about 4 p.m. Davis was marking birds for the two guns who were about 60 yards apart. Speke was seen to climb onto a stone wall about 2 feet high: for the moment he was without his gun. A few seconds later there was a report and when George Fuller rushed up Speke's gun was found behind the wall in the field into which Speke had jumped. The right barrel was at half-cock: only the left barrel was discharged. Speke who was bleeding seriously was sensible for a few minutes and said feebly, "Don't move me." George Fuller went for assistance leaving Davis to attend him; but Speke survived for only about 15 minutes, and when Mr. Snow, surgeon of Box, arrived he was already dead. There was a single wound in his left side such as would be made by a cartridge if the muzzle of the gun—a Lancaster breech-loader without a safety guard—were close to the body; the charge had passed upwards through the lungs dividing all the large blood vessels over the heart, though missing the heart itself.

An inquest concluded that the death was accidental, a conclusion supported by his only biographer Tim Jeal,[8] though the idea of suicide has appealed to some.[17]  Bearing in mind, however, that the fatal wound was just below Speke's armpit, suicide seems most unlikely. Burton, however, could not set aside his own strong dislike of Speke and was vocal in spreading the idea of a suicide, claiming that Speke feared the debate.[8]  Speke was buried in Dowlish Wake, Somerset, five miles away from the ancestral home of the Speke family.[10]
Source of the Nile is settled, 1874–1877
In 1874–1877, Henry Stanley mounted a new expedition and took a boat along the entire shore of Lake Victoria; he established that Lake Tanganyika and the Nile were not connected in any way, and he explored the headwaters of Lake Edward.  It was now proven that Speke had been right all along, and that the Nile flowed from Lake Victoria via Ripon Falls and Murchison Falls to Lake Albert and from there to Gondokoro.

Scientific works

Much of Speke's Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile is a description of the physical features of Africa's races, in whose condition he found "a strikingly existing proof of the Holy Scriptures."[2] Living alongside the negroes, Speke found a "superior race" of "men who were as unlike as they could be from the common order of the natives" due to their "fine oval faces, large eyes, and high noses, denoting the best blood of Abyssinia" –; that is, Ethiopia.[2][18] This "race" comprised many tribes, including the Watusi (Tutsi). Speke described their physical appearances as having retained–despite the hair-curling and skin-darkening effects of intermarriage–"a high stamp of Asiatic feature, of which a marked characteristic is a bridged instead of bridgeless nose".[2][19]
Legacy
Eponyms
Two species of African reptiles are named in his honor: Speke's hinge-back tortoise, Kinixys spekii; and Speke's sand lizard, Heliobolus spekii.[20] Two species of antelope are named in his honor; Tragelaphus spekii and Gazella spekei.
Film
The film Mountains of the Moon (1990), starring Scottish actor Iain Glen as Speke, related the story of the Burton-Speke controversy, portrayed as having been unjustifiably incited by Speke's publisher to stimulate book sales.[21]
[22]

Further reading

 — Includes Charles Waterton, John Hanning Speke, Henry Seebohm and Mary Kingsley.
 (the only full-length biography).

 at Project Gutenberg
 by John Hanning Speke
 by Richard Francis Burton
 at Internet Archive

 has facsimiles of all of Speke's  freely available online, as well as his (corrected) DNB entry, obituary and inquest report from The Times, and several portraits and photographs, together with material on his companion James Grant and the complete works of his former friend, Richard Francis Burton.

When was Lake Victoria found by John Hanning Speke?