Stanleys life before arriving in the Congo in 1873 gives us insights in the wider world at this time.  It gives us a window to the plight of the poor in the 19th century Britain, through the American Civil war and the expansion of the American West and the impact of some of the peoples living there.  We also visit Abyssinia and West Africa, where the British Empire were in conflict with the African Empires of these lands.  It's an optional interval - but fascinating nonetheless.