From David Livingstone to Charles de Foucauld, from Pierre Savorgan de Brazza to General Gordon, from the 'Sirdar' Kitchener to Jean-Baptiste Marchand, these standard-bearers of the 'civilising mission', armed with Bible or rifle, often both, became widely celebrated in their metropoles, with their exploits splashed across the front pages of the penny press, inspiring generations of biographers, painters and, later, film-makers. Berny Sebe explores in comparative perspective the ways in which heroes of the British and French empires in Africa were selected, manufactured and packaged from the height of 'New Imperialism' until the Second World War.