A record of the experiences of a young Canadian caught up in European expansion into Africa in the 1880s, African Exploits provides a disturbing record of William Stairs's two African expeditions and the devastating clash of cultures that occurred during the imperial scramble for the "dark continent.".

Few diaries of the period convey better than Stairs's the nature and course of imperial expeditions in Africa during the nineteenth century and the psychological and moral corruption caused by absolute power. Stairs's diaries of the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition present a candid, personal account of the long and arduous venture, including an unflattering assessment of Stanley, whom Stairs described as cruel, secretive and selfish.

The Katanga diaries, written more as an official than a personal account of the expedition, were intended partly to provide information useful to those intent upon exploiting the African hinterland.