What do you think?
Rate this book
Arctic Genius: Sir William Edward Parry: The Original Arctic Explorer
William Parry, Arctic explorer and naval reformer, shaped exploration, science, and the Navy’s transition to steam.
Parry’s life began two hundred and twenty years ago. The Revolutionary Wars against France and Napoleon were just beginning. His naval career started in wartime and lasted throughout the next fifty years during which significant changes took place in the Royal Navy. He pioneered Arctic exploration, led a memorable albeit unsuccessful expedition to reach the North Pole, reformed and improved the operations of the Hydrographers office, and oversaw the difficult transition from sail to steam power in British warships. Throughout his career he strove to improve the educational standards and living conditions of all lower deck sailors.
He was knighted by William IV alongside his close friend John Franklin in 1829. Both survived years of hardship and became national and international celebrities. Tragically though it was Parry and his in laws, the aristocratic Stanley family, who were partly responsible for Franklin’s death in 1846 commanding one more expedition to complete the Northwest Passage.
During their lifetime Parry and Franklin contributed new information on sciences only just emerging from the generalised description of ‘natural philosophy.’ Subjects such as, geography, meteorology, geology, and astronomy. Parry was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London and was an expert navigator and fearless surveyor. His grave at Greenwich Hospital was destroyed during an air raid in World War II.
This book is intended to secure his well-deserved place at the forefront of British Arctic exploration and science.
Parry’s life began two hundred and twenty years ago. The Revolutionary Wars against France and Napoleon were just beginning. His naval career started in wartime and lasted throughout the next fifty years during which significant changes took place in the Royal Navy. He pioneered Arctic exploration, led a memorable albeit unsuccessful expedition to reach the North Pole, reformed and improved the operations of the Hydrographers office, and oversaw the difficult transition from sail to steam power in British warships. Throughout his career he strove to improve the educational standards and living conditions of all lower deck sailors.
He was knighted by William IV alongside his close friend John Franklin in 1829. Both survived years of hardship and became national and international celebrities. Tragically though it was Parry and his in laws, the aristocratic Stanley family, who were partly responsible for Franklin’s death in 1846 commanding one more expedition to complete the Northwest Passage.
During their lifetime Parry and Franklin contributed new information on sciences only just emerging from the generalised description of ‘natural philosophy.’ Subjects such as, geography, meteorology, geology, and astronomy. Parry was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London and was an expert navigator and fearless surveyor. His grave at Greenwich Hospital was destroyed during an air raid in World War II.
This book is intended to secure his well-deserved place at the forefront of British Arctic exploration and science.
224 pages, Hardcover
Published March 30, 2025
2 people are currently reading
14 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 30, 2025
2.5ish. Another day, another arctic explorer's biography... you know me. I thought this book did draw a solid picture of Parry as the man, as well as of his life, though as a man who was sensible enough to survive the arctic and respected enough to find work in the Australian colonies, the packet service and finally as a governor of Greenwich Hospital, there isn't quite enough excitement for me. Not to rag on Parry's life, nothing against him, I'm glad back pain and his wife dying were the worst tragedies of his life, but... not quite the historical scandals, achievements and tragedies I like to read about, lol.
My main issue with this book is that there were MANY grievous errors in the copy in regards spelling, grammar and punctuation, which made me feel as though this has not been edited or proofread AT ALL. Obviously I blame the publishing company for this more than the author, but it made it feel like reading a first draft, and as a consequence undermines the historical research I hope the author did – because if there are some very basic errors in it, how can I trust that the historical facts are all in order? (And I don't know enough about Parry to know if they were, so I'm trusting Ware on those... but when it came to lines about the Franklin Expedition like "Crozier was the only officer to have encountered paddle steamers before, in the Congo expedition" I WAS like... er, did you mean: Fitzjames? In the Euphrates???) So welp.
My main issue with this book is that there were MANY grievous errors in the copy in regards spelling, grammar and punctuation, which made me feel as though this has not been edited or proofread AT ALL. Obviously I blame the publishing company for this more than the author, but it made it feel like reading a first draft, and as a consequence undermines the historical research I hope the author did – because if there are some very basic errors in it, how can I trust that the historical facts are all in order? (And I don't know enough about Parry to know if they were, so I'm trusting Ware on those... but when it came to lines about the Franklin Expedition like "Crozier was the only officer to have encountered paddle steamers before, in the Congo expedition" I WAS like... er, did you mean: Fitzjames? In the Euphrates???) So welp.
Displaying 1 of 1 review