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William Dampier
'William Dampier' was published in 1889. William Dampier (1651-1715) was one of the world's true swashbucklers; not only the first Englishman to explore Australia and New Guinea, he circumnavigated the globe three times before age sixty. In this cogent biography, W. Clark Russell presents Dampier's great adventures and vast achievements.
240 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1889
About the author
William Clark Russell
454 books17 followersWilliam Clark Russell was a popular American writer of nautical novels and horror stories.
Russell gained his experience of sea life during eight years' service as a sailor. Then he was a journalist on the staff of the Daily Chronicle before he took to writing his many novels, only a few of which are listed here.
As a testament to the popularity of Russell's novels in his day, one can read about him at the beginning of the Sherlock Holmes story "The Five Orange Pips," where Doctor Watson is shown 'deep in one of Clark Russell's fine sea stories'.
According to modern scholar John Sutherland, The Wreck of the Grosvenor (1877) was "the most popular mid-Victorian melodrama of adventure and heroism at sea."[1] It remained popular and widely read in illustrated editions well into the first half of the 20th century.[2] It was Russell best selling and most well known novel.[2] Russell noted in a preface, the novel 'found its first and best welcome in the United States.'[1]
William Clark Russell was the son of composer Henry Russell, the brother of impresario Henry Russell, and the half brother of conductor Landon Ronald. His horror work has similarities to the nautical horror stories of William Hope Hodgson.
Russell gained his experience of sea life during eight years' service as a sailor. Then he was a journalist on the staff of the Daily Chronicle before he took to writing his many novels, only a few of which are listed here.
As a testament to the popularity of Russell's novels in his day, one can read about him at the beginning of the Sherlock Holmes story "The Five Orange Pips," where Doctor Watson is shown 'deep in one of Clark Russell's fine sea stories'.
According to modern scholar John Sutherland, The Wreck of the Grosvenor (1877) was "the most popular mid-Victorian melodrama of adventure and heroism at sea."[1] It remained popular and widely read in illustrated editions well into the first half of the 20th century.[2] It was Russell best selling and most well known novel.[2] Russell noted in a preface, the novel 'found its first and best welcome in the United States.'[1]
William Clark Russell was the son of composer Henry Russell, the brother of impresario Henry Russell, and the half brother of conductor Landon Ronald. His horror work has similarities to the nautical horror stories of William Hope Hodgson.
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March 13, 2019
The author seems quite taken with Dampier. The thing that distinguishes him among his buccaneer piers was his ability to observe and clearly describe his surroundings. Sailing leadership has long been politically driven so that people without influence had a difficult time getting good positions. This history droned on for me. The author seemed to get excited about mundane things, probably the result of some discovery during tedious research. There are better histories of Dampier.
Displaying 1 of 1 review