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A Pirate of Exquisite Mind: The Life of William Dampier: Explorer, Naturalist, and Buccaneer
Seventeenth-century pirate genius William Dampier sailed around the world three times when crossing the Pacific was a major feat, was the first explorer to visit all five continents, and reached Australia eighty years before Captain Cook. His exploits created a sensation in Europe. Swift and Defoe used his experiences in writing Gulliver's Travels and Robinson Crusoe . Darwin incorporated his concept of "sub-species" into the theory of evolution. Dampier's description of breadfruit was the impetus for Captain Bligh's voyage on the Bounty . He was so influential that today he has more than one thousand entries in the Oxford English Dictionary, including such words as chopsticks, barbecue, and kumquat. Anthropologists still use his work.
372 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
64 people are currently reading
3618 people want to read
About the author
Diana Preston
42 books116 followersBorn and raised in London, Diana Preston studied Modern History at Oxford University, where she first became involved in journalism. After earning her degree, she became a freelance writer of feature and travel articles for national UK newspapers and magazines and has subsequently reviewed books for a number of publications, including The Wall Street Journal and The Los Angeles Times. She has also been a broadcaster for the BBC and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and has been featured in various television documentaries.
Eight years ago, her decision to write "popular" history led her to The Road to Culloden Moor: Bonnie Prince Charlie and the '45 Rebellion (Constable UK, 1995). It was followed by A First Rate Tragedy: Robert Falcon Scott and the Race to the South Pole (Houghton Mifflin, 1998), The Boxer Rebellion (Walker & Company, 2000), Lusitania: An Epic Tragedy (Walker & Company, 2002) and now, Before The Fallout: From Marie Curie to Hiroshima.
In choosing her topics, Preston looks for stories and events which are both compelling in their own right and also help readers gain a wider understanding of the past. She is fascinated by the human experience-what motivates people to think and act as they do‹and the individual stories that comprise the larger historical picture. Preston spent over two years researching Lusitania: An Epic Tragedy. She did a remarkable amount of original research for the book, and is the first author to make full use of the German archives and newly discovered papers that illuminate both the human tragedy and subsequent plots to cover up what really happened. Preston traveled to all the key locations of the tragedy, experiencing firsthand how cold the water off the Irish coast near Cobh would have been in early May when the Lusitania sank, and how eerie it was to stand inside what remains of the U-20 (now at the Strandingsmuseum in West Jutland, Denmark) where the U-boat captain watched the Lusitania through his periscope and gave the order to fire. Of the many artifacts she reviewed, it was her extensive reading of the diaries and memoirs of survivors that had the biggest impact on her. The experience of looking at photographs and touching the scraps of clothing of both survivors and those who died when the Lusitania sank provided her with chilling pictures: The heartbreaking image of a young girl whose sister's hand slipped away from her was one that kept Preston up at night.
When not writing, Preston is an avid traveler with her husband, Michael. Together, they have sojourned throughout India, Asia, Africa, and Antarctica, and have climbed Mount Kinabalu in Borneo, Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, and Mount Roraima in Venezuela. Their adventures have also included gorilla-tracking in Zaire and camping their way across the Namibian desert.
Diana and Michael Preston live in London, England.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 128 reviews
March 16, 2019
William Dampier was the first person to circumnavigate the globe 3 times! He visited and mapped portions of Western Australia some 80 years before Capt. James Cook. More importantly, he was a keen observer of natural phenomena such as wind and currents, becoming an expert navigator and producing some of the finest and most reliable maps which were used for centuries. His observations about animals, nature, and other peoples and cultures around the world were unparalleled. He associated with the top minds of the Royal Society, contributing enormously to their knowledge, and influenced such famous writers as Daniel Defoe and Jonathan Swift. So, why aren’t we already familiar with him? Simple. He was a pirate.
During his first two times around the world, he kept meticulous journals and took copious notes of what he saw, showing not just an incredibly bright mind but an openness and tolerance for other cultures and experiences. After returning to England the first time, his journals were published and became an instant sensation:
“His books provided a new kind of travel writing. They gave fresh substance to the armchair reader’s journey by appealing to all five senses. As the reader went ‘round the globe with Dampier,’ as Defoe put it, he not only saw what an anteater looked like but smelled its musky scent; he heard the sound of Aboriginal words; he ran his fingers over the glossy skin of an avocado and felt the roughness of a ray skin; he tasted the flesh of a Vietnamese frog and crunched locusts between his teeth. So great was the detail that the reader learned the price of travel - the uncertainties, dangers, and risk of illness... - as well as the elation when seabirds heralded land and local people proved friendly.” (page 325)
This really is a first-rate biography of a forgotten luminary of history, and the Prestons have done a fantastic job of piecing together the man’s life from the sometimes fragmentary sources. As a pirate, Dampier was not a bloodthirsty villain, and never made much money from it (he was a pirate in his younger years and on his 1st and 3rd times around the world). As an expedition leader (his 2nd trip), he was out of his element and made serious mistakes. But as a naturalist, his observations and advice were far superior to any of his contemporaries, and would influence many others including Charles Darwin. If you’re looking for a great “armchair adventure,” this is an excellent read.
During his first two times around the world, he kept meticulous journals and took copious notes of what he saw, showing not just an incredibly bright mind but an openness and tolerance for other cultures and experiences. After returning to England the first time, his journals were published and became an instant sensation:
“His books provided a new kind of travel writing. They gave fresh substance to the armchair reader’s journey by appealing to all five senses. As the reader went ‘round the globe with Dampier,’ as Defoe put it, he not only saw what an anteater looked like but smelled its musky scent; he heard the sound of Aboriginal words; he ran his fingers over the glossy skin of an avocado and felt the roughness of a ray skin; he tasted the flesh of a Vietnamese frog and crunched locusts between his teeth. So great was the detail that the reader learned the price of travel - the uncertainties, dangers, and risk of illness... - as well as the elation when seabirds heralded land and local people proved friendly.” (page 325)
This really is a first-rate biography of a forgotten luminary of history, and the Prestons have done a fantastic job of piecing together the man’s life from the sometimes fragmentary sources. As a pirate, Dampier was not a bloodthirsty villain, and never made much money from it (he was a pirate in his younger years and on his 1st and 3rd times around the world). As an expedition leader (his 2nd trip), he was out of his element and made serious mistakes. But as a naturalist, his observations and advice were far superior to any of his contemporaries, and would influence many others including Charles Darwin. If you’re looking for a great “armchair adventure,” this is an excellent read.
November 7, 2015
Quite an amazing story about a man whose story has fallen between the cracks of history; his achievements often attributed to those who came after him; his pioneering works overshadowed by those who stood on his shoulders.
William Dampier's fall into obscurity is possibly the result of changing social ethics. Did the English government want to give the honour of first contact between Europeans and indigenous Australians to a group of thirsty buccaneers led by William Dampier? Buccaneering was quite respectable in the seventeenth century but was seen as equivalent to piracy in the eighteenth.
Dampier went to the Caribbean to the estate of an English squire but, even before he went, he was concerned he would become a victim of human trafficking. At the time, men could be assaulted just walking down the road and bundled off, press-ganged into the brutal regime of Royal Navy completely against their will. Or they could go to the pub for a quiet drink and wake up on board a ship bound for the plantations of the West Indies. If they were lucky, they'd discover they'd 'signed' papers consigning them to indentured servitude - not slavery.
Dampier feared losing his freedom. Ironically, although he chose to link up with the buccaneers because of their democratic decision-making, he was to eventually become so valuable for his navigation skills that he was almost a prisoner of the captain's whim. If navigators were prized, even more so were surgeons. After many adventures, Dampier once found himself taken prisoner by a mutineering crew simply because he happened to accompany the surgeon's assistant back to the ship.
Buccaneering held out many lures to men at the time. First, freedom - at least in the form of the democracy practised by buccaneers to which a crew member could appeal. There was also the prospect of sharing in a fortune if a great prize ship of an enemy fleet could be captured. In addition, there was government sanction - and thus, to a small degree, protection - in the case of attacks on the ships and towns of the enemies of England.
In addition, Dampier found buccaneering provided ample opportunity to indulge his curiosity and sense of adventure. He loved inquiring into ‘the various and wonderful Works of God in different parts of the world.’
A tolerant man in an intolerant, vicious age, he was also a great naturalist, hydrographer, meteorologist and writer. His book A New Voyage Round the World: The Journal of an English Buccaneer ignited a vogue for travel writing and was to hugely influence English fiction for some centuries. Daniel Defoe borrowed heavily from him for Robinson Crusoe and Jonathan Swift not only had a map in Gulliver's Travels, showing Lilliput to be right in the middle of Western Australia, he based his characters, the Yahoos, on Dampier's description of the first Australians. Sir Walter Scott and Samuel Taylor Coleridge was also influenced by him. He contributed according to the authors, 1000 new words to the English language (though other sources say 80). Words like 'avocado', 'barbecue', 'chopsticks'.
His influence in his own era was massive - his maps, his ocean current charts, his details of winds so exact that Captain James Cook used them with approval almost a century later.
With the single exception of Western Australia, where Dampier is well remembered as an early explorer, his fame has now largely sunk into obscurity.
This excellent book goes a long way towards redressing that.
William Dampier's fall into obscurity is possibly the result of changing social ethics. Did the English government want to give the honour of first contact between Europeans and indigenous Australians to a group of thirsty buccaneers led by William Dampier? Buccaneering was quite respectable in the seventeenth century but was seen as equivalent to piracy in the eighteenth.
Dampier went to the Caribbean to the estate of an English squire but, even before he went, he was concerned he would become a victim of human trafficking. At the time, men could be assaulted just walking down the road and bundled off, press-ganged into the brutal regime of Royal Navy completely against their will. Or they could go to the pub for a quiet drink and wake up on board a ship bound for the plantations of the West Indies. If they were lucky, they'd discover they'd 'signed' papers consigning them to indentured servitude - not slavery.
Dampier feared losing his freedom. Ironically, although he chose to link up with the buccaneers because of their democratic decision-making, he was to eventually become so valuable for his navigation skills that he was almost a prisoner of the captain's whim. If navigators were prized, even more so were surgeons. After many adventures, Dampier once found himself taken prisoner by a mutineering crew simply because he happened to accompany the surgeon's assistant back to the ship.
Buccaneering held out many lures to men at the time. First, freedom - at least in the form of the democracy practised by buccaneers to which a crew member could appeal. There was also the prospect of sharing in a fortune if a great prize ship of an enemy fleet could be captured. In addition, there was government sanction - and thus, to a small degree, protection - in the case of attacks on the ships and towns of the enemies of England.
In addition, Dampier found buccaneering provided ample opportunity to indulge his curiosity and sense of adventure. He loved inquiring into ‘the various and wonderful Works of God in different parts of the world.’
A tolerant man in an intolerant, vicious age, he was also a great naturalist, hydrographer, meteorologist and writer. His book A New Voyage Round the World: The Journal of an English Buccaneer ignited a vogue for travel writing and was to hugely influence English fiction for some centuries. Daniel Defoe borrowed heavily from him for Robinson Crusoe and Jonathan Swift not only had a map in Gulliver's Travels, showing Lilliput to be right in the middle of Western Australia, he based his characters, the Yahoos, on Dampier's description of the first Australians. Sir Walter Scott and Samuel Taylor Coleridge was also influenced by him. He contributed according to the authors, 1000 new words to the English language (though other sources say 80). Words like 'avocado', 'barbecue', 'chopsticks'.
His influence in his own era was massive - his maps, his ocean current charts, his details of winds so exact that Captain James Cook used them with approval almost a century later.
With the single exception of Western Australia, where Dampier is well remembered as an early explorer, his fame has now largely sunk into obscurity.
This excellent book goes a long way towards redressing that.
March 14, 2015
One of the foremost figures of the age of exploration, the English sailor William Dampier (1651–1715) rose from obscure beginnings to earn fame as an explorer, writer, and scientist. His contributions to virtually every field of natural science were astonishing, and informed generations of explorers and naturalists including Cook, Humboldt, and Darwin. He was also a notorious pirate, and it is the apparent contradiction between the ever-curious and meticulous naturalist and the opportunistic and ruthless buccaneer that the Prestons concern themselves with in A Pirate of Exquisite Mind.
Dampier is a fascinating subject, a self-made man who learned to play many roles throughout his life. The Prestons do him justice, not only rightly praising his scientific observations and skill as a sailor, but also never downplaying the savage nature of his many crimes as a pirate (in fact, some of the chapters concerning piracy would be best avoided by the more squeamish reader), or ignoring the incompetance as a leader which dogged him throughout his later career.
This is not just a character study, but an adventure story. The dangers of piracy and exploration are captured in thrilling detail, no doubt due to the authors' reliance on Dampier's and his crew's own accounts, and by keeping a strong pace and using consistently clear language. Throughout, the authors manage to capture the savagery and wonder of Dampier's age while never baulking from portraying him as he was.
Dampier is a fascinating subject, a self-made man who learned to play many roles throughout his life. The Prestons do him justice, not only rightly praising his scientific observations and skill as a sailor, but also never downplaying the savage nature of his many crimes as a pirate (in fact, some of the chapters concerning piracy would be best avoided by the more squeamish reader), or ignoring the incompetance as a leader which dogged him throughout his later career.
This is not just a character study, but an adventure story. The dangers of piracy and exploration are captured in thrilling detail, no doubt due to the authors' reliance on Dampier's and his crew's own accounts, and by keeping a strong pace and using consistently clear language. Throughout, the authors manage to capture the savagery and wonder of Dampier's age while never baulking from portraying him as he was.
March 29, 2009
Dampier was the first Englishman to circumnavigate the earth three times. During the first two 'adventures' he took copious notes of the flora, fauna and cultures he came across. But more importantly, he recorded the winds and currents and opined that the winds caused the currents. This was in the late 1600s. More than a century later Charles Darwin used Dampier's work on his voyage on the BEAGLE. Hydrographers and oceanographers still cite his work. Daniel Defoe and Johnathan Swift used Dampier's journal and books to obtain material for their stories and satire. This little known individual has not really been credited for the effect he has had on world civilization.
November 3, 2022
I looked for and read this book because I am reading Viet Nam: A History from Earliest Times to the Present by Ben Kiernan. Reference is made to Dampier and his descriptions of Tonquin (now Viet Nam) and it's people and culture on his visit there in the 1680s. I am also familiar with Dampier from Glyn Williams' excellent book, Naturalists at Sea: Scientific Travellers from Dampier to Darwin.
This is an excellent biography of Dampier and the authors have really done their homework into his life and experiences.
It is an entertaining and well-written book that I had no hesitation picking up every night. The only reason I did not finish it sooner is because I am splitting my time right now between a couple of 500+ page books.
This is an excellent biography of Dampier and the authors have really done their homework into his life and experiences.
It is an entertaining and well-written book that I had no hesitation picking up every night. The only reason I did not finish it sooner is because I am splitting my time right now between a couple of 500+ page books.
November 7, 2021
How is there not a movie about this man? Dampier was a genuine buccaneer, who spent a good chunk of his career trying to steal Spanish gold...but also invented the term "sub-species", mapped global wind patterns, introduced a bunch of words into the English language, and led the first British scientific expedition to Australia. This biography is a really fun and readable guide to all of those adventures.
Full review here: https://ajungleoftales.blogspot.com/2...
Full review here: https://ajungleoftales.blogspot.com/2...
May 6, 2023
Really interesting in some areas and fairly boring in others. I wish more time had been spent on the things I found exciting rather than on the things that didn't really speak to me, but obviously this is mostly personal preference. I still think a lot could have been cut to make the book better though.
May 21, 2020
I have mentioned before that I have a very romanticized view of the life of pirates. This view does not preclude me from knowing or understanding what it truly must have been like, however. Nor do I condone the plundering and pillaging of people and towns "for real." The movie versions of Pirates is fun though.
This book takes away some of that romanticizing for sure. Still, it's a fascinating tale of a very unique life.
I am amazed at the ability these guys had to draw maps while sailing and how to make them so accurate. I am amazed at their ability to find locations using these PAPER maps! No GPS. No technology, and often, no confirmation that the map they were using was accurate.
Dampier's ability to map, and to discover, and to preserve plants and other things is also fascinating. Though he still plundered and raided and caused absolute mayhem and terror to some places, he was able to catalogue plants and animals and locations quite well.
I am also amazed at how many of these guys journaled. I think the art of journaling and writing is very lost in our world today. Though technology makes it easier than ever, hardly any of us do it. What legacy will be left? Or are we destined to be remembered only by our Instagram, Snapchat and facebooking? I hope not.
This book takes away some of that romanticizing for sure. Still, it's a fascinating tale of a very unique life.
I am amazed at the ability these guys had to draw maps while sailing and how to make them so accurate. I am amazed at their ability to find locations using these PAPER maps! No GPS. No technology, and often, no confirmation that the map they were using was accurate.
Dampier's ability to map, and to discover, and to preserve plants and other things is also fascinating. Though he still plundered and raided and caused absolute mayhem and terror to some places, he was able to catalogue plants and animals and locations quite well.
I am also amazed at how many of these guys journaled. I think the art of journaling and writing is very lost in our world today. Though technology makes it easier than ever, hardly any of us do it. What legacy will be left? Or are we destined to be remembered only by our Instagram, Snapchat and facebooking? I hope not.
March 6, 2007
Before there was Charles Darwin, there was Willim Dampier. He explored the world and made observations about what we know as evolution over 100 years before Chuck D!!
His discoveries and writings resulted the addition of hundreds of words to English vernacular...most still in use today. The same can be said of his maps of the ocean currents, winds patterns and seasonal changes of the oceans around the world.
He sailed with the British Navy, pirates and lived among Central American Indians. It's life in the Caribbean after 1492.
I found the jumping around with the timeline to be a little confusing at times, but this story is truly amazing. The foreward by the authors outlines their attempt to follow his path across oceans and jungles. The hardships they endured with modern shortcuts really helped me to grasp how fantastic and amazing his writings and adventures are.
His discoveries and writings resulted the addition of hundreds of words to English vernacular...most still in use today. The same can be said of his maps of the ocean currents, winds patterns and seasonal changes of the oceans around the world.
He sailed with the British Navy, pirates and lived among Central American Indians. It's life in the Caribbean after 1492.
I found the jumping around with the timeline to be a little confusing at times, but this story is truly amazing. The foreward by the authors outlines their attempt to follow his path across oceans and jungles. The hardships they endured with modern shortcuts really helped me to grasp how fantastic and amazing his writings and adventures are.
June 19, 2020
A good biography of a forgotten naturalist, explorer, and pirate.
Perhaps, as the author suggests, the last is why he is forgotten. Latter-day moralists finding criminality in their heroes distasteful. This is reminiscent of our own time with the Woke Twitterati and Cancel Culture.
Also, Captain Cook was not the first to discover Australia...it was William Dampier.
There is a lot to recommend in this biography and William Dampier.
Readers interested in the late 17th and early 18th Century maritime history will find this volume a welcome addition to their library.
Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars.
Perhaps, as the author suggests, the last is why he is forgotten. Latter-day moralists finding criminality in their heroes distasteful. This is reminiscent of our own time with the Woke Twitterati and Cancel Culture.
Also, Captain Cook was not the first to discover Australia...it was William Dampier.
There is a lot to recommend in this biography and William Dampier.
Readers interested in the late 17th and early 18th Century maritime history will find this volume a welcome addition to their library.
Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars.
March 14, 2013
The authors of this biography say of William Dampier that he 'desperately wanted to make his fortune, but was seduced by the quest for knowledge.' And I think when I read that, I fell a little bit in love with the guy. There was something very likeable about his restless spirit, his tendency to see the best in people when they didn't deserve it, and his anachronistic ability to view other cultures in a non-judgmental way. A well written account of a fascinating explorer and scientist.
April 1, 2019
William Dampier is an intriguing figure! A buccaneer who was also a brilliant scientific mind, who Darwin drew on for his theory on the evolution of species, whose maps of winds and currents were so accurate you can still navigate by them over 300 years later, who introduced so many new words into the English language due to his travels. It was truly fascinating to read about! I think the book does a good job of not idealising him, his flaws and mishandlings of situations are discussed frankly, and on the whole I have come away feeling a much deeper understanding of this figure who seems to have faded into obscurity somewhat.
December 12, 2024
A most unexpectedly glorious ripping yarn, but true! Enjoyed it immensely from beginning to end.
September 26, 2008
Reasonably well written biography of the first man to circumnavigate the globe three times, as well as one of the unsung heroes of natural history, William Dampier (1651-1715). Dampier, as authors Diana & Michael Preston make clear, had a bad case of wanderlust. A complex man, he was torn between a buccaneer's lust for gold (particularly for ultimate of conquests, a Spanish "treasure ship" returning from the New World), and a desire to make a name for himself as a noted explorer and observer of uncharted lands.
After several of his voyages, he published groundbreaking books, A New Voyage to the New World (1697), Voyages and Descriptions (1699) A Voyage to New Holland (in two parts, 1703 and 1709) -- and these are the primary reason Dampier is still known today. These were to have a profound impact on figures as diverse as Charles Darwin of the Beagle to Captain Bligh of the Bounty. Dampier began the very tradition of travel writing itself, and he subsequently inspired hundreds of others to take up pen to describe their travels, as well as created a hunger for all accounts involving adventure and travel. Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels and Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe owe a direct debt to Dampier, as did subsequent explorers such as Alexander von Humboldt, James Cook, and Matthew Flinders, who charted the coast of Australia in the 19th century. He was England's "celebrated navigator," a man whose navigational observations were so accurate that generations of sea captains were able to use his maps.
Dampier was, above all things, a keen observer. Little escaped his notice, and he seemed happiest when setting out for some hitherto unexplored region or when, left to his own devices, he was exploring the jungles of equatorial South America or the arid coast of "New Holland" (present-day western Australia). At one point, he noted, he set off for a voyage to the South Seas "more to indulge my curiosity than to get wealth." During his voyages, he kept detailed journals and notebooks which, despite his continuous travels in often perilous conditions, he nearly always managed to preserve. They were filled with insights that were in many cases ahead of his time. He was the first to introduce (or even conceive of) such things as "sub-species" (a term later adopted by Darwin) and to draw accurate "wind maps" that charted the major currents and prevailing winds around the globe. He reached Australia a full eighty years before his better-known successor, Captain Cook, and he was ahead of his time, too, in his tolerant and open-minded approach to other cultures, races, and religions. Above all, Dampier was a curious man, open to new experiences and always ready for adventure.
But he was no paragon. Perhaps his greatest flaw was that he was a poor leader of men. Notably, his attempt to command a voyage of exploration was bedeviled with problems managing his crew (although he certainly wasn't alone in this respect), and he avoided responsibility, whenever possible. He had an air of superiority that did not sit well with his subordinates, and aspirations to grandeur that occasionally turned his peers against him. Basically a loner, he lived in a shipboard world that required, shall we say, a certain amount of "live and let live" forbearance that was simply not in him. His detachment that served him so well in scientific observation made him a poor commander of men.
Still, I felt more than sympathetic to Dampier, a man so clearly willing to seize the day and risk his very life rather than to settle (as he could easily have done) for a life of wealth and comfort. Time and again we see him setting off on some voyage when he'd just returned from a harrowing adventure. As a testimony and byproduct of his unstinting curiosity and restless wandering, some thousand words entered the English language through his books, words such as barbecue, tortilla, sea lion, posse, avocado, chopsticks, and cashew.
As for the biography itself, it was passably well written, as noted before, though I was slightly put off by an odd 'bracketing' technique of his life by a prologue and epilogue which were summaries of his character and influence and, in the case of the prologue, reflected on the travels the authors had undertaken on their quest to follow in his footsteps. Frankly, these two "book ends" didn't serve the book that well, and in particular I wished to have more assessment of Dampier interwoven into the text and less as a "summing up." But this is not a major flaw, more a personal preference, and I'd wholeheartedly recommend the book to anyone with an interest in exploration or natural history.
After several of his voyages, he published groundbreaking books, A New Voyage to the New World (1697), Voyages and Descriptions (1699) A Voyage to New Holland (in two parts, 1703 and 1709) -- and these are the primary reason Dampier is still known today. These were to have a profound impact on figures as diverse as Charles Darwin of the Beagle to Captain Bligh of the Bounty. Dampier began the very tradition of travel writing itself, and he subsequently inspired hundreds of others to take up pen to describe their travels, as well as created a hunger for all accounts involving adventure and travel. Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels and Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe owe a direct debt to Dampier, as did subsequent explorers such as Alexander von Humboldt, James Cook, and Matthew Flinders, who charted the coast of Australia in the 19th century. He was England's "celebrated navigator," a man whose navigational observations were so accurate that generations of sea captains were able to use his maps.
Dampier was, above all things, a keen observer. Little escaped his notice, and he seemed happiest when setting out for some hitherto unexplored region or when, left to his own devices, he was exploring the jungles of equatorial South America or the arid coast of "New Holland" (present-day western Australia). At one point, he noted, he set off for a voyage to the South Seas "more to indulge my curiosity than to get wealth." During his voyages, he kept detailed journals and notebooks which, despite his continuous travels in often perilous conditions, he nearly always managed to preserve. They were filled with insights that were in many cases ahead of his time. He was the first to introduce (or even conceive of) such things as "sub-species" (a term later adopted by Darwin) and to draw accurate "wind maps" that charted the major currents and prevailing winds around the globe. He reached Australia a full eighty years before his better-known successor, Captain Cook, and he was ahead of his time, too, in his tolerant and open-minded approach to other cultures, races, and religions. Above all, Dampier was a curious man, open to new experiences and always ready for adventure.
But he was no paragon. Perhaps his greatest flaw was that he was a poor leader of men. Notably, his attempt to command a voyage of exploration was bedeviled with problems managing his crew (although he certainly wasn't alone in this respect), and he avoided responsibility, whenever possible. He had an air of superiority that did not sit well with his subordinates, and aspirations to grandeur that occasionally turned his peers against him. Basically a loner, he lived in a shipboard world that required, shall we say, a certain amount of "live and let live" forbearance that was simply not in him. His detachment that served him so well in scientific observation made him a poor commander of men.
Still, I felt more than sympathetic to Dampier, a man so clearly willing to seize the day and risk his very life rather than to settle (as he could easily have done) for a life of wealth and comfort. Time and again we see him setting off on some voyage when he'd just returned from a harrowing adventure. As a testimony and byproduct of his unstinting curiosity and restless wandering, some thousand words entered the English language through his books, words such as barbecue, tortilla, sea lion, posse, avocado, chopsticks, and cashew.
As for the biography itself, it was passably well written, as noted before, though I was slightly put off by an odd 'bracketing' technique of his life by a prologue and epilogue which were summaries of his character and influence and, in the case of the prologue, reflected on the travels the authors had undertaken on their quest to follow in his footsteps. Frankly, these two "book ends" didn't serve the book that well, and in particular I wished to have more assessment of Dampier interwoven into the text and less as a "summing up." But this is not a major flaw, more a personal preference, and I'd wholeheartedly recommend the book to anyone with an interest in exploration or natural history.
September 20, 2019
What you find on library shelves when looking for something else! I was looking for Haklyut's Voyages, which I found but also this. When I ask, people say that yes, they've heard of him - in a geography course somewhere. Ha! I should have taken geography as a major, you meet such fascinating people.
There is no question but that he was a pirate much of the time but it seems as if it was mostly as a means to the end of traveling into strange places and seeing strange things. Without the pirating he probably wouldn't have gone any farther than the West Indies and we wouldn't have had his notes on the effect of winds on ocean currents, on dung throwing monkeys, on storms or any of the plants and volcanoes he saw. His descriptions are what you would expect from a modern writer and the things that happened to him are almost bizarre. I don't think I want to read his detailed description of the worms in his leg.
He was tried by the admiralty for his treatment of his lieutenant on the voyage they sponsored. It comes across as an upper class officer resenting the lower class captain put over him and the upper class admiralty officers protecting their own, although Dampier putting the man in irons may indeed have been a touch too much. Still, Dampier was at risk of the men mutinying and he couldn't take the risk of that happening so clamping down on the one man who would probably have been the agent of mutiny was the safest route he could take.
Although Dampier protected his wife's income as best he could, you'd hardly believe he was married to read about him. I hope she was a strong minded woman because she was virtually alone most of her life - a grass widow.
MS Preston traveled with her husband to the places Dampier saw and the comments she has added in to what research revealed of Dampier's voyages makes the story live and brings it into the present. The portraits and illustrations from Dampier's books are helpful, too. A great read.
There is no question but that he was a pirate much of the time but it seems as if it was mostly as a means to the end of traveling into strange places and seeing strange things. Without the pirating he probably wouldn't have gone any farther than the West Indies and we wouldn't have had his notes on the effect of winds on ocean currents, on dung throwing monkeys, on storms or any of the plants and volcanoes he saw. His descriptions are what you would expect from a modern writer and the things that happened to him are almost bizarre. I don't think I want to read his detailed description of the worms in his leg.
He was tried by the admiralty for his treatment of his lieutenant on the voyage they sponsored. It comes across as an upper class officer resenting the lower class captain put over him and the upper class admiralty officers protecting their own, although Dampier putting the man in irons may indeed have been a touch too much. Still, Dampier was at risk of the men mutinying and he couldn't take the risk of that happening so clamping down on the one man who would probably have been the agent of mutiny was the safest route he could take.
Although Dampier protected his wife's income as best he could, you'd hardly believe he was married to read about him. I hope she was a strong minded woman because she was virtually alone most of her life - a grass widow.
MS Preston traveled with her husband to the places Dampier saw and the comments she has added in to what research revealed of Dampier's voyages makes the story live and brings it into the present. The portraits and illustrations from Dampier's books are helpful, too. A great read.
October 2, 2021
As an avid reader in my youth followed up with studies in anthropology and history, I was well introduced to narratives of famous explorers and scientists including Captain Cook, Captain Bligh (of HMS Bounty fame), and Charles Darwin. Yet, until I read this work, I was not aware to the extent that William Dampier contributed to the successes of those, and other, famous explorers, scientists, and navigators. The author(s) of this book did an excellent job highlighting Dampier's feats of adventure and exploration. Dampier was the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe three times in which he expertly documented the flora, fauna and cultures he came across. More importantly though, he recorded the winds and currents and proved how important these natural events were to each other and the civilized world. His documentations also became the inspiration and sources for a new style of writing. That being the (fiction) novel. In the end though, because of obscure beginnings, which including shipping out first as a pirate, not much credit was given to Dampier's efforts during his lifetime; however, that obscurity has been pushed aside because of subsequent consideration of his extensive writing, and the publication of this book.
November 3, 2021
Very nice. There seems to be a modern trend to writing popular works on this or that corner of history. I’ve read several, and most require a certain amount of fortitude to wade through the pedestrian, not to say dreary, prose to get to the often interesting information. Not so with this one. Dampier was a huge celebrity in his time, highly influential on both writers and scientists for generations to come, but way too incorrect a character to make it through the Victorian reeducation regime that rewrote so much history. A person of astonishingly clear vision, remarkably unprejudiced, and with a vast appetite for adventure and knowledge, he was great fun to read about. The authors did a splendid job of cobbling together a story using primary documents with a minimum of speculative interpretation. They also seem to share my interest in the origins of words, and often toss in a relevant reference during the narrative. Excellent work.
February 2, 2013
It's hard to imagine how such an accomplished person could have faded so far into the depths of history. Dampier is an absolutely unique character ... almost larger than life: First Englishman to circumnavigate three times, first Englishman to set foot on mainland Australia, introduced over 100 words to the English language (as disparate as barbeque and sub-species), predecessor to and major influence on Charles Darwin, Daniel Defoe and Jonathan Swift ...
This book does an excellent job of introducing readers to the career and character (including the flaws) of Dampier. The pace is excellent, the descriptions clear and compelling. It's a fascinating look at a great subject. Thoroughly recommended to all readers.
This book does an excellent job of introducing readers to the career and character (including the flaws) of Dampier. The pace is excellent, the descriptions clear and compelling. It's a fascinating look at a great subject. Thoroughly recommended to all readers.
July 26, 2014
This was a very informative book. I knew nothing of William Dampier but discovered a great deal. I had just finished, The Signature of All Things and this man and his curiosity of the natural world, tied-in nicely. For instance, Joseph Banks was mentioned in both books though not much elaboration in Dampier's accounts. The book was full of history and imparted much.
I didn't care much for the writing style and notations of the author. I read this on an e-reader and the footnotes were not numbered. Each chapter had asterisks at the end of certain sentences, etc. and then the asterisks were just listed at the end of each chapter in the order they appeared.
I didn't care much for the writing style and notations of the author. I read this on an e-reader and the footnotes were not numbered. Each chapter had asterisks at the end of certain sentences, etc. and then the asterisks were just listed at the end of each chapter in the order they appeared.
May 17, 2020
Κριτική στα Ελληνικά πιο κάτω...
Wow! This was a very interesting book. I enjoyed reading about the personality and adventurous life of William Dampier and -as often happens with biographies- learning tons of other trivia and information about tons of other stuff.
Often biographies tend to paint their subject matter on too bright colours and I think this books wasn't an exception, but of course it's up to the reader to filter and judge and to form his own opinions.
The book relies heavily on writtings of Dampier his self, while many aspects and periods of his life aren't that well-documented, so I guess it can be too biased sometimes. Accordingly, the latter part of the book isn't that much detailed as the opening chapters. But for sure, he was a very interesting and controversial personality, leading an interesting life on very interesting times. Not only the main subject of this book was very engaging anyway, but through various connotations, foot notes, incidents and persons crossing Dampier's path, the knowledge one can get on many other subjects is invaluable.
I don't want to make more specific comments on the book, it's here for people to navigate, explore and discover, as Dampier did with nearly the whole wide wild world : )
Πάρα πολύ ενδιαφέρον βιβλίο, διάβασα τις περίπου 500 σελίδες του μέσα σε 2 απογεύματα και πολύ το ευχαριστήθηκα.
Ως συνήθως, οι βιογραφίες σε κάνουν να σκεφτείς πολλά πράγματα. Ας πούμε πως χαρακτηρίζουμε μία προσωπικότητα ανάλογα με τις ιστορικές συνθήκες αλλά και τη θεώρηση που έχουμε για τα πράγματα ο καθένας αργότερα; Τι κάνει κάποιον στα μάτια μερικών από εμάς διάσημο πρωτοπόρο εξερευνητή άγνωστων περιοχών και ανήσυχο πνεύμα και φορέα πολιτισμού και κάποιον αγροίκο καταπατητή και αποικιοκράτη; Γιατί κάποιος είναι πατριώτης που πολεμάει τα εχθρικά πλοία για την τιμή της χώρας του και άλλος βάρβαρος κακούργος πειρατής; Πως και γιατί μπορεί να αλλάξει η γνώμη μας για το ίδιο άτομο και πως καταγράφονται στην ιστορία πρόσωπα και πράγματα; Γιατί κάποιου ξεχνιούνται και άλλοι μνημονεύονται αιώνια;
Υπάρχει πολύ τροφή για σκέψη για τα παραπάνω σε ένα γενικότερο πλαίσιο, αλλά και ειδικότερα για τις πολιτικές και πρακτικές του 17ου αιώνα, καθώς και ένα σωρό πληροφορίες παντός τύπου, ωστόσο το βιβλίο επικεντρώνεται σε έναν συγκεκριμένο άνθρωπο, τον William Dampier. Μέσω της ιστορίας του υπάρχουν φυσικά πληροφορίες για πολλούς άλλους ενδιαφέροντες ανθρώπους της εποχής, από τον Captain Kidd και τον Henry Every μέχρι τον Alexander Selkirk και τον Edmund Halley, αλλά ένας λόγος που ευχαριστήθηκα το βιβλίο, είναι ότι η ζωή του ίδιου του Dampier ήταν ιδιαίτερα περιπετειώδης και μαζί με αυτόν ουσιαστικά ταξίδεψα σε πολλά διαφορετικά μέρη και καταστάσεις, γνωρίζοντας από τους πειρατές της Καραϊβικής της εποχής μέχρι τους Αβορίγινες της Αυστραλίας και από τις Ισπανικές αποικίες της Λατινικής Αμερικής μέχρι τους Μαχαραγιάδες της Νοτιοανατολικής Ασίας- ανάμεσα σε τόσα άλλα...
Πέρα από τον περιπετειώδη τρόπο ζωής, τις επελάσεις σε τροπικά δάση, τις επιδρομές σε αποικιακές πόλεις αντίπαλων μεγάλων δυνάμεων και τις ναυμαχίες και καταλήψεις πλοίων, το βιβλίο όπως έκανε ο Dampier, περιγράφει καιρικές συνθήκες, θαλάσσια ρεύματα, γεωμορφολογία, πανίδα και χλωρίδα, ιθαγενείς πληθυσμούς, διπλωματικές σχέσεις και εμπορικούς σταθμούς και συστήματα διακυβέρνησης σε τόσο εξωτικά μέρη, από τον Παναμά μέχρι την Κίνα, ακριβώς μέσω της ζωής και των βιβλίων που εξέδωσε ο Dampier, αλλά και αυτών που δεν εξέδωσε ποτέ.
Υπάρχουν αρκετά κενά στην αφήγηση, καθώς υπάρχουν πολλά που δεν ξέρουμε για την ζωή αυτού του ανθρώπου. Οι πληροφορίες για τα πρώτα του ταξίδια είναι πιο πυκνές και προέρχονται κυρίως από τον ίδιο, άρα μάλλον δεν είναι και τόσο αντικειμενικές, ενώ τα ταξίδια και οι δραστηριότητες προς το τέλος της ζωής του έρχονται από άλλες πηγές και ενώ ο ίδιος φαίνεται να έχει μπλεξίματα και να έχει βρεθεί σε κάποια παρακμή, με αποτέλεσμα το βιβλίο να χάνει κάτι από τη δύναμή του προς το τέλος.
Παρόλο που νομίζω ότι όπως όλες οι βιογραφίες, τείνει να είναι λίγο προκατειλημμένη υπέρ του βιογραφούμενου και ο αναγνώστης πάντα πρέπει να φιλτράρει τι διαβάζει, ο William Dampier ήταν πράγματι ένας άνθρωπος γεμάτος αντιθέσεις, με πολλές ικανότητες αλλά και πολλές αδυναμίες, ο οποίος έζησε σε μία πολύ ενδιαφέρουσα εποχή που τον διαμόρφωσε, αλλά και την διαμόρφωσε στο βαθμό που του αναλογούσε με τη σειρά του.
Οι συγγραφείς έχουν κάνει μεγάλη έρευνα σίγουρα, αλλά νομίζω ότι το βιβλίο παίρνει την λάμψη του από το ίδιο του το θέμα παρά από τον τρόπο γραφής ή οτιδήποτε άλλο. Ένα βιβλίο που θα το συνιστούσα στον οποιονδήποτε, ακόμα κι αν δεν έχει κάποιο ειδικό ενδιαφέρον σε ταξίδια, επιστημονικές ανακαλύψεις, την ιστορία του 17ου αιώνα ή στον ίδιο τον William Dampier. Μπορεί να εκπλαγείτε!
ΥΓ: Ίσως άσχετο, αλλά δεν μπορώ να μην το πω...
Το θεωρώ πολύ κρίμα που υπάρχουν ένα σωρό ρομαντικά ή ιστορικά μυθιστορήματα μεταφρασμένα στα Ελληνικά, αλλά σπάνια βλέπουμε μεταφράσεις από βιογραφίες πειρατών ή θαλασσοπόρων ή εξερευνητών ή επιστημόνων ή συγγραφέων ή όπως θέλετε πείτε το ή βιβλία ιστορίας προσιτά στο ευρύ κοινό, πέρα από κάποιες πολύ εξειδικευμένες, πανάκριβες εκδόσεις. Στις περισσότερες χώρες του εξωτερικού, εκδίδονται κλασσικά έργα ή εκλαϊκευμένη επιστήμη ή βιογραφίες ή βιβλία ποικίλης θεματολογίας, πρωτότυπα ή σε μετάφραση, σε φτηνές εκδόσεις από την πρώτη στιγμή, χωρίς να εξαρτάται η αξία και η ποιότητα του έργου από την ποιότητα της εκτύπωσης. Έτσι ο κόσμος έχει πολύ περισσότερες επιλογές και μπορεί να διευρύνει σημαντικά τους ορίζοντές του. Εδώ τι κάνουμε;
Wow! This was a very interesting book. I enjoyed reading about the personality and adventurous life of William Dampier and -as often happens with biographies- learning tons of other trivia and information about tons of other stuff.
Often biographies tend to paint their subject matter on too bright colours and I think this books wasn't an exception, but of course it's up to the reader to filter and judge and to form his own opinions.
The book relies heavily on writtings of Dampier his self, while many aspects and periods of his life aren't that well-documented, so I guess it can be too biased sometimes. Accordingly, the latter part of the book isn't that much detailed as the opening chapters. But for sure, he was a very interesting and controversial personality, leading an interesting life on very interesting times. Not only the main subject of this book was very engaging anyway, but through various connotations, foot notes, incidents and persons crossing Dampier's path, the knowledge one can get on many other subjects is invaluable.
I don't want to make more specific comments on the book, it's here for people to navigate, explore and discover, as Dampier did with nearly the whole wide wild world : )
Πάρα πολύ ενδιαφέρον βιβλίο, διάβασα τις περίπου 500 σελίδες του μέσα σε 2 απογεύματα και πολύ το ευχαριστήθηκα.
Ως συνήθως, οι βιογραφίες σε κάνουν να σκεφτείς πολλά πράγματα. Ας πούμε πως χαρακτηρίζουμε μία προσωπικότητα ανάλογα με τις ιστορικές συνθήκες αλλά και τη θεώρηση που έχουμε για τα πράγματα ο καθένας αργότερα; Τι κάνει κάποιον στα μάτια μερικών από εμάς διάσημο πρωτοπόρο εξερευνητή άγνωστων περιοχών και ανήσυχο πνεύμα και φορέα πολιτισμού και κάποιον αγροίκο καταπατητή και αποικιοκράτη; Γιατί κάποιος είναι πατριώτης που πολεμάει τα εχθρικά πλοία για την τιμή της χώρας του και άλλος βάρβαρος κακούργος πειρατής; Πως και γιατί μπορεί να αλλάξει η γνώμη μας για το ίδιο άτομο και πως καταγράφονται στην ιστορία πρόσωπα και πράγματα; Γιατί κάποιου ξεχνιούνται και άλλοι μνημονεύονται αιώνια;
Υπάρχει πολύ τροφή για σκέψη για τα παραπάνω σε ένα γενικότερο πλαίσιο, αλλά και ειδικότερα για τις πολιτικές και πρακτικές του 17ου αιώνα, καθώς και ένα σωρό πληροφορίες παντός τύπου, ωστόσο το βιβλίο επικεντρώνεται σε έναν συγκεκριμένο άνθρωπο, τον William Dampier. Μέσω της ιστορίας του υπάρχουν φυσικά πληροφορίες για πολλούς άλλους ενδιαφέροντες ανθρώπους της εποχής, από τον Captain Kidd και τον Henry Every μέχρι τον Alexander Selkirk και τον Edmund Halley, αλλά ένας λόγος που ευχαριστήθηκα το βιβλίο, είναι ότι η ζωή του ίδιου του Dampier ήταν ιδιαίτερα περιπετειώδης και μαζί με αυτόν ουσιαστικά ταξίδεψα σε πολλά διαφορετικά μέρη και καταστάσεις, γνωρίζοντας από τους πειρατές της Καραϊβικής της εποχής μέχρι τους Αβορίγινες της Αυστραλίας και από τις Ισπανικές αποικίες της Λατινικής Αμερικής μέχρι τους Μαχαραγιάδες της Νοτιοανατολικής Ασίας- ανάμεσα σε τόσα άλλα...
Πέρα από τον περιπετειώδη τρόπο ζωής, τις επελάσεις σε τροπικά δάση, τις επιδρομές σε αποικιακές πόλεις αντίπαλων μεγάλων δυνάμεων και τις ναυμαχίες και καταλήψεις πλοίων, το βιβλίο όπως έκανε ο Dampier, περιγράφει καιρικές συνθήκες, θαλάσσια ρεύματα, γεωμορφολογία, πανίδα και χλωρίδα, ιθαγενείς πληθυσμούς, διπλωματικές σχέσεις και εμπορικούς σταθμούς και συστήματα διακυβέρνησης σε τόσο εξωτικά μέρη, από τον Παναμά μέχρι την Κίνα, ακριβώς μέσω της ζωής και των βιβλίων που εξέδωσε ο Dampier, αλλά και αυτών που δεν εξέδωσε ποτέ.
Υπάρχουν αρκετά κενά στην αφήγηση, καθώς υπάρχουν πολλά που δεν ξέρουμε για την ζωή αυτού του ανθρώπου. Οι πληροφορίες για τα πρώτα του ταξίδια είναι πιο πυκνές και προέρχονται κυρίως από τον ίδιο, άρα μάλλον δεν είναι και τόσο αντικειμενικές, ενώ τα ταξίδια και οι δραστηριότητες προς το τέλος της ζωής του έρχονται από άλλες πηγές και ενώ ο ίδιος φαίνεται να έχει μπλεξίματα και να έχει βρεθεί σε κάποια παρακμή, με αποτέλεσμα το βιβλίο να χάνει κάτι από τη δύναμή του προς το τέλος.
Παρόλο που νομίζω ότι όπως όλες οι βιογραφίες, τείνει να είναι λίγο προκατειλημμένη υπέρ του βιογραφούμενου και ο αναγνώστης πάντα πρέπει να φιλτράρει τι διαβάζει, ο William Dampier ήταν πράγματι ένας άνθρωπος γεμάτος αντιθέσεις, με πολλές ικανότητες αλλά και πολλές αδυναμίες, ο οποίος έζησε σε μία πολύ ενδιαφέρουσα εποχή που τον διαμόρφωσε, αλλά και την διαμόρφωσε στο βαθμό που του αναλογούσε με τη σειρά του.
Οι συγγραφείς έχουν κάνει μεγάλη έρευνα σίγουρα, αλλά νομίζω ότι το βιβλίο παίρνει την λάμψη του από το ίδιο του το θέμα παρά από τον τρόπο γραφής ή οτιδήποτε άλλο. Ένα βιβλίο που θα το συνιστούσα στον οποιονδήποτε, ακόμα κι αν δεν έχει κάποιο ειδικό ενδιαφέρον σε ταξίδια, επιστημονικές ανακαλύψεις, την ιστορία του 17ου αιώνα ή στον ίδιο τον William Dampier. Μπορεί να εκπλαγείτε!
ΥΓ: Ίσως άσχετο, αλλά δεν μπορώ να μην το πω...
Το θεωρώ πολύ κρίμα που υπάρχουν ένα σωρό ρομαντικά ή ιστορικά μυθιστορήματα μεταφρασμένα στα Ελληνικά, αλλά σπάνια βλέπουμε μεταφράσεις από βιογραφίες πειρατών ή θαλασσοπόρων ή εξερευνητών ή επιστημόνων ή συγγραφέων ή όπως θέλετε πείτε το ή βιβλία ιστορίας προσιτά στο ευρύ κοινό, πέρα από κάποιες πολύ εξειδικευμένες, πανάκριβες εκδόσεις. Στις περισσότερες χώρες του εξωτερικού, εκδίδονται κλασσικά έργα ή εκλαϊκευμένη επιστήμη ή βιογραφίες ή βιβλία ποικίλης θεματολογίας, πρωτότυπα ή σε μετάφραση, σε φτηνές εκδόσεις από την πρώτη στιγμή, χωρίς να εξαρτάται η αξία και η ποιότητα του έργου από την ποιότητα της εκτύπωσης. Έτσι ο κόσμος έχει πολύ περισσότερες επιλογές και μπορεί να διευρύνει σημαντικά τους ορίζοντές του. Εδώ τι κάνουμε;
November 25, 2007
The Prestons searched out manuscripts in the British Library and moldering papers in various record offices and then went one better than many biographers, actually visiting the many places his path took him around the world.
There are aspects of his life the authors only skimmed over and which I wish they had given more attention. While not quite as readable as Blue Latitudes, the Tony Horwitz book on Cook, I found much to admire in this book.
There are aspects of his life the authors only skimmed over and which I wish they had given more attention. While not quite as readable as Blue Latitudes, the Tony Horwitz book on Cook, I found much to admire in this book.
October 19, 2021
4 star /
80%
A really fascinating look into someone history left behind. A person that transformed the English language, got to Australia before Cook, circumnavigated the globe three times and in between that invented a new genre of book; the travel journal.
It was a long, dense read, but was enjoyable with a good story and I learned a lot - basically all you could ask for.
80%
A really fascinating look into someone history left behind. A person that transformed the English language, got to Australia before Cook, circumnavigated the globe three times and in between that invented a new genre of book; the travel journal.
It was a long, dense read, but was enjoyable with a good story and I learned a lot - basically all you could ask for.
October 16, 2014
I am not a huge fan of this author, I don't quite like her writing style. The subject matter on the other hand is very interesting. I was pleasantly surprised by this mans life and works. It sparked a bit of the adventurer in me.
February 9, 2021
Interesting, informative and well researched bio of a fascinating man who is not as well known and remembered as many of his late 17th century contemporaries. In many ways a man ahead of his times.
April 17, 2019
A great read about a mostly forgotten man who explorer the world 1670 to 1715 with an open mind. There are many good reviews of this book.
September 17, 2020
Fascinating book. I had heard about William Dampier as the first Englishman to see Australia but had no idea that he was such an important naturalist and writer.
June 15, 2022
One of my all-time favorites. This book offers an alternative view to anyone's preconceived notion of early-day pirates were.
October 18, 2018
I am not much for biographies, but a friend (who also is of exquisite mind) recommended this one. After reading it, I realized why I don't read biographies.... they throw the pedestrian nature of my life into such stark relief. Holy cow! This guy lived an amazing life and fortunately for us, wrote about it. He was, amongst others, a crewman, lumberman in the Caribbean, pirate (understandably, these activities are subject to artful elision in his writings), naval captain, and always a careful observer, naturalist, and anthropologist, he reached Australia 80 years before Captain Cook. His ship happened across an old shipmate who had been marooned and turned successful castaway, Alexander Selkirk. He was the basis for Robinson Crusoe. Over 100 years later, Darwin took Dampier's books with him on his famous voyage. He was also described as one of the first widely read travel writers.
Suffice it to say, an amazingly inquisitive, hardy, indomitable man. As a junior etymologist, I was also fascinated to discover his influence on the English language, he is given credit for over a thousand words in the Oxford Dictionary (according to the authors -- I did not, and will, not check). Examples cited included posse, serrated, tortilla, chopsticks and of course, buccaneers. The authors delight in these as much as I do, and toss in a few unrelated to Dampier, such as the possible etymology of pub. Though they lost points by citing a generally discredited origin of tip.
In sum, Dampier lived an extraordinary life and for those who enjoy biographies, I recommend this book.
Suffice it to say, an amazingly inquisitive, hardy, indomitable man. As a junior etymologist, I was also fascinated to discover his influence on the English language, he is given credit for over a thousand words in the Oxford Dictionary (according to the authors -- I did not, and will, not check). Examples cited included posse, serrated, tortilla, chopsticks and of course, buccaneers. The authors delight in these as much as I do, and toss in a few unrelated to Dampier, such as the possible etymology of pub. Though they lost points by citing a generally discredited origin of tip.
In sum, Dampier lived an extraordinary life and for those who enjoy biographies, I recommend this book.
October 18, 2018
This was a very enjoyable jaunt into a period of time--the later part of the 17th century--when it was entirely possible to be an explorer, naturalist, and buccaneer. Dampier was all these things but much more. He pioneered the understanding of wind and current, befriended indigenous people around the globe--and on occasion was their enemy. Dampier is the source in the English language for words like avocado, barbecue, breadfruit, cashew, catamaran, and chopsticks and hundreds of others. He was a profound influence on authors of fiction like Daniel Defoe, Jonathan Swift, and was greatly admired by Captain Cook and Charles Darwin.
There would be plenty of reasons to find that this book falls short: To often a fascinating life is marred by pedantic, obfuscating language. Not long ago I gave up reading a biography of the thief/writer Jean Genet because a fascinating story left me slogging through the mud of bad writing. The authors here tell a good story and have mastered their material. I don't expect what's referred to as great writing in a book like this. I love great writing when I see it but this only happens on a rare occasion. A Pirate of Exquisite Mind is a damn good bio well written and exactly what I was looking for.
There would be plenty of reasons to find that this book falls short: To often a fascinating life is marred by pedantic, obfuscating language. Not long ago I gave up reading a biography of the thief/writer Jean Genet because a fascinating story left me slogging through the mud of bad writing. The authors here tell a good story and have mastered their material. I don't expect what's referred to as great writing in a book like this. I love great writing when I see it but this only happens on a rare occasion. A Pirate of Exquisite Mind is a damn good bio well written and exactly what I was looking for.
May 15, 2017
For his time William Dampier was a progressive thinker. During his travels he was willing to find out how the indigenous people of each place he visited lived and worshiped without prejudice. during his sojourns he did much to increase knowledge of lands hitherto unknown to the English, collecting samples of the flora of the areas and describing in detail the fauna he encountered. He was willing to try any food supplied by the natives and, at other times on deserted islands, he ate whatever was available just to stay alive. Studying and meticulously recording the winds, tides and coastlines he helped mariners for years to come and helped to find places agreeable for trade. Although he mostly traveled with privateers (for which he was sometimes criticized) the wealth of information he obtained and managed to hold onto even in precarious situations during his travels served to enhance the fortune of Britain.
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