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Barrow's Boys: The Original Extreme Adventurers: A Stirring Story of Daring Fortitude and Outright Lunacy
Barrow's Boys is a spellbinding account of perilous journeys to uncharted areas under the most challenging conditions. Re-creating the successes and harrowing failures of the original extreme adventurers, Fergus Fleming captures the incredibly brave, and often downright insane, passion for exploration that led a band of men into situations that would humble even the bravest adventurers today.These men served under John Barrow, Second Secretary to the Admiralty, who, after the Napoleonic wars, launched the most ambitious program of exploration the world has ever seen. For the next thirty years, his handpicked teams of elite naval officers scoured the globe on a mission to fill the blanks that littered the atlases of the day.
From the first disastrous trip down the Congo, in search of the Niger River, Barrow maintained his resolve in the face of continuous catastrophes. His explorers often died of sickness or at the hands of unfriendly natives, and they struggled under minuscule budgets that forced them to resort to pulling enormous ships across floating ice fields; to eating mice, raw meat, or their own shoes; and even to horrifying acts of cannibalism.
While many of the journeys failed entirely, Barrow and his men ultimately opened Africa to the world, discovered Antarctica, and pried apart the mandibles of the Arctic. Many of the missions have gone down among the greatest in history, yet they have never before been collected into one volume that captures the full sweep of Barrow's program. Beyond their own renowned discoveries, Barrow's officers inspired scores of men, from Livingstone to Shackleton, to continue the incredible quest for knowledge well into the twentieth century.Never again would such a disparate and entertaining band of explorers stalk the world.
From the first disastrous trip down the Congo, in search of the Niger River, Barrow maintained his resolve in the face of continuous catastrophes. His explorers often died of sickness or at the hands of unfriendly natives, and they struggled under minuscule budgets that forced them to resort to pulling enormous ships across floating ice fields; to eating mice, raw meat, or their own shoes; and even to horrifying acts of cannibalism.
While many of the journeys failed entirely, Barrow and his men ultimately opened Africa to the world, discovered Antarctica, and pried apart the mandibles of the Arctic. Many of the missions have gone down among the greatest in history, yet they have never before been collected into one volume that captures the full sweep of Barrow's program. Beyond their own renowned discoveries, Barrow's officers inspired scores of men, from Livingstone to Shackleton, to continue the incredible quest for knowledge well into the twentieth century.Never again would such a disparate and entertaining band of explorers stalk the world.
489 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews
June 1, 2020
This is a fascinating and enjoyable account of a number of brave men, sent to the furthermost points of the world to fill in the blank spots on the British Navy's globe. John Barrow, Second Secretary to the Admiralty sent a number of expeditions to find the source of the Niger River, to locate and traverse the North-West Passage, to locate Magnetic North, to find out what was actually at the Antarctic.
There are some great adventure stories here, of brave men, blundering fools and gentle heroes. Travel the Sahara on a camel or with a slave convoy, dragging boats and sleds across ice flows in the Arctic whilst on half rations or travel across the Canadian wilderness whilst near death from starvation. Experience the affects of scurvy and hunger whilst trapped in a wooden ship with massive icebergs slowly crushing the frame.
Read about the majestic sights seen by these intrepid travellers, pink ice, the aurora borealis and the aurora australis, Eskimo's and polar bears. Read about the tragic end to a number of these expeditions and the fate of many of the ship's crews, most notably John Franklin's 1845 expedition in the 'Erebus' and 'Terror' to find the North-West Passage.
This is a great book, the narrative flows along like a well-written novel. At times I found it hard to put the book down, reading late into the morning trying to finish a chapter. I must admit that I have no previous expertise in this field other than having read "Ice Blink" but I found the story well presented and believe that the author has done his research. This is an easy and enjoyable book to read and I think anyone who loves a good adventure story will certainly enjoy this account.
There are some great adventure stories here, of brave men, blundering fools and gentle heroes. Travel the Sahara on a camel or with a slave convoy, dragging boats and sleds across ice flows in the Arctic whilst on half rations or travel across the Canadian wilderness whilst near death from starvation. Experience the affects of scurvy and hunger whilst trapped in a wooden ship with massive icebergs slowly crushing the frame.
Read about the majestic sights seen by these intrepid travellers, pink ice, the aurora borealis and the aurora australis, Eskimo's and polar bears. Read about the tragic end to a number of these expeditions and the fate of many of the ship's crews, most notably John Franklin's 1845 expedition in the 'Erebus' and 'Terror' to find the North-West Passage.
This is a great book, the narrative flows along like a well-written novel. At times I found it hard to put the book down, reading late into the morning trying to finish a chapter. I must admit that I have no previous expertise in this field other than having read "Ice Blink" but I found the story well presented and believe that the author has done his research. This is an easy and enjoyable book to read and I think anyone who loves a good adventure story will certainly enjoy this account.
October 16, 2018
Le donne, i cavallier, l'arme, gli amori,
le cortesie, l'audaci imprese dei sudditi di Sua Maestà ai primi del 1800, nell'artico alla ricerca del passaggio a nord ovest e in Africa alla ricerca della foce del Niger.
Interessante, brillante, spesso divertente, anche nei momenti in cui racconta di naufragi, morti di fame, di dissenteria, congelati; di ammiragli testoni e presuntuosi, di ammiragliato tentennante, equipaggiamenti ridicoli, fatiche erculee, diari scomparsi, nativi sbalorditi, capitani incoscienti, pasticcioni e impreparati, esploratori ciabattoni. E molto molto coraggiosi.
Un gran bel libro, di quelli che spiace aver finito.
le cortesie, l'audaci imprese dei sudditi di Sua Maestà ai primi del 1800, nell'artico alla ricerca del passaggio a nord ovest e in Africa alla ricerca della foce del Niger.
Interessante, brillante, spesso divertente, anche nei momenti in cui racconta di naufragi, morti di fame, di dissenteria, congelati; di ammiragli testoni e presuntuosi, di ammiragliato tentennante, equipaggiamenti ridicoli, fatiche erculee, diari scomparsi, nativi sbalorditi, capitani incoscienti, pasticcioni e impreparati, esploratori ciabattoni. E molto molto coraggiosi.
Un gran bel libro, di quelli che spiace aver finito.
March 11, 2018
Le esplorazioni inglesi nella prima metà dell'800 erano finanziate dall'Ammiragliato Britannico, di cui John Barrow fu il secondo segretario ed essenzialmente prendeva le decisioni operative. Sotto la sua egida vennero quindi organizzate le prime spedizioni al Polo Nord per la ricerca del passaggio a Nord-Ovest, in Africa per la ricerca dello sbocco in mare del Niger, in Australia e al Polo Sud.
Anche se Fleming usa un tono abbastanza scanzonato (un certo ironico distacco è d'altra parte tipicamente britannico), queste prime esplorazioni "scientifiche" furono organizzate con una scriteriatezza criminale, la maggior parte degli esploratori morirono di terribili stenti e micidiali malattie, pochi tornarono per raccontare e quei pochi furono acclamati come eroi.
Eppure fu così che le mappe vennero disegnate e a poco a poco gli ultimi territori inesplorati del pianeta vennero conosciuti.
Un misto di ambizione, incoscienza, caparbietà accomuna questi avventurieri che nel nome di Sua Maestà si avventurarono nei territori più inospitali del pianeta, senza equipaggiamento e senza mappe, con un puro gusto dell'ignoto che forse trova eguali solo nei navigatori del '400.
Una critica che posso muovere all'edizione Adelphi (che comunque è uno dei miei editori preferiti) è una certa parsimonia nelle mappe, che ha reso difficile seguire con precisione gli itinerari raccontati nel libro.
Anche se Fleming usa un tono abbastanza scanzonato (un certo ironico distacco è d'altra parte tipicamente britannico), queste prime esplorazioni "scientifiche" furono organizzate con una scriteriatezza criminale, la maggior parte degli esploratori morirono di terribili stenti e micidiali malattie, pochi tornarono per raccontare e quei pochi furono acclamati come eroi.
Eppure fu così che le mappe vennero disegnate e a poco a poco gli ultimi territori inesplorati del pianeta vennero conosciuti.
Un misto di ambizione, incoscienza, caparbietà accomuna questi avventurieri che nel nome di Sua Maestà si avventurarono nei territori più inospitali del pianeta, senza equipaggiamento e senza mappe, con un puro gusto dell'ignoto che forse trova eguali solo nei navigatori del '400.
Una critica che posso muovere all'edizione Adelphi (che comunque è uno dei miei editori preferiti) è una certa parsimonia nelle mappe, che ha reso difficile seguire con precisione gli itinerari raccontati nel libro.
February 5, 2022
Libro favoloso.
Una lettura appassionante ed insieme divertente, leggera, ventata di humor britannico ed impregnata, immersa nel senso della storia e delle sue tragedie: Barrow, poi!
"Nelle missioni di Barrow era sbagliato quasi tutto: le consegne, le navi, i rifornimenti, i finanziamenti e i metodi".
Eppure.
Una lettura appassionante ed insieme divertente, leggera, ventata di humor britannico ed impregnata, immersa nel senso della storia e delle sue tragedie: Barrow, poi!
"Nelle missioni di Barrow era sbagliato quasi tutto: le consegne, le navi, i rifornimenti, i finanziamenti e i metodi".
Eppure.
May 30, 2015
Barrow's Boys. It's nonfiction. It's about explorers funded by the Royal Navy (mostly under the urging of Barrow), including the most famously ill-fated Franklin Expedition. Fleming does a really excellent job of writing about these often disastrous trips engagingly, with some snark and well-deserved English sarcasm directly from some of the correspondents involved.
Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook
Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook
October 1, 2021
I primi decenni dell’Ottocento furono un periodo molto florido per le spedizioni esplorative, grazie soprattutto all’Inghilterra: uscita dalle guerre napoleoniche con la più potente e sviluppata flotta marina al mondo, non sapeva più come impiegare navi e marinai in un inaspettato tempo di pace. Gli venne in soccorso John Barrow, il secondo segretario dell’ammiragliato; Barrow era un tipo nella norma, quasi anonimo, molto composto, timido e furbo, mai fuori luogo, capace sempre di farsi ben volere e soprattutto dotato di un’autostima smisurata, che gli permise di sfruttare sempre le parti giuste del potere. Fu lui a organizzare tutte le spedizioni esplorative per più di quarant’anni nella prima metà del XIX secolo.
Con queste premesse si potrà pensare che Barrow fosse un geniale esploratore, o quantomeno avesse approfondite conoscenze geografiche; nulla di tutto questo, anzi, «Barrow era invariabilmente nel torto. Quando aveva un’opinione geografica, in genere era sbagliata, e quando non ne aveva se ne formava una a partire da congetture altrui, a patto che fossero deliranti».
Due furono le ossessioni di Barrow, trovare la foce del Niger e, soprattutto, scoprire il mistico passaggio a Nordovest, il passaggio che avrebbe permesso di circumnavigare il Canada collegando l’oceano Atlantico all’oceano Pacifico. L’aspetto tragico (e comico, perché Flaming è bravissimo nello sdrammatizzare racconti di spedizioni costati la vita a tantissime persone), è che quasi nessuna delle spedizioni organizzate da Barrow andò a buon fine. «Nelle missioni di Barrow era sbagliato quasi tutto: le consegne, le navi, i rifornimenti, i finanziamenti e i metodi. Forse nessun altro, nella storia dell’esplorazione, ha speso altrettanto per inseguire disperatamente un sogno di così assoluta insensatezza». Eppure, spiega Fleming, «Barrow non era un incompetente, e nemmeno un sognatore. Forse un visionario. Non si può rimproverargli di aver commesso troppi errori, è difficile avere certezze quando si ha a che fare con l’ignoto». Tuttavia, non si può negare una certa continuità tra queste spedizioni e il colonialismo degli anni a venire: del resto, quelli erano ancora tempi in cui scoprire una terra significava dichiararla propria. Quindi tutto si può dire meno che fossero viaggi innocenti, organizzati al puro scopo di tappare dei punti bianchi sulla mappa. Per lo meno era così per l’Ammiragliato, che poi era l’organismo che finanziava queste spedizioni.
L’ultima spedizione organizzata da Barrow è probabilmente la più conosciuta da tutti perché tutt’oggi avvolta da un alone di mistero: si tratta di quella di Franklin e Crozier, sull’Erebus e la Terror. Il 19 maggio del 1845 i due capitani partono da Londra alla volta dell’Artico. Il 26 luglio del 1845 due baleniere avvistarono le navi di Franklin all’imboccatura del Canale di Lancaster. Fu l’ultimo contatto, delle due navi e degli uomini a bordo non si sarebbe saputo più nulla. O meglio, qualcosa negli anni si scoprì, per esempio che le navi furono sicuramente bloccate dai ghiacci per due anni, passati i quali capitani ed equipaggio le abbandonarono per dirigersi a piedi verso sud; dai reperti ritrovati negli anni si scoprì anche che i corpi presentavano avvelenamento da piombo, causato probabilmente dai cibi in scatola; e per finire scoprirono resti umani che presentavano chiari segni di cannibalismo. Un bel mistero, che forse potrebbe chiarire il diario di bordo delle navi, che però mai è stato ritrovato.
Cosa rimane, si chiede Fleming alla fine, del regno di Barrow? Nella pratica una serie di scoperte minori, che nulla di veramente rilevante hanno aggiunto alla storia della cartografia, se non qualche chilometro in più di mappatura; eppure l’eredità ideologica è fondamentale, e non si può non riconoscere il merito a Barrow di aver ispirato generazioni future di esploratori, a partire, ad esempio, dal Norvegese Roald Amundsen che, alla fine, il Passaggio a Nord-Ovest lo trovò davvero, nel 1904, «per poi dichiarare solennemente che era inutilizzabile», per finire con la corsa allo spazio, che ha contraddistinto gran parte del ‘900. Rimangono storie di uomini che, al contrario dell'Ammiragliato, hanno rischiato tutto per il semplice gusto della scoperta, uomini che non volevano «fare il giro del mondo – era già stato fatto. E neanche capirne i misteri – quello toccava ad altri. Ma soltanto saltargli in groppa. E Barrow aveva permesso a tutti i suoi ragazzi di farlo».
June 13, 2008
This is a fascinating story of an ambitious program of exploration launched by John Barrow, Second Secretary to the Admiralty in 1816.
Between 1816 and 1845 ‘Barrow’s Boys’ worked – sometimes with each other and sometimes against each other – to fill in some of the blank spaces around the globe. Some of the questions they set out to answer:
What was at the North Pole?
Was there a North-West Passage?
Where did the Niger go, and what was at the heart of Africa?
Did Antarctica exist?
To a large extent, John Barrow’s ambitious program was only possible because of the oversupply of officers and ships as the Royal Navy reduced in size following the Napoleonic Wars. The politics of the bureaucracy, the unfettered ambition of some of the key players, the bravery of many, and the stupidity of others makes for intriguing reading.
Were these expeditions successful? The answer to that depends on how success is measured and who is applying the measure. It is indeed true that most (if not all) of Barrow’s goals were of dubious value once found. However, the heroic activities of men, however badly directed, should not be dismissed so simply. We know far more about the geography of the world in which we live as a consequence of these expeditions and that knowledge is invaluable.
I invite you to read the book and decide for yourself.
Between 1816 and 1845 ‘Barrow’s Boys’ worked – sometimes with each other and sometimes against each other – to fill in some of the blank spaces around the globe. Some of the questions they set out to answer:
What was at the North Pole?
Was there a North-West Passage?
Where did the Niger go, and what was at the heart of Africa?
Did Antarctica exist?
To a large extent, John Barrow’s ambitious program was only possible because of the oversupply of officers and ships as the Royal Navy reduced in size following the Napoleonic Wars. The politics of the bureaucracy, the unfettered ambition of some of the key players, the bravery of many, and the stupidity of others makes for intriguing reading.
Were these expeditions successful? The answer to that depends on how success is measured and who is applying the measure. It is indeed true that most (if not all) of Barrow’s goals were of dubious value once found. However, the heroic activities of men, however badly directed, should not be dismissed so simply. We know far more about the geography of the world in which we live as a consequence of these expeditions and that knowledge is invaluable.
I invite you to read the book and decide for yourself.
April 17, 2020
Como es una historia de varias exploraciones no todas tienen el mismo interés, al menos para mí. Pero como es la primera vez que leia sobre el paso del Noroeste, me pareció muy interesante.
May 14, 2021
An exceptional narrative history of the early Arctic explorers (with the odd jaunt to Timbuctoo and Antarctica thrown in for good measure). Prompted by the Second Secretary to the Admiralty, Sir John Barrow, scores of classic stiff-upper-lipped British explorers set out to fill in the blank areas of the map. "What lay at the North Pole? Did Antarctica exist? Was there a North-West Passage? Where was Timbuctoo? What lay at the heart of Africa?" (pg. 9). With the Napoleonic Wars at an end, Great Britain was starting to flex its Imperial muscles. It was considered intolerable if "other countries should open up a globe over which Britain ruled supreme" (pg. 11).
Unfortunately, the ventures were often that peculiar mix of stout-hearted bravery and bumbling incompetence which those of us in Britain have long considered our hallmark, coupled with our habitual preference for 'muddling through'. As author Fergus Fleming remarks late on in the book, Barrow's men were stereotypical of the Victorian explorer: "a brave, patriotic chap, steadfast but daring, manly but emotional, confident but modest, willing to carry the banner of queen and country to the furthest reaches of the world; ready not only to face the void but to stare it down, and to do so in blind, cheerful ignorance" (pg. 374). Those of us in Britain have always been somewhat perversely proud of our incompetent failures as long as they have the redemptive quality of courage (witness the lionisation of Scott of the Antarctic, a spiritual descendent of Barrow's boys), and Fleming has provided us with a book chock full of them.
Only 19th-century Britain could have served us such characters. There is the officer who, having distinguished himself in the Sahara, is sent to the Arctic (pg. 106) and claims "he was better able to withstand the cold because he still retained the heat" (pg. 114). There are the officers who traverse the oppressively hot inner regions of Africa in full dress uniform, determined as they are to project all the pomp and power of Britain to the natives (pg. 179). There is the captain who, with his ship completely disabled in the Antarctic oceans by a clash with its sister ship, performs a sternboard (essentially reversing in neutral) in order to outmanoeuvre a fleet of mountainous icebergs (pp355-6). There are the countless, nameless, dauntless seamen who, as Sir John Franklin admiringly notes, enter "upon any enterprise, however hazardous, without inquiring or desiring to know where he is going or what he is going about" (pg. 127). And, overseeing it all, there is the extremely harsh taskmaster Barrow (who was annoyed when an early expedition returned home unscathed, because that "was not what exploration was about" (pg. 57)).
This is not to say that Barrow's Boys is solely a comical look into John Bull playing at explorer. Fleming often notes the very real effects of the poor planning, bureaucratic high-handedness and schoolboy-ish Boy's Own eagerness, not least the tell-tale knife scrapes on human bones indicating that a lost expedition had resorted to cannibalism. Some of the tales (most notably Franklin's two major expeditions and the horrific ordeal of McClure's crew) are positively appalling, and take some of the gloss off what would otherwise just be another ripping yarn. This is welcome, for Fleming offers a balanced appraisal of this era of exploration and the conditions endured. There are countless examples of the sheer indomitableness of the natural world, particularly in the ice lands, which - whilst it is not explicit - I interpreted as a necessary riposte to the hubris of Man, here in the form of the British Empire. This means that you can marvel at the tales of derring-do and bravery, and feel patriotic pride in the endeavours of the King's and Queen's men to plant their piece of silk on new barren lands, whilst still accepting that Nature reigns supreme. Fleming allows us to, in effect, have our cake and eat it too.
I could go on and on about the events featured in the book, and there are countless adventures and anecdotes which are worthy of mention. But it is even more worthy to mention that Fleming has taken these stories and woven them into a brilliant piece of narrative history. He is a sympathetic storyteller throughout, imposing his own personality and humour on the prose without letting it get in the way of the facts and the history. It is a great example of the genre, right up there with one of my favourites, The Lost City of Z by David Grann (not coincidentally, also about a British explorer). Fleming's best quality is his eye for anecdote: there are innumerable bizarre events and occurrences peppered throughout the text, and if it took me longer to read Barrow's Boys than it would another book of similar length, it is because I was enjoying it so, so much.
If I have one criticism of the book, it is that the summation at the end (the last chapter, 'Riding the Globe', not counting the Epilogue) was rather too short. Fleming's conclusions are sound, however: for all their bravery and lunacy, Barrow's expeditions were also ones of futility. "Every single one of Barrow's goals had proved worthless in the finding: Timbuctoo was a mud town of no importance; the Niger had little practical application for trade; northern Australia was totally unworkable as the site of a 'second Singapore'; Antarctica was an inhospitable lump of ice; and the North-West Passage... was an utter waste of time. The Open Polar Sea, meanwhile, was not only not worth finding but not even there to be found" (pp422-3). And after all that, the North-West Passage would eventually first be sailed by Johnny Foreigner: the Norwegian Roald Amundsen. Men had died, treasure had been expended, and for little gain in real terms. But it had fired the public imagination and began a love affair with exploration that encouraged the likes of Burton and Speke, Livingstone, Scott and Shackleton, and one which we can still see around us today (the discovery in 2014 of the wreck of the Erebus, one of Franklin's ships from his lost expedition, made headlines around the world). Despite everything, Barrow's boys embodied that primal desire for discovery, exploration and conquest which has driven human progress for millennia. And, as Fleming concludes (pp423-5), what a thrilling ride it all was. The same could be said for the reading of his book.
Unfortunately, the ventures were often that peculiar mix of stout-hearted bravery and bumbling incompetence which those of us in Britain have long considered our hallmark, coupled with our habitual preference for 'muddling through'. As author Fergus Fleming remarks late on in the book, Barrow's men were stereotypical of the Victorian explorer: "a brave, patriotic chap, steadfast but daring, manly but emotional, confident but modest, willing to carry the banner of queen and country to the furthest reaches of the world; ready not only to face the void but to stare it down, and to do so in blind, cheerful ignorance" (pg. 374). Those of us in Britain have always been somewhat perversely proud of our incompetent failures as long as they have the redemptive quality of courage (witness the lionisation of Scott of the Antarctic, a spiritual descendent of Barrow's boys), and Fleming has provided us with a book chock full of them.
Only 19th-century Britain could have served us such characters. There is the officer who, having distinguished himself in the Sahara, is sent to the Arctic (pg. 106) and claims "he was better able to withstand the cold because he still retained the heat" (pg. 114). There are the officers who traverse the oppressively hot inner regions of Africa in full dress uniform, determined as they are to project all the pomp and power of Britain to the natives (pg. 179). There is the captain who, with his ship completely disabled in the Antarctic oceans by a clash with its sister ship, performs a sternboard (essentially reversing in neutral) in order to outmanoeuvre a fleet of mountainous icebergs (pp355-6). There are the countless, nameless, dauntless seamen who, as Sir John Franklin admiringly notes, enter "upon any enterprise, however hazardous, without inquiring or desiring to know where he is going or what he is going about" (pg. 127). And, overseeing it all, there is the extremely harsh taskmaster Barrow (who was annoyed when an early expedition returned home unscathed, because that "was not what exploration was about" (pg. 57)).
This is not to say that Barrow's Boys is solely a comical look into John Bull playing at explorer. Fleming often notes the very real effects of the poor planning, bureaucratic high-handedness and schoolboy-ish Boy's Own eagerness, not least the tell-tale knife scrapes on human bones indicating that a lost expedition had resorted to cannibalism. Some of the tales (most notably Franklin's two major expeditions and the horrific ordeal of McClure's crew) are positively appalling, and take some of the gloss off what would otherwise just be another ripping yarn. This is welcome, for Fleming offers a balanced appraisal of this era of exploration and the conditions endured. There are countless examples of the sheer indomitableness of the natural world, particularly in the ice lands, which - whilst it is not explicit - I interpreted as a necessary riposte to the hubris of Man, here in the form of the British Empire. This means that you can marvel at the tales of derring-do and bravery, and feel patriotic pride in the endeavours of the King's and Queen's men to plant their piece of silk on new barren lands, whilst still accepting that Nature reigns supreme. Fleming allows us to, in effect, have our cake and eat it too.
I could go on and on about the events featured in the book, and there are countless adventures and anecdotes which are worthy of mention. But it is even more worthy to mention that Fleming has taken these stories and woven them into a brilliant piece of narrative history. He is a sympathetic storyteller throughout, imposing his own personality and humour on the prose without letting it get in the way of the facts and the history. It is a great example of the genre, right up there with one of my favourites, The Lost City of Z by David Grann (not coincidentally, also about a British explorer). Fleming's best quality is his eye for anecdote: there are innumerable bizarre events and occurrences peppered throughout the text, and if it took me longer to read Barrow's Boys than it would another book of similar length, it is because I was enjoying it so, so much.
If I have one criticism of the book, it is that the summation at the end (the last chapter, 'Riding the Globe', not counting the Epilogue) was rather too short. Fleming's conclusions are sound, however: for all their bravery and lunacy, Barrow's expeditions were also ones of futility. "Every single one of Barrow's goals had proved worthless in the finding: Timbuctoo was a mud town of no importance; the Niger had little practical application for trade; northern Australia was totally unworkable as the site of a 'second Singapore'; Antarctica was an inhospitable lump of ice; and the North-West Passage... was an utter waste of time. The Open Polar Sea, meanwhile, was not only not worth finding but not even there to be found" (pp422-3). And after all that, the North-West Passage would eventually first be sailed by Johnny Foreigner: the Norwegian Roald Amundsen. Men had died, treasure had been expended, and for little gain in real terms. But it had fired the public imagination and began a love affair with exploration that encouraged the likes of Burton and Speke, Livingstone, Scott and Shackleton, and one which we can still see around us today (the discovery in 2014 of the wreck of the Erebus, one of Franklin's ships from his lost expedition, made headlines around the world). Despite everything, Barrow's boys embodied that primal desire for discovery, exploration and conquest which has driven human progress for millennia. And, as Fleming concludes (pp423-5), what a thrilling ride it all was. The same could be said for the reading of his book.
October 19, 2017
Fascinating book about exploration during the 1800s, with the primary emphasis on the expeditions that went in search of the Northwest Passage. There are also stories about the search for where the Niger River flowed to in Africa, as well as explorations of Antarctica. The extremes that these people enduring during their quest to find the Northwest Passage is mind boggling. They often spent 2, 3, or more years ice-bound aboard their ships waiting for the ice to break up enough for them to continue. I'm still not sure how they survived these situations (some of them did not). And I think it is an accomplishment to complete a 5 mile winter hike in the Catskills, lol. Anyway, for those of you who enjoy adventure/exploration stories, this book will not disappoint.
November 28, 2019
Otro magnífico libro divulgativo sobre la historia de la exploración perpetrado por Fergus Fleming, en este caso centrado en John Barrow, que como vicesecretario del almirantazgo fomentó la búsqueda del paso del Noroeste, la búsqueda del río Níger y la exploración, en menor medida, de la Antártida.
Una auténtica epopeya de esos hombres de antaño capaces de las más increíbles y heróicas hazañas. Todo contado de una manera fluida y sin el menor atisbo de aburrimiento.
Un 9,5
Una auténtica epopeya de esos hombres de antaño capaces de las más increíbles y heróicas hazañas. Todo contado de una manera fluida y sin el menor atisbo de aburrimiento.
Un 9,5
April 7, 2023
A well-written and fun historical accounting of various British explorers’ attempts and mostly failures to explore the Arctic. Interspersed with these tales are similar expeditions to map the Niger and West Africa. While the British effort to find a North West passage was ultimately costly in terms of both finances and human lives, the author argues in the end that despite the passage being useless for trade that charting the unknown may be inherently invaluable in its own right. Who’s to say? The parallels to today’s space program are apparent. Also, I appreciated that the author took a critical eye to the British explorers’ relationships with the native Eskimos dwelling in the far reaches of North America, though it was not a primary focus of the chain of events that unfolds.
December 10, 2021
In diesem Buch geht es um einen Mann und seine Träume. Um einen Mann, der alles daran setzt, diese Träume zu verwirklichen. Dafür schickt er andere Männer auf gefährliche Abenteuer, entsendet sie in die tiefste Kälte und die brütenste Hitze. Er macht Helden aus ihnen oder zerstört ihr Ansehen in der Gesellschaft.
"Barrow's Boys" ist ein gut und flüssig geschriebenes Werk, in welchem es um Barrow und seine Expeditionen geht. Was hat man damit erreicht? Welchen widrigen Umständen waren die Crews ausgesetzt? Wie erging es ihnen, nachdem sie in die Gesellschaft zurückgekehrt waren? Wie reagierte Barrow auf ihre Ergebnisse?
Ganz unterschiedliche Reisen werden hier vorgestellt; jedoch trifft man immer wieder auf dieselben Namen, die sich um Barrow tummeln. Manche vertragen sich mit ihm, manche brechen mit ihm. Viele sterben. Manche verschwinden in den Wüsten oder dem ewigen Eis.
Fleming hat eine packende Chronik geschrieben, die beinahe alle wichtigen Forschungsreisen abdeckt. Hier erhält man somit einen guten ersten Eindruck über die Expeditionen in die Arktis, die Antarktis und nach Afrika. Abwechslungsreich berichtet der Autor von Gewinnern, Verlierern und leidenschaftlichen Abenteurern. Von Forschern, Taugenichtsen, Seemännern mit dem Herzen am rechten Fleck.
Wer sich also für dieses historische Thema interessiert, der sollte zugreifen. Das Buch bietet sehr viel Wissen, gekonnt vermittelt und oft auch mit Humor erzählt. Eindeutig eines meiner Lesehighlights im November.
"Barrow's Boys" ist ein gut und flüssig geschriebenes Werk, in welchem es um Barrow und seine Expeditionen geht. Was hat man damit erreicht? Welchen widrigen Umständen waren die Crews ausgesetzt? Wie erging es ihnen, nachdem sie in die Gesellschaft zurückgekehrt waren? Wie reagierte Barrow auf ihre Ergebnisse?
Ganz unterschiedliche Reisen werden hier vorgestellt; jedoch trifft man immer wieder auf dieselben Namen, die sich um Barrow tummeln. Manche vertragen sich mit ihm, manche brechen mit ihm. Viele sterben. Manche verschwinden in den Wüsten oder dem ewigen Eis.
Fleming hat eine packende Chronik geschrieben, die beinahe alle wichtigen Forschungsreisen abdeckt. Hier erhält man somit einen guten ersten Eindruck über die Expeditionen in die Arktis, die Antarktis und nach Afrika. Abwechslungsreich berichtet der Autor von Gewinnern, Verlierern und leidenschaftlichen Abenteurern. Von Forschern, Taugenichtsen, Seemännern mit dem Herzen am rechten Fleck.
Wer sich also für dieses historische Thema interessiert, der sollte zugreifen. Das Buch bietet sehr viel Wissen, gekonnt vermittelt und oft auch mit Humor erzählt. Eindeutig eines meiner Lesehighlights im November.
November 29, 2024
I started reading this book as we prepared to take a cruise up the coast of Spitsbergen far northwest of continental Norway. During the cruise, we expected to cross the 80th parallel within 400 miles or so of the North Pole. From what I’d read about this book, I expected it to cover the history of this area. In fact, the book’s sequel had more about the Spitsbergen area.
But this is a delightful book! It covers the Career of John Barrow who served England as the Second Secretary to the Admiralty after the Napoleonic Wars. While I had no idea what this title meant, Barrow was a high-ranking officer in the navy because he funded the most ambitious program of exploration the world has ever seen. This should not imply that the expeditions were well funded. The explorers often had to raise money to supplement the Crown’s funding. But Barrow sent men all over the world in an effort to fill in the blanks on the map.
His first funding was for disastrous attempts to follow the Congo River in search of the Niger River in West Africa. While some of these trips were spectacular failures, eventually, one succeeded and this opened West Africa to the world.
But Barrow’s dream was to discover the Northwest Passage from Greenland to Alaska. He felt certain such a passage existed, but ice, extreme cold, and poor funding made exploration in this remote area unbelievably difficult. Ships trying to go west from Greenland had a very short window to operate. Ice began melting in late March so ships would leave London or Scotland in time to be ready whenever ice conditions allowed them to head north. Travelling through the ice was perilous and many ships sank or were irreparably damaged. As the ships searched for a way west, the ice would begin to refreeze. This usually happens by mid-summer, but sometimes it starts in June. The ships would freeze in the ice where they would have remained until next year’s thaw, which might or might not free them. During the winter, all the animals would move south leaving the explorers with only the food they carried with them. Temperatures reached far below zero every day for much of the winter making melted snow the only source of water. But after spectacular failures, explorers began to carry enough supplies to see them through the terrible winters. Some of the expeditions almost thrived in freezing conditions. Some stayed for two or even three or four years, inching west, freezing, then going west again.
Early on, these explorers traveled in sailing ships with weak hulls making it likely that their ships would hit icebergs and sink. Over the years, steam began replacing wind power and technological improvements added steel reinforcement to wooden hulls.
These expeditions resulted in terrible suffering for some of the men. Frostbite was so common that the explorers paid little attention to it. The doctor would simply chop off whatever became frostbitten. Some of these men lost several fingers and, toes while also suffering extensive facial injuries. Starving sailors on more than one expedition resorted to cannibalism. Scurvy took many lives in the early years.
Barrow persisted in providing marginal funding even though it appeared that the explorers would never find the Passage. In the process of Barrow’s attempts, however, all of Greenland was explored as well as other islands in the remote Artic. In an attempt to find a Northeast passage traveling east from Spitsbergen, the map was much improved for northern Siberia. And finally, a steel-clad steam ship plowed through the ice and eventually came to Alaska. The Northwest Passage had been found. Today, extremely expensive cruises follow the route through the Passage.
After finishing the second book in this series, I learned that the author is the nephew of Ian Flemming (of 007 fame). Whatever his lineage, he is an excellent writer. This long book remains interesting, and I was amazed at the courage (or perhaps stupidity) of these men and the ability of Barrow to continue convincing them to risk their lives with so little money on the line.
When I finished this book, I immediately began the sequel, _Ninety Degrees North_, which I will review eventually. Both books are long, but they are actually hard to put down, an amazing accomplishment for history books.
I’ve already ordered several more books by Flemming. I’m looking forward to reading them!
But this is a delightful book! It covers the Career of John Barrow who served England as the Second Secretary to the Admiralty after the Napoleonic Wars. While I had no idea what this title meant, Barrow was a high-ranking officer in the navy because he funded the most ambitious program of exploration the world has ever seen. This should not imply that the expeditions were well funded. The explorers often had to raise money to supplement the Crown’s funding. But Barrow sent men all over the world in an effort to fill in the blanks on the map.
His first funding was for disastrous attempts to follow the Congo River in search of the Niger River in West Africa. While some of these trips were spectacular failures, eventually, one succeeded and this opened West Africa to the world.
But Barrow’s dream was to discover the Northwest Passage from Greenland to Alaska. He felt certain such a passage existed, but ice, extreme cold, and poor funding made exploration in this remote area unbelievably difficult. Ships trying to go west from Greenland had a very short window to operate. Ice began melting in late March so ships would leave London or Scotland in time to be ready whenever ice conditions allowed them to head north. Travelling through the ice was perilous and many ships sank or were irreparably damaged. As the ships searched for a way west, the ice would begin to refreeze. This usually happens by mid-summer, but sometimes it starts in June. The ships would freeze in the ice where they would have remained until next year’s thaw, which might or might not free them. During the winter, all the animals would move south leaving the explorers with only the food they carried with them. Temperatures reached far below zero every day for much of the winter making melted snow the only source of water. But after spectacular failures, explorers began to carry enough supplies to see them through the terrible winters. Some of the expeditions almost thrived in freezing conditions. Some stayed for two or even three or four years, inching west, freezing, then going west again.
Early on, these explorers traveled in sailing ships with weak hulls making it likely that their ships would hit icebergs and sink. Over the years, steam began replacing wind power and technological improvements added steel reinforcement to wooden hulls.
These expeditions resulted in terrible suffering for some of the men. Frostbite was so common that the explorers paid little attention to it. The doctor would simply chop off whatever became frostbitten. Some of these men lost several fingers and, toes while also suffering extensive facial injuries. Starving sailors on more than one expedition resorted to cannibalism. Scurvy took many lives in the early years.
Barrow persisted in providing marginal funding even though it appeared that the explorers would never find the Passage. In the process of Barrow’s attempts, however, all of Greenland was explored as well as other islands in the remote Artic. In an attempt to find a Northeast passage traveling east from Spitsbergen, the map was much improved for northern Siberia. And finally, a steel-clad steam ship plowed through the ice and eventually came to Alaska. The Northwest Passage had been found. Today, extremely expensive cruises follow the route through the Passage.
After finishing the second book in this series, I learned that the author is the nephew of Ian Flemming (of 007 fame). Whatever his lineage, he is an excellent writer. This long book remains interesting, and I was amazed at the courage (or perhaps stupidity) of these men and the ability of Barrow to continue convincing them to risk their lives with so little money on the line.
When I finished this book, I immediately began the sequel, _Ninety Degrees North_, which I will review eventually. Both books are long, but they are actually hard to put down, an amazing accomplishment for history books.
I’ve already ordered several more books by Flemming. I’m looking forward to reading them!
October 23, 2022
This was a fabulous read. My only gripe (noting that I read this on a tablet) is that there should have been more maps and the maps included should have been more detailed. So many times, I toggled back to the maps only to find that the particular straight, island, inlet, or sound I was seeking was nowhere to be found in the few maps provided. Very frustrating, but it doesn't compromise my overall praise for the book. I loved it!
July 16, 2018
Uno dei libri più belli che io abbia mai letto. Scritto mirabilmente - con ironia ma anche con grande affetto, rispetto per il proprio paese e la sua storia - Fergus Fleming (nipote di Ian Fleming, creatore di James Bond) raccoglie immagini, sentimenti, svolgersi di fatti, che amalgama meravigliosamente in un saggio che potrebbe quasi diventare un romanzo – ma non lo diventa mai. Le sue pagine ci portano ad apprendere fatti di storia che giustamente non ha senso imparare a scuola ma che è interessante sapere; ci portano a riflettere sull’essere umano, sulle sue capacità, sulle sue potenzialità e sui suoi limiti intellettuali ed umani che vanno di pari passo ai suoi pregi; ci fanno riflettere su di noi; ci fanno a ridere fino alle lacrime; ci fanno preoccupare; ci tengono in sospeso e poi ci fanno profondamente commuovere.
L’esperienza che più mi ha dato, che più mi ha dato spunti di riflessione è stata la prima spedizione nell’Artico di Perry, il quale, preparandosi a partire verso l’ignoto più totale (non sapeva letteralmente dove sarebbe arrivato, perché andava a scoprire terreni non ancora mappati; non sapeva chi e cosa avrebbe incontrato, non sapeva come sarebbe stato il mare, se fosse navigabile o no e per quanto tempo; non sapeva se era possibile procacciarsi del cibo o come sarebbe stato mantenersi al caldo per tanto tempo – ma quanto poi?) ecco, il suo più grande pensiero, la sua preoccupazione maggiore è stata quella di riuscire a mantenere il più a lungo possibile il morale alto della sua ciurma, la quale partiva con lui verso una notte
lunghissima (da cui forse non si sarebbero mai svegliati?). Per fare questo, fa caricare a bordo, tra le tante cose, anche un organo per fare musica ma soprattutto tanti costumi di teatro per performare poi pièces teatrali che si sarebbero inventati in quel lungo buio, nel mezzo del gelido nulla. Ad immaginarmi questo gruppo di uomini, di maschi, in una parte di mondo sconosciuta a tutti, nell’incompleta incertezza che però la sera si travestivano e scrivevano pièces per trascorrere al meglio il loro tempo, ecco mi ha fatto capire di quanto sia importante, anche nell’ora più buia della nostra vita (letteralmente!) agire sempre al meglio di sé.
Ci sarebbero tantissime altre cose magnifiche di questo libro da riportare (una tra tutte: la richiesta eplicita da parte dei loro “capi” di osservare in maniera più neutra e gentile qualsiasi forma di vita umana/animale/floreale che avrebbero incontrato), così tante che è meglio leggerle.
L’esperienza che più mi ha dato, che più mi ha dato spunti di riflessione è stata la prima spedizione nell’Artico di Perry, il quale, preparandosi a partire verso l’ignoto più totale (non sapeva letteralmente dove sarebbe arrivato, perché andava a scoprire terreni non ancora mappati; non sapeva chi e cosa avrebbe incontrato, non sapeva come sarebbe stato il mare, se fosse navigabile o no e per quanto tempo; non sapeva se era possibile procacciarsi del cibo o come sarebbe stato mantenersi al caldo per tanto tempo – ma quanto poi?) ecco, il suo più grande pensiero, la sua preoccupazione maggiore è stata quella di riuscire a mantenere il più a lungo possibile il morale alto della sua ciurma, la quale partiva con lui verso una notte
lunghissima (da cui forse non si sarebbero mai svegliati?). Per fare questo, fa caricare a bordo, tra le tante cose, anche un organo per fare musica ma soprattutto tanti costumi di teatro per performare poi pièces teatrali che si sarebbero inventati in quel lungo buio, nel mezzo del gelido nulla. Ad immaginarmi questo gruppo di uomini, di maschi, in una parte di mondo sconosciuta a tutti, nell’incompleta incertezza che però la sera si travestivano e scrivevano pièces per trascorrere al meglio il loro tempo, ecco mi ha fatto capire di quanto sia importante, anche nell’ora più buia della nostra vita (letteralmente!) agire sempre al meglio di sé.
Ci sarebbero tantissime altre cose magnifiche di questo libro da riportare (una tra tutte: la richiesta eplicita da parte dei loro “capi” di osservare in maniera più neutra e gentile qualsiasi forma di vita umana/animale/floreale che avrebbero incontrato), così tante che è meglio leggerle.
July 13, 2020
489 pages
5 stars
While he did much to further the cause of exploration both to Africa in searching for the Niger river, the exploration of Northern Canada and to Arctic and Antarctic exploration, John Barrow was a thoroughly unlikable and miserly individual. He was very self-centered and immediately dismissed not only any criticisms of his behavior, but was exceedingly rude and quick to counter such criticisms with personal attacks and outright lies about the author of the same.
But Barrow's behavior aside, this book is a very interesting and comprehensive telling of the adventures of a wide variety of men who both commanded and attended such expeditions on which they were sent by Barrow. Barrow certainly had his favorites, such as Parry. Those who were not liked and who disagreed with Barrow's theories (often based on very old and unreliable sources), were castigated and disbelieved. Barrow had a very nasty tongue.
He was “right” and would countenance no opposition. He often refused to believe eyewitness accounts when they did not agree with his own ideas. Then he would denigrate the witness.
There are very interesting people in this book, at times brilliant and at times confounding in their behavior. We meet the courageous, the incompetent, the insane and the dowright ahhh...stupid. If you were a favorite of Barrow's, it did not matter your qualifications – you were sent on expeditions.
It seems that the expeditions were beset by tragedies and hard luck. No wonder though with some of their goals. To trek across the Sahara? To fight the wilds of Canada? To sail north or south without knowing your path or destination? Shiver...not for me. In this I must say how brave (naive?) these men were.
I felt that the second of Mr. Fleming's books was the better of the two he has written on these explorations. I really like reading about these truly courageous men and their sheer determination and drive to succeed and I have read a great many books about their travails and journeys. I am reading “1912: The Year the World Discovered Antarctica,” by Chris Turney next.
5 stars
While he did much to further the cause of exploration both to Africa in searching for the Niger river, the exploration of Northern Canada and to Arctic and Antarctic exploration, John Barrow was a thoroughly unlikable and miserly individual. He was very self-centered and immediately dismissed not only any criticisms of his behavior, but was exceedingly rude and quick to counter such criticisms with personal attacks and outright lies about the author of the same.
But Barrow's behavior aside, this book is a very interesting and comprehensive telling of the adventures of a wide variety of men who both commanded and attended such expeditions on which they were sent by Barrow. Barrow certainly had his favorites, such as Parry. Those who were not liked and who disagreed with Barrow's theories (often based on very old and unreliable sources), were castigated and disbelieved. Barrow had a very nasty tongue.
He was “right” and would countenance no opposition. He often refused to believe eyewitness accounts when they did not agree with his own ideas. Then he would denigrate the witness.
There are very interesting people in this book, at times brilliant and at times confounding in their behavior. We meet the courageous, the incompetent, the insane and the dowright ahhh...stupid. If you were a favorite of Barrow's, it did not matter your qualifications – you were sent on expeditions.
It seems that the expeditions were beset by tragedies and hard luck. No wonder though with some of their goals. To trek across the Sahara? To fight the wilds of Canada? To sail north or south without knowing your path or destination? Shiver...not for me. In this I must say how brave (naive?) these men were.
I felt that the second of Mr. Fleming's books was the better of the two he has written on these explorations. I really like reading about these truly courageous men and their sheer determination and drive to succeed and I have read a great many books about their travails and journeys. I am reading “1912: The Year the World Discovered Antarctica,” by Chris Turney next.
November 14, 2015
This was an absolutely ripsnorting humdinger of a read. Barrow's Boys covers a period from the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars to the height of the Victorian Age when the 2nd secretary of the Admiralty was one John Barrow. He was a man with a mission to fill in the blanks on the map and dispatched men of pluck to the Arctic and the Sahara in an attempt to ensure that it was Britain that led the way in discovery. The majority of the book is taken up with the expeditions sent in search of the north-west passage with the quest for the Niger River bringing the occasional welcome diversion from the icy north. In both theatres the book conveys the unimaginable hardships and privations suffered by those Barrow entrusted with his often poorly conceived missions. For the African adventurers death from tropical disease was close to inevitable whilst the polar explorers faced the prospect of years trapped in the ice and land journeys of hundreds of miles surviving on pitifully inadequate rations. The futility of it all is sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes hilarious. The character sketches are incisive and well balanced. There are no perfect heroes between these pages but many flawed ones. The research of the primary sources has left no stone unturned. If someone merits a so much as a paragraph then their letters and journals have been sought out to allow their voices to be heard. In the final assessment the author seems undecided as to the value of it all. Barrow himself emerges as a driving force behind many famous achievements which inspired future generations to equal acts of endurance but also as monstrously ungrateful and vicious to those who he felt had failed to achieve their sometimes unachievable objectives and obstinately blind to any argument that contradicted his own often misguided theories. In the end we can only marvel at the sheer bloody minded grit of the men he sent off, many of whom did not come back. Outstanding entertainment. Brilliantly written. Totally compelling. Everyone should read this book; you'll never moan about being cold or hungry again.
May 10, 2015
Barrow’s Boys is a must read for those history buffs who first of all are interested in peace time British Naval history during the first half of the 19th century. The book reads like a novel as it explores the Admiralty and the decisions made to map and discover the Northwest Passage, Nile, Niger and thrown in for good measure the Antarctic.
The book is extremely well researched and author Fleming makes excellent work of the language of the day to introduce you to the character, ambitions and the lunacy of the explorers to seek fame and fortune in a peace time military career.
The book covers the impressive but unlikely long career of John Barrow, Secretary of the Admiralty and his plans to keep Britain at the forefront of science and discovery while protecting Britain’s commerce from “foreigners.” Fleming bares Barrow’s petty jealousies, favouritism and conniving in his ability to get his government to spend fortunes on missions that are in his mind always “successful” but seem to fail nearly every time to reach their stated goals.
But, the real pleasure in this book is Fleming’s essence and vigor of the heroes Barrow chooses to command the many missions. Call them brave, call them excellent officers and call them loyal servants they are perhaps driven by a death wish into the journeys they undertake.
My edition is Kobo so you don't have the ability to refer to the map appendices as you progress. So a good tip is to take an atlas along for the read.
The book is extremely well researched and author Fleming makes excellent work of the language of the day to introduce you to the character, ambitions and the lunacy of the explorers to seek fame and fortune in a peace time military career.
The book covers the impressive but unlikely long career of John Barrow, Secretary of the Admiralty and his plans to keep Britain at the forefront of science and discovery while protecting Britain’s commerce from “foreigners.” Fleming bares Barrow’s petty jealousies, favouritism and conniving in his ability to get his government to spend fortunes on missions that are in his mind always “successful” but seem to fail nearly every time to reach their stated goals.
But, the real pleasure in this book is Fleming’s essence and vigor of the heroes Barrow chooses to command the many missions. Call them brave, call them excellent officers and call them loyal servants they are perhaps driven by a death wish into the journeys they undertake.
My edition is Kobo so you don't have the ability to refer to the map appendices as you progress. So a good tip is to take an atlas along for the read.
July 6, 2021
This book is a humdinger of an adventure from start to finish. Encompassing stories of derring-do across the globe, from frozen wastes to arid deserts, plagued by disease and poor decision making, these tales of real-life adventures are almost unbelievable. At the end of the Napoleonic wars, lots of sailors were effectively laid off and those who were left had very little to do and were on half pay. Partly to give them something to do, the 2nd Secretary of the Navy, dreamt up missions to the Artic and West Africa, seeking the North West Passage and the source of the Niger, respectively. The stories of these individual missions are amazing. It's difficult to put into words the deprivations they suffered, but in many cases, their bravery, fortitude and stoicism helped to see them through. Disease, harsh conditions and poor decisions (often by Barrow himself) sadly cost the lives of many of these adventurers but this books helps to commemorate their daring exploits. A right riveting read.
July 23, 2020
I'd give this 4.5 if half stars were allowed, and only because 5 stars are only for the Karamazov and Lord of the rings. But this book is epic, and I couldn't have wished any better form of escapism during the mad covid-19 pandemic. Feeling famined and cold, overwintering whilst locked in the ice, or was I just reading about it from my cosy London flat?
Beautiful.
Beautiful.
December 31, 2019
The true story of the life, times and adventures of John Barrow. We learn the value of persistence and sacrifice as Barrow’s repeated failures led to experience that opened up the discovery of Antarctica and led to more knowledge about the Arctic and Africa. An interesting story well told.
April 10, 2008
Thrilling stories from the golden age of exploration. While the writing wasn't all that great, the subject matter more than made up for it.
May 2, 2022
What a great read. Full of excitement, fascinating voyages, adventures. A brilliant history.
September 28, 2024
Sir John Barrow (1764-1848) war ein britischer Staatsbeamter, der die längste Zeit seiner beruflichen Karriere das Amt des zweiten Sekretärs der Admiralität der britischen Marine bekleidete und in dieser Funktion vor allem für etliche der für das 19. Jahrhundert so typischen Expeditionen in bis dato unbekannte Regionen der Welt, jene weißen Flecken auf den Landkarten, in die sogenannte Terra incognita verantwortlich zeichnete. Barrow war ein streitbarer Mann, der einer ganzen Reihe meist falscher Annahmen über die für seine Zeit fast zum Fetisch erhobene Nordwestpassage, aber auch das Polarmeer generell, den Nordpol oder den Ursprung und Verlauf des Nigers anhing und diese bis zur Selbstverleugnung vertrat. Er war intrigant und Streit niemals abgeneigt und er war ein sehr kluger Stratege, wenn es um das Erringen, den Erhalt und das Ausüben von Macht ging. Deshalb war er auch nie daran interessiert, in erste Positionen zu gelangen, sozusagen im Licht des Ruhms zu stehen, besser gefiel es ihm, aus dem Hintergrund zu agieren. Um die Fäden dessen, was ihn interessierte, in den Händen zu halten, war die zweite Reihe, war der Posten des zweiten Sekretärs, weitaus effektiver. Die von ihm ausgesandten Expeditionen waren zumeist Fehlschläge, selten brachten sie wesentliche Erkenntnisse, die dadurch errungenen Einsichten waren selten von grundlegendem Nutzen. Und dennoch war die Unbedingtheit, die er ausstrahlte, war sein Wille, Großbritannien auf der Weltkarte als See- und Führungsmacht zu etablieren, war sein fast fanatischer Wunsch, dass es britische Männer sein müssen, die wesentliche Entdeckungen der Weltgeschichte machen, ein ganz bedeutender Antrieb für die imperiale – und letztlich auch koloniale – Ausbreitung des britischen Weltreichs.
Der Autor Fergus Fleming widmete sich in seinem Werk BARROW´S BOYS. EINE UNGLAUBLICHE GESCHICHTE VON WAHREM HELDENMUT UND BRAVOURÖSEM SCHEITERN (BARROW´S BOYS; Original erschienen 1998; Dt. 2002, 2019) diesem umstrittenen Mann. Auf ebenso kenntnisreiche wie auch witzige Art und Weise geht Fleming den entscheidenden von Barrow initiierten Expeditionen nach, wobei das Augenmerk zwar hauptsächlich auf den Seeexpeditionen liegt, der Autor aber auch jenen Landexpeditionen Aufmerksamkeit schenkt, die vor allem das westliche Afrika erkunden sollten. Fleming hat dabei durchaus hohe Achtung vor all den Männern (es waren – zeitbedingt – nun einmal Männer, die diese Reisen und Fahrten unternahmen), die diese Expeditionen führten und oft auch erlitten, doch nimmt er genügend Distanz ein, um ihre Eitelkeiten und die daraus entstehenden Manierismen und Eigenarten angemessen zu beschreiben und – was der historische Abstand zulässt, ohne dass der Autor despektierlich wirkt – auch zu ironisieren. Denn einige derer, die hier beschrieben werden, wurden auch Opfer dieser ihrer Eitelkeiten und Eigenheiten.
Aus den letzten Sätzen geht natürlich auch hervor, dass Fleming hier keinesfalls eine Biographie John Barrows geschrieben hat. Sein Buch heißt ja schließlich auch BARROW´S BOYS, womit der Fokus durchaus hinreichend beschrieben ist. So folgt er also den wesentlichen Männern der britischen Marine jener Tage, die in Barrows Auftrag die Weltmeere besegelten, im Polarmeer kreuzten, die die Sahara und die Urwälder Westafrikas durchquerten und große Teile der weiter oben beschriebenen Terra Incognita erforschten und kartierten. Männer wie William Edward Parry, John Ross und sein Neffe James Ross, John Rae, Gordon Laing, Robert McClure, Richard Collinson und, natürlich, John Franklin, um nur einige zu nennen. Unter den Genannten dürfte Franklin der bekannteste sein, steht sein Name doch für die wohl größte Tragödie und das für lange Zeit wohl auch größte Geheimnis der Suche nach der legendären Nordwestpassage. Spätestens durch Dan Simmons Roman THE TERROR (2007) und die daraus resultierende TV-Serie (2018), dürften diese Erkundungsfahrt und ihre Schrecknisse auch den weniger an der Geschichte britischer Expeditionen des 19. Jahrhunderts Interessierten nähergebracht worden sein.
Mittlerweile ist die Forschung weiter, als sie zur Zeit der Abfassung von Flemings Buch gewesen ist. Sowohl die Terror als auch ihr Schwesterschiff, die Erebus – also jene beiden Schiffe, die Franklin zur Verfügung hatte, als er im Mai 1845 aufbrach, endgültig Barrows Traum von der Entdeckung der Passage, die den Atlantik mit dem Pazifik nördlich des nordamerikanischen Kontinents verbinden sollte, zu erfüllen – wurden inzwischen gefunden, auch der Verlauf der letztlich völlig gescheiterten Expedition konnte in den letzten Jahren nachvollzogen werden und heute wissen wir, dass es tatsächlich zu Kannibalismus und ähnlichen Grauseligkeiten kam; wissen wir aber auch, welch extremen Nöte die Mannschaften auf sich nahmen und welche Qualen die Männer durchleiden mussten. Es gibt mittlerweile etliche Werke zum Thema, eines der besten und schönsten ist jenes, welches das frühere Monty Python-Mitglied Michael Palin mit dem Titel EREBUS. THE STORY OF A SHIP (2019) verfasst hat.
Anhand dieser Fakten und Tatsachen merken geneigte Leser*innen, dass Fergus´ Werk schon einige Tage auf dem Buckel hat. Allerdings schadet das nicht. Vor allem deshalb nicht, weil Fergus´ Augenmerk eben – es wurde weiter oben bereits erwähnt – nicht ausschließlich, besser: kaum, auf Franklins Erfahrungen liegt. Vielmehr widmet er sich ausführlich den frühen Versuchen, die Nordwestpassage zu finden, die bereits 1818 begannen, ebenso ausführlich beschreibt er die unterschiedlichen Versuche, die Quelle des Niger zu finden und zu beweisen, dass er in den Nil mündet.
Fakten wie letztere sorgen immer wieder für Heiterkeit bei der Lektüre, da John Barrow, der in jungen Jahren zwar selbst gereist war – China und auch Südafrika, wo er sich niederzulassen geplant hatte, waren u.a. seine Ziele – dann aber England nie wieder verließ, sehr ausgeprägte Ansichten über die Ziele der jeweiligen Expeditionen hegte. So sah er die verschiedenen Erkundungsmannschaften, die er ausschickte, auch eher damit beauftragt, diese seine Ansichten zu unterstützen oder zu belegen. Jene Männer, die unter oftmals grausigen Bedingungen, nach Jahren, die sie in den Eiswüsten der Arktis ausgeharrt hatten, geplagt von Skorbut und anderen Mangelerkrankungen, nicht die „richtigen“ Ergebnisse nachhause brachten, strafte Barrow oft mit jahre- und jahrzehntelanger Ignoranz, manchmal gar Hass. Er war neben seiner Tätigkeit für die Admiralität auch Publizist und Rezensent und schrieb in dieser Eigenschaft auch Kritiken zu den von der Admiralität veröffentlichten Journalen seiner Kapitäne. So konnte er diese auch durchaus der Lächerlichkeit preisgeben, wenn ihm danach war und sogar ihre Karrieren empfindlich stören oder gar zer-stören.
Die oft interessantesten Aspekte in Flemings Buch sind dann auch solch scheinbare Nebensächlichkeiten: Die Intrigen, die sich innerhalb der Admiralität abspielten, die Ämterhäufungen, die es Männern wie John Barrow ermöglichten ungeheure Macht auszuüben, obwohl sie offiziell gar keine solch machtvollen Positionen einnahmen. Gerade in solchen Momenten sind Flemings Ausführungen eben auch wirklich komisch:
"Nach Backs Rückkehr war der Weg für einen neuen Anlauf zur Suche der Nordwestpassage frei und 1836 drängte Sir John Barrow die Royal Geographical Society, deren Vizepräsident er war, der Admiralität, deren Sekretär er war, mit Unterstützung der Royal Society, deren Mitglied er war, eine neue Expedition vorzuschlagen. Es wundert nicht, dass der Vorschlag angenommen wurde.“ (S.403)
Desweiteren ist es eine Fülle scheinbar nebensächlicher Details, die Fleming zusammenträgt und die die Lektüre so wertvoll machen. Dass die britische Marine nach dem Ende der napoleonischen Kriege über eine Unmenge an Offizieren verfügte, für die es kaum Verwendung gab und die zu teils halbierten Löhnen arbeiten – oder einfach herumsitzen – mussten und umso dankbarer waren, auch äußerst gefährliche Aufträge, wie es die Barrow´schen Expeditionen zweifelsohne waren, anzunehmen; wie diese Männer sich gegenüber den ihnen untergebenen Männern verhielten: Einige erwartbar brutal und hart, andere aber sorgten in den endlosen Nächten der arktischen Winter, die sie eingeschlossen im Packeis ausharren mussten, dafür, dass die Männer in ihren Besatzungen Schreiben und Lesen lernten; welch teils vollkommen überfrachteten Erwartungen auch die britische Öffentlichkeit an die Expeditionen stellten und die Enttäuschungen, die deren Fehlschläge oftmals auslösten; dass ein Mann wie Franklin selbst Jahre, nachdem er längst verschollen war, in der Öffentlichkeit noch äußerst populär war und als „Held der Arktis“ galt.
Es entsteht so das Panorama eines wesentlichen Teils der britischen Gesellschaft des 19. Jahrhunderts, das maßgeblich zu dessen imperialer Größe, wie auch immer man diese heute beurteilen mag, beitrug. Man versteht diese Männer, die mit großer Härte gegen sich und ihre Untergebenen vorgingen, die sicherlich heute vollkommen überholten Vorstellungen von Männlichkeit und Heldentum anhingen, die dessen ungeachtet aber eben doch auch bereit waren, große Risiken einzugehen, um im Geist der Aufklärung dazu beizutragen, die Welt zu erkunden und besser zu verstehen. Fleming lässt in den Beschreibungen der Begegnungen dieser fast ausschließlich weißen Besatzungen der Schiffe mit den Eingeborenen, den Inuit und den Indigenen, aber auch die Schattenseiten dieser Erkundungen und dieses Wissensdursts aufscheinen. Es wird hier bei allem Respekt vor der Leistung dieser Männer, bei aller ironischen Distanz, eben auch deutlich, dass diese Expeditionen enorme Auswirkungen auf die Welt und die Weltgeschichte hatten.
Nicht zuletzt dadurch wird Flemings Buch ein wirklich herausragendes. Auch zwei Jahrzehnte nach seiner Veröffentlichung trägt es also dazu bei, die Mentalität, den Geist zu verstehen, der die britische Gesellschaft einst antrieb, die Leistungen zu vollbringen, die sie nicht nur zu einer Seemacht aufsteigen, sondern für nahezu zwei Jahrhunderte auch das größte koloniale Imperium der Neuzeit beherrschen ließ. Und durchaus auch zu begreifen, was dies für Teile der Welt bedeutete.
Der Autor Fergus Fleming widmete sich in seinem Werk BARROW´S BOYS. EINE UNGLAUBLICHE GESCHICHTE VON WAHREM HELDENMUT UND BRAVOURÖSEM SCHEITERN (BARROW´S BOYS; Original erschienen 1998; Dt. 2002, 2019) diesem umstrittenen Mann. Auf ebenso kenntnisreiche wie auch witzige Art und Weise geht Fleming den entscheidenden von Barrow initiierten Expeditionen nach, wobei das Augenmerk zwar hauptsächlich auf den Seeexpeditionen liegt, der Autor aber auch jenen Landexpeditionen Aufmerksamkeit schenkt, die vor allem das westliche Afrika erkunden sollten. Fleming hat dabei durchaus hohe Achtung vor all den Männern (es waren – zeitbedingt – nun einmal Männer, die diese Reisen und Fahrten unternahmen), die diese Expeditionen führten und oft auch erlitten, doch nimmt er genügend Distanz ein, um ihre Eitelkeiten und die daraus entstehenden Manierismen und Eigenarten angemessen zu beschreiben und – was der historische Abstand zulässt, ohne dass der Autor despektierlich wirkt – auch zu ironisieren. Denn einige derer, die hier beschrieben werden, wurden auch Opfer dieser ihrer Eitelkeiten und Eigenheiten.
Aus den letzten Sätzen geht natürlich auch hervor, dass Fleming hier keinesfalls eine Biographie John Barrows geschrieben hat. Sein Buch heißt ja schließlich auch BARROW´S BOYS, womit der Fokus durchaus hinreichend beschrieben ist. So folgt er also den wesentlichen Männern der britischen Marine jener Tage, die in Barrows Auftrag die Weltmeere besegelten, im Polarmeer kreuzten, die die Sahara und die Urwälder Westafrikas durchquerten und große Teile der weiter oben beschriebenen Terra Incognita erforschten und kartierten. Männer wie William Edward Parry, John Ross und sein Neffe James Ross, John Rae, Gordon Laing, Robert McClure, Richard Collinson und, natürlich, John Franklin, um nur einige zu nennen. Unter den Genannten dürfte Franklin der bekannteste sein, steht sein Name doch für die wohl größte Tragödie und das für lange Zeit wohl auch größte Geheimnis der Suche nach der legendären Nordwestpassage. Spätestens durch Dan Simmons Roman THE TERROR (2007) und die daraus resultierende TV-Serie (2018), dürften diese Erkundungsfahrt und ihre Schrecknisse auch den weniger an der Geschichte britischer Expeditionen des 19. Jahrhunderts Interessierten nähergebracht worden sein.
Mittlerweile ist die Forschung weiter, als sie zur Zeit der Abfassung von Flemings Buch gewesen ist. Sowohl die Terror als auch ihr Schwesterschiff, die Erebus – also jene beiden Schiffe, die Franklin zur Verfügung hatte, als er im Mai 1845 aufbrach, endgültig Barrows Traum von der Entdeckung der Passage, die den Atlantik mit dem Pazifik nördlich des nordamerikanischen Kontinents verbinden sollte, zu erfüllen – wurden inzwischen gefunden, auch der Verlauf der letztlich völlig gescheiterten Expedition konnte in den letzten Jahren nachvollzogen werden und heute wissen wir, dass es tatsächlich zu Kannibalismus und ähnlichen Grauseligkeiten kam; wissen wir aber auch, welch extremen Nöte die Mannschaften auf sich nahmen und welche Qualen die Männer durchleiden mussten. Es gibt mittlerweile etliche Werke zum Thema, eines der besten und schönsten ist jenes, welches das frühere Monty Python-Mitglied Michael Palin mit dem Titel EREBUS. THE STORY OF A SHIP (2019) verfasst hat.
Anhand dieser Fakten und Tatsachen merken geneigte Leser*innen, dass Fergus´ Werk schon einige Tage auf dem Buckel hat. Allerdings schadet das nicht. Vor allem deshalb nicht, weil Fergus´ Augenmerk eben – es wurde weiter oben bereits erwähnt – nicht ausschließlich, besser: kaum, auf Franklins Erfahrungen liegt. Vielmehr widmet er sich ausführlich den frühen Versuchen, die Nordwestpassage zu finden, die bereits 1818 begannen, ebenso ausführlich beschreibt er die unterschiedlichen Versuche, die Quelle des Niger zu finden und zu beweisen, dass er in den Nil mündet.
Fakten wie letztere sorgen immer wieder für Heiterkeit bei der Lektüre, da John Barrow, der in jungen Jahren zwar selbst gereist war – China und auch Südafrika, wo er sich niederzulassen geplant hatte, waren u.a. seine Ziele – dann aber England nie wieder verließ, sehr ausgeprägte Ansichten über die Ziele der jeweiligen Expeditionen hegte. So sah er die verschiedenen Erkundungsmannschaften, die er ausschickte, auch eher damit beauftragt, diese seine Ansichten zu unterstützen oder zu belegen. Jene Männer, die unter oftmals grausigen Bedingungen, nach Jahren, die sie in den Eiswüsten der Arktis ausgeharrt hatten, geplagt von Skorbut und anderen Mangelerkrankungen, nicht die „richtigen“ Ergebnisse nachhause brachten, strafte Barrow oft mit jahre- und jahrzehntelanger Ignoranz, manchmal gar Hass. Er war neben seiner Tätigkeit für die Admiralität auch Publizist und Rezensent und schrieb in dieser Eigenschaft auch Kritiken zu den von der Admiralität veröffentlichten Journalen seiner Kapitäne. So konnte er diese auch durchaus der Lächerlichkeit preisgeben, wenn ihm danach war und sogar ihre Karrieren empfindlich stören oder gar zer-stören.
Die oft interessantesten Aspekte in Flemings Buch sind dann auch solch scheinbare Nebensächlichkeiten: Die Intrigen, die sich innerhalb der Admiralität abspielten, die Ämterhäufungen, die es Männern wie John Barrow ermöglichten ungeheure Macht auszuüben, obwohl sie offiziell gar keine solch machtvollen Positionen einnahmen. Gerade in solchen Momenten sind Flemings Ausführungen eben auch wirklich komisch:
"Nach Backs Rückkehr war der Weg für einen neuen Anlauf zur Suche der Nordwestpassage frei und 1836 drängte Sir John Barrow die Royal Geographical Society, deren Vizepräsident er war, der Admiralität, deren Sekretär er war, mit Unterstützung der Royal Society, deren Mitglied er war, eine neue Expedition vorzuschlagen. Es wundert nicht, dass der Vorschlag angenommen wurde.“ (S.403)
Desweiteren ist es eine Fülle scheinbar nebensächlicher Details, die Fleming zusammenträgt und die die Lektüre so wertvoll machen. Dass die britische Marine nach dem Ende der napoleonischen Kriege über eine Unmenge an Offizieren verfügte, für die es kaum Verwendung gab und die zu teils halbierten Löhnen arbeiten – oder einfach herumsitzen – mussten und umso dankbarer waren, auch äußerst gefährliche Aufträge, wie es die Barrow´schen Expeditionen zweifelsohne waren, anzunehmen; wie diese Männer sich gegenüber den ihnen untergebenen Männern verhielten: Einige erwartbar brutal und hart, andere aber sorgten in den endlosen Nächten der arktischen Winter, die sie eingeschlossen im Packeis ausharren mussten, dafür, dass die Männer in ihren Besatzungen Schreiben und Lesen lernten; welch teils vollkommen überfrachteten Erwartungen auch die britische Öffentlichkeit an die Expeditionen stellten und die Enttäuschungen, die deren Fehlschläge oftmals auslösten; dass ein Mann wie Franklin selbst Jahre, nachdem er längst verschollen war, in der Öffentlichkeit noch äußerst populär war und als „Held der Arktis“ galt.
Es entsteht so das Panorama eines wesentlichen Teils der britischen Gesellschaft des 19. Jahrhunderts, das maßgeblich zu dessen imperialer Größe, wie auch immer man diese heute beurteilen mag, beitrug. Man versteht diese Männer, die mit großer Härte gegen sich und ihre Untergebenen vorgingen, die sicherlich heute vollkommen überholten Vorstellungen von Männlichkeit und Heldentum anhingen, die dessen ungeachtet aber eben doch auch bereit waren, große Risiken einzugehen, um im Geist der Aufklärung dazu beizutragen, die Welt zu erkunden und besser zu verstehen. Fleming lässt in den Beschreibungen der Begegnungen dieser fast ausschließlich weißen Besatzungen der Schiffe mit den Eingeborenen, den Inuit und den Indigenen, aber auch die Schattenseiten dieser Erkundungen und dieses Wissensdursts aufscheinen. Es wird hier bei allem Respekt vor der Leistung dieser Männer, bei aller ironischen Distanz, eben auch deutlich, dass diese Expeditionen enorme Auswirkungen auf die Welt und die Weltgeschichte hatten.
Nicht zuletzt dadurch wird Flemings Buch ein wirklich herausragendes. Auch zwei Jahrzehnte nach seiner Veröffentlichung trägt es also dazu bei, die Mentalität, den Geist zu verstehen, der die britische Gesellschaft einst antrieb, die Leistungen zu vollbringen, die sie nicht nur zu einer Seemacht aufsteigen, sondern für nahezu zwei Jahrhunderte auch das größte koloniale Imperium der Neuzeit beherrschen ließ. Und durchaus auch zu begreifen, was dies für Teile der Welt bedeutete.
December 20, 2022
At the end of the book, the author quotes a British newspaper that seemed to express the will of the country: “We hope that our countrymen will all agree that the mania of Arctic Expeditions has lasted long enough...We admit the claims of science but not to the extent of repeated wholesale sacrifices of human life.”
That pretty much sums it up.
This book recounts a half century of British exploration, including the Arctic, Antarctic, and Africa. Championed by Second Secretary of the Royal Navy John Barrow, numerous expeditions were sent out to discover the Northwest Passage, the track of the Niger River, and whether Antarctica existed as a continent.
Rather than focus on a single expedition or person as many books do (John Franklin comes to mind), the book takes a holistic approach to the topic, which reveals the hubris, arrogance, penny-pinching nature of Admiralty support (or lack thereof) for exploration. It also showcases the incredible fortitude and hardship of the explorers. Many men died, but it's amazing how much suffering many men went through without dying.
The author seems to admire his principal character, John Barrow, but also freely acknowledges that Barrow was wrong about just about everything he thought about the geography of the Arctic and Africa.
I can recommend the book to those who wish to learn more about this period of British exploration, which was mainly done either in sailing ships (suicidal in the Arctic) or on foot in Africa (deadly, due to disease without any treatments). It's a depressing story, ultimately. The knowledge gained doesn't seem worth the sacrifices, and so much more was learned after steam power revolutionized ship travel, and African diseases were better understood and some treatments (such as quinine) were available.
That pretty much sums it up.
This book recounts a half century of British exploration, including the Arctic, Antarctic, and Africa. Championed by Second Secretary of the Royal Navy John Barrow, numerous expeditions were sent out to discover the Northwest Passage, the track of the Niger River, and whether Antarctica existed as a continent.
Rather than focus on a single expedition or person as many books do (John Franklin comes to mind), the book takes a holistic approach to the topic, which reveals the hubris, arrogance, penny-pinching nature of Admiralty support (or lack thereof) for exploration. It also showcases the incredible fortitude and hardship of the explorers. Many men died, but it's amazing how much suffering many men went through without dying.
The author seems to admire his principal character, John Barrow, but also freely acknowledges that Barrow was wrong about just about everything he thought about the geography of the Arctic and Africa.
I can recommend the book to those who wish to learn more about this period of British exploration, which was mainly done either in sailing ships (suicidal in the Arctic) or on foot in Africa (deadly, due to disease without any treatments). It's a depressing story, ultimately. The knowledge gained doesn't seem worth the sacrifices, and so much more was learned after steam power revolutionized ship travel, and African diseases were better understood and some treatments (such as quinine) were available.
August 13, 2019
Several times during the reading of this book I involuntarily said, "No!" loudly enough for my wife to wonder what was wrong. It was not that there was anything wrong with the book; on the contrary, it is a remarkable chronicle of an important historical endeavor. What grabbed me was the utter and complete lunacy of the horrifying mismanagement of the Admiralty Office during the tenure of John Barrow. I had always suspected that Gilbert & Sullivan's parody of the British Navy in HMS Pinafore was a caricature. Now, however, I am convinced that the stultifying stupidity of that particular buraucracy in the nineteenth century required very little embellishment to provide grist for the theatrical mill. Perhaps that proclivity for error applies to all bureaucracies. Though the author did not intend to make a point of it, I was impressed that the the Hudson Bay Company (the private sector) added much more information to the map of the arctic, which it amassed in the general operation of doing business, than did dozens of government expeditions. The author provides another interesting commentary on human nature. Unless he is deliberately manipulating the facts, it appears that uniformly those characters who faced the harshest dangers, accomplished the most good, and managed their crews effectively were degraded by the public, while others who accomplished little, were generally wrong (including Barrow), and attempted blatant self-promotion were lionized by society. Rarely does a non-fiction book grab the reader's emotions as Barrow's Boys does. However, in revealing the courage, tenacity and dedication of explorers, as well as the mendacity and petulance of some officers and bureaucrats, Barrow's Boys engages not only the reader's brain, but also his gut as well.
June 9, 2021
The end of the Napoleonic wars ushered in the great era of discovery for the British Navy. At the helm of these voyages was second secretary to the British Admiralty, John Barrow, who hand-picked the bravest of the brave to fill in the blank spots on the world map. One endeavor was to find the source of the Niger in Africa, but the major goal was finding the Northwest Passage. The book covers dozens of missions, and while some of these managed to chart unknown territory, most were complete failures. A prime example was the final Franklin expedition to the arctic that would wipe out the entire expedition.
During the first half of the 19th century, England’s Navy had a reputation to uphold, and its officers were larger-than-life. But was it worth risking their lives for such futile objectives (especially the Northwest Passage)? “Almost everything about Barrow’s mission had been wrong – the orders, the ships, the supplies, the funding and the methods. Perhaps no man in the history of exploration has expended so much money and so many lives in pursuit of so desperately pointless a dream.”
Sure, there were some fascinating adventures to be had in these pages, but I think this sums it up best: “Barrow had done so many things in his career. He had visited China and Africa. He had opened Africa to the world, had discovered Antarctica and had prized apart the mandibles of the Artic. He had set in motion the largest and most expensive series of explorations in the history of mankind. Nothing similar would be attempted until the US and Soviet space programmes of more than a century later.”
During the first half of the 19th century, England’s Navy had a reputation to uphold, and its officers were larger-than-life. But was it worth risking their lives for such futile objectives (especially the Northwest Passage)? “Almost everything about Barrow’s mission had been wrong – the orders, the ships, the supplies, the funding and the methods. Perhaps no man in the history of exploration has expended so much money and so many lives in pursuit of so desperately pointless a dream.”
Sure, there were some fascinating adventures to be had in these pages, but I think this sums it up best: “Barrow had done so many things in his career. He had visited China and Africa. He had opened Africa to the world, had discovered Antarctica and had prized apart the mandibles of the Artic. He had set in motion the largest and most expensive series of explorations in the history of mankind. Nothing similar would be attempted until the US and Soviet space programmes of more than a century later.”
July 28, 2020
From very humble beginnings in the Lake District town of Ulverston, John Barrow rose to occupy the position of Second Secretary in the Admiralty for forty years from 1804. In that time, a passion for exploration led him to commission numerous expeditions to the world’s unmapped corners - most notably to identify the course of the Niger River in west Africa, to search for a northern route to Britain’s Asian outposts (the ‘North West Passage’), and to map the Southern Hemisphere - particularly the northern coast of Australia and the unknown continent of Antarctica. Barrow himself comes over as a pretty unlikeable man, cold, aloof, and a bearer of grudges, and the expeditions he set in train were more often than not poorly resourced, ill-considered and often not far short of suicidal missions into the unknown.
None of that makes Barrow’s Boys sound like an enticing read, but it is in the characters of the explorers - men like the Rosses, Parry, Franklin, Lyon and the Landers that the real heart and soul of this book resides. Fergus Fleming knows how to tell a good story and he has a surfeit of good material in the adventures, misadventures, close-run things and utter disasters that litter Barrow’s campaigns. This is popular narrative history at its best. Fleming has an eye for detail and character and a narrative style that entertains and informs in equal measure.
None of that makes Barrow’s Boys sound like an enticing read, but it is in the characters of the explorers - men like the Rosses, Parry, Franklin, Lyon and the Landers that the real heart and soul of this book resides. Fergus Fleming knows how to tell a good story and he has a surfeit of good material in the adventures, misadventures, close-run things and utter disasters that litter Barrow’s campaigns. This is popular narrative history at its best. Fleming has an eye for detail and character and a narrative style that entertains and informs in equal measure.
November 2, 2017
A really good read, well written and page turning.
Marred for me by a couple of glaring errors of fact. Barrow was not, as claimed, Lord Macartney's Chinese interpreter. That role fell to Macartney's pageboy, Thomas Staunton, who learnt Chinese from two Chinese Monks on board HMS Lion on the outward journey and even at the end of the mission was still 'the only member of the party who could speak and write Chinese'. Barrow was Macartney's comptroller.
The really big omission for me was no mention of Captain Erasmus Ommanney in HMS Assistance who was the first to find positive evidence of the missing Franklin expedition in 1850 after travelling over 500 miles across the ice.
Ommanney, who was named after that illustrious Admiral Sir Erasmus Gower (1742-1814) went on to become a full Admiral himself and was, in later life, referred to as the father of the British Navy.
Barrow was not a likeable character but that doesn't detract from the value of this book and from what Barrow did for world exploration. That he sacrificed so many lives in seeking to achieve his often selfish or ill-conceived aims, however, will forever remain a cloud over his career.
Marred for me by a couple of glaring errors of fact. Barrow was not, as claimed, Lord Macartney's Chinese interpreter. That role fell to Macartney's pageboy, Thomas Staunton, who learnt Chinese from two Chinese Monks on board HMS Lion on the outward journey and even at the end of the mission was still 'the only member of the party who could speak and write Chinese'. Barrow was Macartney's comptroller.
The really big omission for me was no mention of Captain Erasmus Ommanney in HMS Assistance who was the first to find positive evidence of the missing Franklin expedition in 1850 after travelling over 500 miles across the ice.
Ommanney, who was named after that illustrious Admiral Sir Erasmus Gower (1742-1814) went on to become a full Admiral himself and was, in later life, referred to as the father of the British Navy.
Barrow was not a likeable character but that doesn't detract from the value of this book and from what Barrow did for world exploration. That he sacrificed so many lives in seeking to achieve his often selfish or ill-conceived aims, however, will forever remain a cloud over his career.
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