Cliquer sur une vignette pour aller sur Google Books.
Chargement... A Pirate of Exquisite Mind: Explorer, Naturalist, and Buccaneer: The Life of William Dampier (édition 2004)par Diana Preston (Auteur), Michael Preston (Auteur)
Information sur l'oeuvreA Pirate of Exquisite Mind : Explorer, Naturalist, and Buccaneer: The Life of William Dampier par Diana Preston
Aucun Chargement...
Inscrivez-vous à LibraryThing pour découvrir si vous aimerez ce livre Actuellement, il n'y a pas de discussions au sujet de ce livre. A Pirate of Exquisite Mind says it all, Dampier straddled 16th century privateers like Francis Drake, and enlightened explorers of the 18th century like Captain Cook, a bit of both. This book was written by a husband and wife team who travelled the world in his footsteps, it feels like being there in exotic mostly tropical locations with lush descriptions of nature (since hugely degraded). It's hard to recapture the magic of landing on beaches and walking in forests as a European for the first time, the sense of infinite potential opening, but that does come across at times. Dampier live an action-filled life enough for 10 people. Remarkable life, times and book. This was the story of William Dampier, explorer, naturalist, and buccaneer who lived from 1651 to 1715. He was one of the most accomplished navigators at sea and circumnavigated the world 3 times; he took meticulous notes of what he observed of wild life, botanical specimens, and native peoples. Some of his botanical specimens can still be seen in collections in Great Britain. He also made detailed maps of unexplored places that were helpful to those who came after him. He was a celebrity in his time but faded into obscurity for future generations until Diana Preston wrote this book. One theory our group came up with is that because most of his voyages were done illegally on pirate ships which had no letter of marquee (which legalized privateers who attacked the enemies of England) and around the time of his death pirates were not being looked on as sanguinely as they had been his exploits were not written up by the writers of his time and his own writings were allowed to fade into obscurity. There was lively discussion in our group read about Dampier’s character because he was involved in so many piratical activities. My opinion is that he was an amoral pragmatist. He was not enthusiastic about the pirate aspects of his voyages; although he did like getting treasure he was not as bloodthirsty as many of his shipmates and even less so as he got older. He learned to appreciate the natives he “studied” as humans and disliked seeing them harmed—although he wasn’t above capturing some of them for slaves. He even tried to make a go of it as an officer in the Royal Navy, but that didn’t work out so he had to return to pirating—although with a letter of marquee this time. His main passion was making discoveries and then writing about them and that is how he wished to be remembered. Pirating was a means to an end; and for him the end justified the means. aucune critique | ajouter une critique
"At a time when surviving a voyage across the Pacific was cause for celebration, William Dampier journeyed three times around the world, sailing more than 200,000 miles in his lifetime and witnessing people, places, and phenomena no European had seen. As a young man he spent several years in the swashbuckling company of buccaneers in the Caribbean and Pacific, learning to survive in their bloodthirsty, uncertain world, before setting off on his first journey around the globe - a many-year odyssey, much of it spent in the theretofore mysterious Pacific and Southeast Asia. Later, his best-selling books about his experiences were a sensation; the vividness of his prose and accuracy of his descriptions put armchair readers in the midst of unknown worlds and introduced many words into the English language, including barbecue, chopsticks, and kumquat. Over time, Dampier's observations and insights influenced generations of scientists, explorers, and writers." "Dampier's powers of observation were astonishing. He was the first to deduce that winds cause currents and the first to produce wind maps across the world, surpassing even the work of Edmund Halley. His insights on land were equally astute: For example, he introduced the concept of the "sub-species" that Darwin later built into his theory of evolution, and his description of the breadfruit was the impetus for Captain Bligh's voyage on the Bounty. Dampier reached Australia eighty years before Cook, and he later led the first formal expedition of science and discovery back to Australia. So influential was Dampier that today he has more than one thousand entries in the Oxford English Dictionary."--BOOK JACKET. Aucune description trouvée dans une bibliothèque |
Discussion en coursAucunCouvertures populaires
Google Books — Chargement... GenresClassification décimale de Melvil (CDD)910.92History and Geography Geography and Travel Geography and Travel History, geographic treatment, biography - Discovery. exploration Geographers, travellers, explorers regardless of country of originClassification de la Bibliothèque du CongrèsÉvaluationMoyenne:
Est-ce vous ?Devenez un(e) auteur LibraryThing. |
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. ( )