A Pirate Of Exquisite Mind: The Life of William Dampier
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Product Description
Book Description
A rip-roaring swashbuckler about a forgotten 17th century English hero who, starting as a poor, piratical buccaneer, became a famed round-the-world explorer.
Product Description
William Dampier, (1651-1715), was an English adventurer and pirate who preyed on ships on the Spanish Main. Poor and ill-educated and determined to make his fortune, he nonetheless had a passion for exploration and scientific research.
Dampier was the first to map the winds and currents of the world's oceans; led the first recorded party of Englishmen to set foot on Australia - 80 years before Cook; wrote about Galapagos wildlife 150 years before Darwin, who drew on Dampier's notes in his own work; was the first travel writer: A NEW VOYAGE AROUND THE WORLD was instant bestseller when it was published in 1697 - said to have influenced the novels of Swift and Defoe.
A man full of contradictions: he who achieved so much 'blew it' later in life, declining into scandal, failure and even farce. A unique man ahead of his time, he lived a large part of his life among pirates yet managed to preserve what Coleridge called his "exquisite refinement of mind". A classic example of the best narrative history.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Every time I started a new chapter in this book there was something to delight, inform, entertain or shock me. Delight in the descriptions of the remote places Dampier visited. Information on the history, politics, morals, religion and practices of the time: I learned a lot. Entertainment in the enormous adventure of his life and his interaction with the people he met and worked with. Horror at the hardships and living conditions of life on board ship and in the fragility of life in the early European colonies - imagine having to extract a two foot long worm from your leg as Dampier did.
What I was left with was a great admiration for Dampier. Even though he was an extremely tough man he displayed a sensitivity in his interaction with the native people he encountered, and made an intelligent and systematic analysis of the physical world and the environments in which he found himself.
This book combines the best of serious history with the best of biography. My only small reservation is that while the maps illustrated in the book are reproductions of maps made by Dampier himself, it would have been nice to have an immediate comparison with current geographical knowledge - I had to constantly refer to a modern atlas.
What I was left with was a great admiration for Dampier. Even though he was an extremely tough man he displayed a sensitivity in his interaction with the native people he encountered, and made an intelligent and systematic analysis of the physical world and the environments in which he found himself.
This book combines the best of serious history with the best of biography. My only small reservation is that while the maps illustrated in the book are reproductions of maps made by Dampier himself, it would have been nice to have an immediate comparison with current geographical knowledge - I had to constantly refer to a modern atlas.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
For a pirate to retain a written account of his travels was a risky way of life, a fact which is apparent when Dampier needed to be careful with the content of his diary. That he survived so many adventures and returned to England to publish his story made him a very rare sailor indeed. He ranks with Pigafetta, who was Magellan's diarist and one of the few survivors of that expedition. If you are a sailor, you will be fascinated with his methods for getting about the oceans, at a time when measurement of longitude was not available to most seafarers.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommnend it to all readers with an interest in adventure, sailing or history of the Carribean.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommnend it to all readers with an interest in adventure, sailing or history of the Carribean.
24 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Well written, especially in the earlier sections where there is perhaps more material from Dampier himself to rely upon.
I picked this up by chance needing something to keep me occupied while travelling. It is worth far more than just some airport novel. The book provides a fascinating view of the blurred reality between 17th century piracy, privateering, and defence of the realm. Moreover, it does so from the point of view of the (extra)ordinary seaman.
If your taste is for history or biography excluding footballers then this should not disappoint.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Fascinating!
What an interesting book. William Dampier was an extraordinary man. I really enjoyed reading about his adventures. Read more
Published 1 month ago by ronwooduk
great read
I loved this book and couldn't put it down. What an amazing man and he has been given justice by a well written book. A gripping yarn.
Published 4 months ago by fergus
Yo-ho-ho (and 30 tons of Quince Marmalade) isn't the half of it
At different times in the late 17th Century William Dampier was both a Pirate (freelance criminal) and a Privateer (sponsored and semi-legal robber). Read more
Published 19 months ago by G. M. Sinstadt
A salty good read
A good read, though the quality of the research is brought slightly into question by the inclusion in a footnote of the discredited urban legend that the word "tip" in derived from... Read more
Published on 18 Nov 2009 by Mambero
great cracking read
oh what joy on finding what i once thought was lost. i had this book stolen in college and tried to buy it again many times on what is supposed to be the cheapest book selling... Read more
Published on 10 Nov 2009 by Popeye2471
A Pirate of Exquisite Mind
Definitely a boy's book - lots of adventure and hardship but also some good interesting history. I thought the writing style was rather 'academic' and that the book was too long... Read more
Published on 2 Jun 2009 by Chrisglos
Excellent read
This book does a fantastic job of taking the reader on a journey with Dampier. It includes lots of details and points of interest without being overly wordy or boring. Read more
Published on 10 Feb 2009 by theadventuresofpete
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