A Pirate of Exquisite Mind: Explorer, Naturalist, and Buccaneer: The Life of William Dampier

Diana Preston

Bloomsbury Publishing USA, May 26, 2009 - Biography & Autobiography - 416 pages

Darwin took his books aboard the Beagle. Swift and Defoe used his experiences as inspiration in writing Gulliver's Travels and Robinson Crusoe. Captain Cook relied on his observations while voyaging around the world. Coleridge called him a genius and "a man of exquisite mind." In the history of exploration, nobody has ventured further than Englishman William Dampier. Yet while the exploits of Cook, Shackleton, and a host of legendary explorers have been widely chronicled, those of perhaps the greatest are virtually invisible today-an omission that Diana and Michael Preston have redressed in this vivid, compelling biography.

As a young man Dampier spent several years in the swashbuckling company of buccaneers in the Caribbean. At a time when surviving one voyage across the Pacific was cause for celebration, Dampier ultimately journeyed three times around the world; his bestselling books about his experiences were a sensation, influencing generations of scientists, explorers, and writers. 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. 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 80 years before Cook, and he later led the first formal expedition of science and discovery there.

A Pirate of Exquisite Mind restores William Dampier to his rightful place in history-one of the pioneers on whose insights our understanding of the natural world was built.

What people are saying

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - Stbalbach - LibraryThing

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 ...

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - JBD1 - LibraryThing

A decent overview of the life of William Dampier, who could indeed be described as a pirate, explorer, naturalist, &c. given all the various and disparate things that he managed to do during his career. A bit overly digressive at times, but other than that, a good read.

Contents

• Prologue: 1
• THE ADVENTURER: 19
• A SelfConceited Young Man: 23
• A Great Prospect of Getting Money Here: 32
• To Seek a Subsistence: 44
• A Door to the South Seas: 52
• That Sacred Hunger of Gold: 65
• Two Fat Monkeys: 84
• The Bachelors Delight: 97
• The Enchanted Islands: 109
• We Ran for It: 121
• THE TRAVELER: 138
• You Would Have Poisoned Them: 139
• As White as Milk and as Soft as Cream: 147
• This Mad Crew I 59: 159
• NewGotten Liberty: 177
• Our Little Ark: 182
• Gut Rot and Gunpowder: 190
• The Painted Prince: 203
• The Rovers Return: 215
• Good Copy: 229
• Dampiers Voyage Takes so Wonderfully: 242
• Kiss My Arse: 250
• Sharks Bay: 265
• A Flame of Fire: 275
• Not a Fit Person: 284
• Brandy Enough: 301
• The Manila Galleon at Last: 311
• Notes and Sources: 337
• Bibliography: 349
• Art Credits: 355

About the author

Born and raised in London, Diana Preston studied Modern History at Oxford University, where she first became involved in journalism. After earning her degree, she became a freelance writer of feature and travel articles for national UK newspapers and magazines and has subsequently reviewed books for a number of publications, including The Wall Street Journal and The Los Angeles Times. A Pirate of Exquisite Mind: Explorer, Naturalist and Buccaneer: The Life of William Dampier (Walker & Company, April 2004) is a new biography of the 17th-century British explorer, naturalist, scientist, pirate and buccaneer William Dampier coauthored by Diana and her husband, Michael Preston.

Bibliographic information

• Title: A Pirate of Exquisite Mind: Explorer, Naturalist, and Buccaneer: The Life of William Dampier
• Author: Diana Preston
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA, 2009
• ISBN: 0802718132, 9780802718136
• Length: 416 pages
• Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Adventurers & Explorers; Biography & Autobiography / General; History / General