May 27, 2005
A pirate of exquisite mind
The story of a forgotten hero, William Dampier.
Diana and Michael Preston
If it were fiction, it would be unbelievable. Very nearly indentured in the sugar plantations of Jamaica at the age of 21, it is the story of a man, who, in the 17th century, circumnavigated the world times. A buccaneer, pirate (occasionally though misfortune, largely intentionally) and privateer - a patriotic pirate with a charter whom seeks to disrupt the shipping of his countries enemies - though even this would appear to be because Spain's treasure fleet from the new world was simply the richest target available. His travelogue, which is impressive today in the age of air travel, included the Caribbean, Virginia, Galapagos, Central America, Brazil, New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia and the Phillipines to name but a few. A navigator, geographer and surveyor he maintained a log and created maps of trade winds, then theorised how it creates currents. His accurate observations of flora and fauna were subsequently used by Darwin, though the book tends to savour the culinary aspects of the wildlife. He also wrote sympathetic descriptions of the customs and culture of natives.
He subsequently combined and published writings of his extraordinary travels, which formed the basis of Swift's Gulliver's Travels (who refers to 'Cousin Dampier') and Dafoe's Robinson Crusoe. He also introduced words such as barbeque and marijuana into the lexicon.
The book itself is rather skewed towards the first of his circumnavigations, to the extent that the third journey is crammed into a dozen pages, though it lasted three years. There is also a tendency to make Dampier the first to do any task, some claims accurate, some not. However, it is an incredibly entertaining read, also providing a window of insight into the lives of the pirates of the Caribbean and elsewhere.
Scrawled illegibly by Meathe at 01:50 PM
May 26, 2005
Dungeon, Fire and Sword.
John Robinson
I've always been intrigued by the middle ages and the Crusades in particular. Strangely, I'd never had the occasion to read this before, and when I chanced on a remaindered copy, it made its way to the top of my reading lists.
It is not a work on Roscrucians, Masons, conspiracy theories - Dan Brown fans be warned.
It is interesting from the start, covering a brief history of the crusades in general, before focussing more on the Templars, though they are never considered in isolation - it is not a work that lists the names of all knights and their deeds to the exclusion of all else. It a plan that works exceedingly well at introducing the foundations of the Temple in context. He clearly states in the introduction that this is not a masterwork of historical writing, but a tale of the Templars. There are no footnotes, which I did wish for, but there are translations of all quotations (whilst I can struggle through some untranslated passages, and even occasionally enjoy the challenge, I do not have a ready command of ancient languages, though I would prefer to see the translation with the original alongside).
My only real gripe (again, we are forewarned in the introductory piece, so I cannot be too harsh), it that he picks and chooses history to present. Where there are three versions of an event, one will be presented. Whilst it is not grossly inaccurate (though many points are widely open to debate), it is misleading, as there is no aside (or footnote) to bring your attention to the fact that this is a contentious point, or perhaps even direct you to other accounts of the event.
It's not a book to base research on and it was never intended to be. It was meant to take the path of the Templars, threading through history, the background, some background political dealings and highlight the magnificence of the Templar order. The story as written is compelling, entertaining and very enjoyable and more or less accurate. It whets the appetite, and would serve as an excellent and gentle introduction. Past that, those wanting more historical detail, background, and a more rigorous treatment may want to investigate Malcolm Barber's "The New Knighthood" for Templar material and Steven Runciman's excellent three volume History of the Crusades.
Scrawled illegibly by Meathe at 07:27 PM