Barrow's Boys: A Stirring Story of Daring, Fortitude, and Outright Lunacy [Paperback]

Fergus Fleming (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 9, 2001

Barrow's Boysis a spellbinding account of perilous journeys to uncharted areas under the most challenging conditions. Fergus Fleming captures the passion for exploration that led a band of men into situations that would humble today's bravest adventurers.

After the Napoleonic wars, John Barrow, Second Secretary to the Admiralty, launched the most ambitious exploration program the world has ever seen. For the next thirty years, his teams of elite naval officers went on missions to fill the blanks that littered the atlases of the day. From the first disastrous trip down the Congo, Barrow maintained his resolve in the face of continuous catastrophes. His explorers often died of sickness or at the hands of unfriendly natives. They struggled under budgets that forced them to resort to pulling enormous ships across floating ice fields; to eating mice, or their own shoes; and even to horrifying acts of cannibalism. While many of the journeys failed, Barrow and his men ultimately opened Africa to the world, discovered Antarctica, and pried apart the mandibles of the Arctic. Many of the missions are considered the greatest in history, but have never before been collected into one volume that captures the full sweep of Barrow's program.

Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press (April 9, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802137946
• ISBN-13: 978-0802137944
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #960,798 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent read, December 21, 2004

By 

Jared M (New Zealand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Barrow's Boys: A Stirring Story of Daring, Fortitude, and Outright Lunacy (Paperback)

Barrow's Boys is an account of the British exploring efforts of the known (and unknown) world of the first half of the 19th Century. Spearheaded by Sir John Barrow, Second Secretary of the Admiralty, the British Navy sent out a number of ships to diverse areas of the globe. Notably Fleming does not focus solely on the Arctic explorative efforts for which Barrow is most well known. Fleming argues that Barrow could well be considered the father of Global exploration. British explorers penetrated the frozen wastes of the Arctic, and Antarctic, as well as the African interior, all in the name of Science and Knowledge.

Fergus Fleming is a particular favorite of mine, since I picked up his book "90 degrees North" a couple of years ago. He has a particular knack for drawing fine textual character sketches of the individuals whose tales he tells. Barrow's Boys is no exception. Fleming relates with ease the characters and adventures (and tragedies) of John and James Ross, of Parry, Back, Richardson, and the doomed Sir John Franklin.

Lesser known names in the annals of British exploration are not neglected: Lyon and Ritchie's mission to find the source of the Congo via the Sahara is discussed, as is James Tuckey, on which the book first begins it's exploration narrative after having introduced Sir John Barrow in the first chapter. The stubborness and arrogance often found in Victorian Englishmen that often rendered them inflexible to changes in their environment- for example the wearing a heavy woollen navy uniform in the suffocating heat of Africa- is well portrayed by Fleming.

Barrow's Boys covers the period between 1816 (Tuckey sails to the Congo) to 1859 (the efforts to locate the missing Franklin exidition). A neat touch is the epilogue, in which Fleming relates briefly the lives of the British explorers after they had their moment in the sun. Barrow's Boys is authorative, but by no means academic, as it is a very easy read. Recommended for those with an interest in exploration, particularly from the viewpoint of the British.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great look at exploration, March 28, 2004

By 

Robert R. Briggs "robroyb" (Santa Barbara, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Barrow's Boys: A Stirring Story of Daring, Fortitude, and Outright Lunacy (Paperback)

If you are a lover of adventure and exploration you'll love this book. Fergus Fleming has done a marvelous job of relating tales of British explorers of the early 1800's. Fleming has a knack for telling the story with great wit and you'll often smile as he brings these characters to life. From the Sahara to the Arctic and to the Antarctic and Australia Barrow (Second Secretary of the Admiralty) sends his "boys" in search of glory for the British. Many of these stories have been written about before but bringing them together as Fleming has done, puts this period of exploration in prospective. It was a great time for England even though most of these epics ended in disaster and failed to prove much of what Barrow was looking for.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books of its kind, January 4, 2004

By 

Richard E. Hourula (Berkeley, CA. United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Barrow's Boys: A Stirring Story of Daring, Fortitude, and Outright Lunacy (Paperback)

Simply put it's a great book. "Barrow's Boys" is filled with amazing stories of exploration and consequent adventure in the first half of the 19th century. The title figure of Barrow is himself a rather uninteresting and, at least to me, disagreeable chap who takes a rightful place in the far background of this book. Barrow's importance is as the man who green-lighted the numerous British explorations detailed in Fleming's book.
Most were in search of the elusive Northwest Passage, which took many a ship into the harrowing Arctic environs. This provides many of "Barrow's Boys" most captivating stories as ships, captains and crews battle the elements. The effect of extreme cold, severe Arctic storms and seemingly endless dark winters are hard to imagine. Fleming, to his credit, helps nudge the reader's imagination. One of his primary tools, and indeed a key to the success of the book, are the copious logs left behind by ship captains. What a treasure chest of primary documents that Fleming takes full advantage of.
In addition to fighting the bitter cold, explorers challenged opposite elements in Africa in search of rivers and cities. Besides having to negotiate extreme dessert or jungle heat, explorers had to ward off myriad diseases and pass though the lands of hostile natives, often while seeking their help.
It's all compelling stuff and Fleming has a writing style that never imposes itself on the stories but helps highlight elements of them.
One of the highest praises of a history book is that it inspires the reader to want to read and know more. Well, through "Barrow's Boys" Fergus Fleming has done precisely that.