Customer Reviews

Burton: A Biography of Sir Richard Francis Burton

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I have read several biographies of Burton and this is by far the best. Byron Farwell has produced an excellent biography of a unique Victorian who led a life of incredible energy and movement. In fact, Burton seemed to find it impossible to stay in one place. Not always a likeable fellow, Burton lived for adventure. His dangerous journey into the Islamic holy city of Mecca , dressed as a Muslim and speaking fluent Arabic, vies with his discovery of Lake Tanganyika (with Speke) as the most famous of his exploits. But Farwell also describes many less well known adventures - Burton travelled to Salt Lake City in 1859 where he interviewed Brigham Young. He was British Consul in West Africa, Damascus, and Santos, Brazil. Burton usually completely ignored any duties he was given by his employer (Farwell says he was "unemployable"). Incredibly, much of his exploring was done while on dubious sick leave from the Indian Army. Farwell brings out Burton as an explorer of cultures and a scholar as well as a geographic explorer - Burton translated the Arabian Nights and other major oriental works. I particularly enjoyed the chapters on Burton's early life, starting as an extremely naughty boy and maturing into an exceptional young swordsman who wrote a book on bayonet drill later adopted as the standard work by the British Army. Farwell is clearly fascinated, as well as sometimes exasperated by his subject.

Burton by Byron Farwell is the fourth biography of Sir Richard Francis Burton that I have read -- I might have a little bit of an obsession. But, in my defense, since I want to BE him, it is necessary to do the research. Burton was a giant among the several 19th century explorers of Africa and the Middle East, a brilliant linguist and a prolific (if prolix) geographer and scientist.

As emphasized by Farwell, Burton is most fascinating in his complexity, in the numerous conflicts that comprised his character. Burton longed to suffer the fevers and hardship associated with an overland caravan, but he could not tolerate (without copious complaints) the minor inconveniences of more civilized travel. Throughout his life, he remained loyal to Queen and Country, while at the same time confrontationally challenging the policies and patients of his supervisors in the Foreign Office. A student of all religions but practitioner of none, he married a woman for whom her God was everything. Burton vigorously sought fame and fortune through his actions and endeavors, but he could never come up with a consistent plan -- instead, he favored get-rich-quick schemes. Eventually, he was knighted and struck it big with his publication of A Thousand Nights and a Night, and then... he died.

Of the Burton biographies that I have studied, Farwell's treatment has certain advantages for the amateur Burtonologist. The prose is well written, fast paced and insightful. The details are ably researched and the author comes off as an unbiased admirer without an agenda beyond trying to understand the Man. Other volumes on Burton, while more dense and scholarly, tend to be a bit more slanted.

Farwell's biography of the extrordinary life of Capt. Sir Richard F. Burton is a fine work. Farwell's excellent style and knowledge of the 19th century are perfect backdrops to the the exploits of "Ruffian Dick". The author manages to point out Burtons many talents and shortcomings in a fair, scholarly manner, without physco-babble or hero-worship. Yet more importantly, Burton's life is allowed to unfold as what it truly was, a grand adventure, full of exotic places, eccentric characters, brilliant victories and stinging defeats. Many biographies have been written concerning Burton, many are very good, but Farwell has managed to bring to life this truly larger then life personality

Having read "footsteps" and "the devil drives" one so esoteric the other an oversimplification, it was a plesant surprise to read about Capt Burton and not just his journeys as a detached observor. It is hard to believe that a man of such an intellectual force in so many areas is almost unknown to the common person.
Farwell's recount the life and the adventures of this remarkable man is an enjoyable read. The book left me shaking my head and muttering, "unbelievable". If you are interested in this Capt Burton this is the book.

Kudos to Farwell for his insightful biography of one of the most charismatic figures of the 19th century British Empire. Richard Francis Burton has always been one of my personal heroes and the author has done a fine job of bringing the exploits and foibles of this extrordinary soldier, spy, rogue, linguist, explorer, and author, to light.

Richard Burton was an unparalleled polymath, adventurer, and explorer. Although his morality was questionable, he approached life like few men do. This book traces Burton's life, his exploits, his successes, and his failures. You have to admire the man for his sheer courage and bravado - it's amazing that he lived to be an old man - by all odds he should have been killed a dozen times. After reading this book, you'll wonder why we have so few people like Burton today.

Richard Francis Burton lived a fantastic life packed full of enough exploits, adventures, and accomplishments to make any ten men famous. As such, no single biography is sufficient to capture the whole man, and anyone truly interested in exploring his amazing life will do well to read several treatments of it. That said, Byron Farwell's excellent biography of Burton is an outstanding place to begin.
Farwell captures Burton's driven, restless spirit, from his wild youth wandering nomadically about Europe with his family, to his old age, when gout and heart disease finally put an end to his adventuring, leaving him to his literary explorations which continued to the day before his death. His years in the Sind soldiering for the East India Company, his mastery of twenty-nine languages, immersion into Eastern ways and culture, adventures and explorations in Arabia and Africa are all thoroughly covered without bogging down into unnecessary detail. Likewise covered are the frustrating years of unofficial exile by his government to forsaken consulate posts on the West African coast and in Brazil, years of brooding, bitterness, and dark depression. And finally, the long twilight of his life as the consulate at Trieste is explored, where failing health slowed his restless travels, but allowed him the time to complete literary treasures, such as his unmatched annotated translation of The Arabian Nights, or his original Sufi poem The Kasidah.
Farwell paints Burton's life on a grand scale - capturing not only his outstanding adventures, explorations, and impressive anthropological and literary accomplishments, but his prejudices, his drinking problems and dark moods, his often difficult personality, and other flaws that were writ just as large as his positive accomplishments. Farwell's frank and honest appraisal of Burton, warts and all, go a long way toward explaining why this giant among men was continually slighted by the Government he served, and never recognize or rewarded in proportion to his outstanding service.
No biography of Burton can ignore his odd marriage to Isabelle Arundell. Isabelle has often been demonize, her influence on Burton question, and her burning of his papers after his death condemned as foulest crime. Farwell, however, shows great sympathy to Isabelle. She emerges as odd, romantic, devout, and utterly devoted to a husband who was also her hero. Farwell makes it clear that she was a good match for Burton, and powerful force behind the scenes in his career.
This is a first rate biography of a unique and amazing life. I recommend it highly.

Theo Logos

Byron Farwell's BURTON- A Biography of Sir Richard Francis Burton brings to life one of the world's great adventurers whose brilliant work in the 19th century encompassed everything from Zoology to great geographical discovery to literature. He was the one who translated the exciting with The Arabian Nights to the excitable erotic of The Perfume Garden. He was a brave and sometimes fool hardy fighter, a gifted poet, a learned diplomat, a remarkable linguist and a student of religions (plural), who could wield an educated passage or verse as well as a much practiced sword.
If you need to have the visual to grab and hold onto and perhaps see something more of his life (granted: a Hollywood look) then rent Mountains of the Moon after you've read this truly fine book.
There are few real adventurer/scholars out there to study, appreciate or admire. Many have a mad,excited glee about them eagerly going into the realm of danger or the unknown in order to write about the subject or simple bring some light to the journey. As you will see no one did it like Burton and thanks to Farwell no one has recorded his life and exploits so wonderfully.
So shuck those wizard, vampire or spec ops fiction books and dive into a classic real life adventure.

Burton,s life was amazing and his adventures were beyond belief so how come I had such a hard time getting thru this book. Because the author can't tell a story. I was very disapointed in the way this author tried to tell about one of histories most interesting lives.