Customer Reviews

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

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On the heels of her seminal work on the Lusitania, Diana Preston (this time with her husband as co-author) has brought back to life the extraordinary pirate/naturalist William Dampier.
This story would not work as fiction as it would be dismissed as unrealistic. Dampier circumnavigated the world alongside pirates engaged in plundering, raping and killing. During his journeys Dampier found time to record observations of flora and fauna, animals of all descriptions, currents and native peoples. He was also a geographer and surveyor.
It may seem an understatement to say that Dampier was a man ahead of his times. Not only did Dampier take copious notes; he took good ones. Dampier was a dedicated and skilled "reporter". He was the first European to make observations of various animals, plants and places, coining a few words and terms to boot. His sensitivy towards and respect for indigenous people was in sharp contrast to the prevailing racist attitudes common among most 17th century Europeans.
Dampier's travels took him to the Caribbean, Virginia, Central America, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand Indonesia, and the Philippines, just to name a few locales. His pirating days eventually gave way to more legitimate if no less risky adventures, including serving the British navy. It was in his role as central leader of expeditions that we finally see a man who, like the rest of us, is flawed. Dampier became, not surprisingly, a noted author whose observations influenced generations to come, perhaps most notably Captain James Cook and Charles Darwin.
Happily, the Prestons are up to the task of telling Dampier's story. Their account of Dampier's life is richly detailed, paying the proper respect to his scientific discoveries and observations while spinning exciting yarns of pirates at their swashbuckling best. The Prestons make a valuable addition to the growing body of work depicting sea life in days of yore. The harsh and filthy reality of shipboard is laid bare and the reader is treated to an account of a shipboard cure for constipation which will leave one squirming.
This is a thoroughly entertaining story and an important book in understanding both the Age of Exploration and the Englightenment. One eagerly awaits the Preston's next work.

Within these pages is a wealth of compelling information about a fascinating bygone age. William Dampier was a scientist, pioneer and writer whose influence is still being felt today, despite the fact that he is less remembered than many of the other bold thinkers of his time.

Yet what got me the most excited in this book by the Prestons was the in-depth exploration of the pirate world. This book provides riveting insight into a world that previously seemed mythical: the pirates of the Caribbean. The Prestons dramatically show how these swashbuckling societies developed, functioned and crumbled, as well as the economic and political forces that brought about these events.

This is the inspirational story of a man who pushed himself -- striving to go beyond his time's intellectual and geographical limits.

What an odd man.

You have to wonder, what sort of literate man travels around the world (three times) in the late 17th century, sacking towns, cavorting with pirates, capturing merchant ships and then sits down to maintain a journal of flora, fauna, wind patterns, and social customs?

The Prestons have presented us with a narrative biography of this strange man. A man who seemingly mixed equally with pirates, lord of the Admiralty and kissed the hand of the queen. A celebrated author, accomplished navigator, respected naturalist and active enough to board enemy ships or cut logwood. A little more art in his soul and we would acknowledge him as a renaissance man. As expected the book centers on Dampier's life from about 1674 to 1715 when he died; it covers the three trips around the world and his short periods of life in England while writing his books. The authors add a few digressions to cover associated world events, framing Dampier's life and giving perspective to his actions or troubles.

While I disagree with a couple of the authors' statements on piracy (having read my share on the subject), I found their work to be enjoyable reading and worthy of a prominent place in my reference material on piracy.
P-)

I was fortunate enough to host the Prestons at a book talk and signing celebrating the publication of "A Pirate of Exquisite Mind" at my local library branch. Not only is Diana Preston a wonderful narrative historian but she is an effervescent speaker too.

William Dampier sailed the globe three times; came up with the words and descriptions for "barbeque" and "marijuana" among other terms; his studies of wind currents and how they affect navigation are still used today, and it was Dampier who was the first White explorer to discover Australia well before Captain Cook ever cast his eyes on the Oz shores. The great men of England during his time knew and admired this rugged yet erudite buccaneer.

Yet today Dampier is sadly forgotten but for maybe a paragraph, two at the most, in most histories, and little more in even works on discovery and exploration. Even in his native England, Dampier has been relegated to obscurity.

In this remarkable book Diana and Michael Preston not only have set the record straight on Dampier's brilliant accomplishments, they have also shed some light on this great man's personality and the reasons why he is largely unknown to this day. This is narrative history worth reading, especially for those interested in the age of seafaring, of pirates and buccaneers, and of discovery and exploration.

Finally, Diana and Michael Preston have rescued this lonely castaway of history. "A Pirate of Exquisite Mind" is the first thorough, contemporary biography of Dampier. Handsome, enigmatic, controversial in life and a virtual shadow since his death almost 300 years ago, Dampier has until now never been properly accorded the recognition he deserves. But he is a quintessential anti-hero, a man who could write expertly of ocean winds and currents, and who witnessed tortured, dying Spanish prisoners being thrown into those currents.

There have been other biographies of Dampier, but this is the first that discusses his life as an extension of the customs and mores of his time. When Dampier takes the mysterious and elusive "Judith" as his wife, the Prestons devote several paragraphs to discussion of a typical marriage ceremony, as well as the very liberal sexual attitudes of late 17th century London. This liberality extends as well to the buccaneers, many of whom maintained homosexual relationships, in addition to sharing their women. Additionally, the Prestons get inside Dampier's mind, speculating on the motivations that compelled him to do certain "unsavory" things, though which Dampier was understandably reticent to reveal in his books. For instance, when Dampier makes the crucial decision to follow his companions in joining his first buccaneer expedition in 1679, Dampier wrote that since he was "left alone...I was more easily persuaded to go with them too." But the Prestons are keen enough to recognize that "Dampier probably knew in advance whom he would meet at Negril Bay - a favorite buccaneer haunt - even if he did not admit this in his book." Their recognition of Dampier's hidden motives provides a narrative flow that was missing in Dampier's own writings, adding color and connecting the disparate episodes in his life.

The Prestons relied heavily on Dampier's own writings (most of what we know about Dampier comes from his books). But in addition to reading about where Dampier voyaged, they traced Dampier's exhaustive journeys around the globe (albeit under more modern circumstances) to give their biography both flavor and authenticity. They also plundered the vaults of the British Library, Royal Society, and public record offices for original sources, and painstakingly made comparisons of Dampier's massive draft manuscript with his later published work. Again, this exactitude and depth of research separates this biography from any that have come before. We not only learn about the incidents of Dampier's life, but we get a glimpse at his motivations and thought processes.

We also learn about the society in which Dampier lived. We learn the differences between privateering, buccaneering, and piracy. How did late 17th-century London view buccaneering? Not too favorably, which is one of the reasons why Dampier's legacy was tainted early on. There was certainly a dark side to Dampier. He was a poor leader, clashed openly with his men, and there were accusations of beatings. He failed in a later mission to circumnavigate Australia, his ship floundered off Ascension Island, and he was eventually court-martialed. A later privateering expedition headed by Dampier ended in disaster. On his last expedition, he was relegated to the role of navigator. Like so many other contradictory giants of history, he died in obscurity, and his burial spot is unknown.

William Dampier was the only "pirate" to have had his portrait made. When the Prestons were in the midst of their research, they visited the British Library to view the original painting done by Thomas Murray in the 1690s. Since then, so few people have been interested in Dampier that the curator at the library had to actually dig out the painting from the basement and remove the dust. If there is any justice in this world, the publication of "A Pirate of Exquisite Mind" will ensure that the portrait of William Dampier remains on full display for the world to see.

If you have an interest in the buccaneers, or in the expansion of the British Empire, or in natural history, or seafaring in the days of sail, this is required reading. If you are interested in the world when a voyage could take years and many men never came back, a world where the broadside and the sword were master, this book is for you. It's entertaining, educational, inspirational, and has a sweep seldom found. I wish I could rate the book higher than 5 stars. Dampier I would rate ten.

William Dampier was what many people can only fantasize of achieving in their lifetime. From the hot, clammy, precarious jungles of Central America, South America and Southeast Asia, to the barrenness of Australia's seashores and all places in between, Dampier's three voyages around the world totaled more than 200,000 miles.
Beginning on the sugar plantations of Jamaica at the age of twenty-one, it was fortune and fate that he had a falling out with the owner. For the next several years he was in the company of pirates, always seeking that elusive Spanish treasure fleet, but all the while observing, recording and writing of his natural, physical and celestial surroundings.
Following his years as a pirate, he was employed by English dignitaries to explore and surmise the world. His life was a timeless series of wonder from one place to another. One voyage led to another, year after year, nautical mile after nautical mile.
He made major contributions to science in the areas of botany, zoology, anthropology, navigation, etc. Many distinguished and prominent scientists, authors, explorers and navigators were influenced one way or another by Dampier's achievements.
A man of astonishing accomplishments. Very well written.

I really enjoyed "A Pirate of Exquisite Mind". I have always been drawn to historical biographies ("Galileo's Daughter", "The Last Alchemist") and this tale of William Dampier, a sometimes pirate and alltimes scientific observer, really captivated me. I'm not too well versed in the time period covered by the book (the 1680 through 1714) so I found much to be surprised and entertained by. Descriptions of the wild and rough life on the fringes of European civilization contrasted well with the glimpse provided of little-touched or oftentimes completely unexplored islands in the Pacific. I was also interested in the depictions of the buccaneer culture, its social conventions and the consequences that result in disrupting that society. It was a fascinating time, Dampier was a very interesting character and "A Pirate of Exquisite Mind" was an enjoyable and enlightening book.

A remarkable man died sometime in 1715 in London and was buried in an unmarked grave.
This would be of little note were it not for the fact he was one of the greatest explorers of all time, a pioneering navigator, a naturalist, hydrographer, travel writer and - probably to his disadvantage - a pirate. His maps were used by James Cook and Horatio Nelson, among others; his work as a naturalist influenced von Humboldt and Darwin, and his writings stirred the imagination of Defoe, Coleridge and Swift. He circumnavigated the world three times and was the first Englishman to explore Australia.
It was William Dampier's lifelong ambition to achieve wealth and fame. Though he found some of the latter before his death he was frustrated at almost every turn in his efforts to accomplish the former and, sadly, died in debt.
Diana and Michael Preston have given the man his due in their biography, "A Pirate of Exquisite Mind."
Dampier was a man of his time and, thus, is not without fault in the modern view. But he had more tolerance than many of his contemporaries, despised superstition and saw curiosity about the world around us as among the highest of virtues.
For a man whose writing had (and continues to have) so much influence on so many others, it is surprising that William Dampier is largely forgotten, even in his birthplace of East Coker, Somerset. Before this long overdue biography, the Prestons found almost everything known about Dampier came from his published books. None of his original journals have survived.
The Prestons searched out manuscripts in the British Library and moldering papers in various record offices and then went one better than many biographers, actually visiting the many places his path took him around the world.
There are aspects of his life the authors only skimmed over and which I wish they had given more attention. While not quite as readable as "Blue Latitudes," the Tony Horwitz book on Cook, I found much to admire in this book.

Those that go first are many times not the most noble or the most rewarded by history. So it appears was the case of William Dampier who for much of his life in the late 1600s and early 1700s was a Pirate, which it might be said was legal so long as you plundered the other country's ships. But what comes through the most in this rather flat and uneven biography is how much travel and knowledge a simple buccaneer was able to accomplish before the far more recognized Captain Cook. Danpier, it appears, was responsible for creating travel writing, had an intense ability to observe the natural world, and noted wind and navigation in areas not seen again by western eyes for over a hundred years. It's claimed that his writing was the inspiration for Darwin, Jonathan Swift, and Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. Yet as compelling as this life appears to be the book Diana Preston and her husband Michael have crafted is more interesting than compelling. More a he went here and saw this and then that chronicle than the ripping good story that is behind the facts. Perhaps this needed to be an historical novel to elevate the excitement and sense of wonder. The Preston's book is a cut below the recent excellent great sea and exploration non-fiction such as the far better book on Magellan by Bergreen, or Sea of Glory by Philbrick, or Tony Horwitz's marvelous traveling biography of Captain Cook, Blue Latitude or even Diana Preston's wonderful book on the Robert Falcon Scott book, A First Rate Tragedy. Overall, I found it a bit flat and dry but always interesting.