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Joseph Banks

A Life

One of our greatest writers about the sea has written an engrossing story of one of history’s most legendary maritime explorers. Patrick O’Brian’s biography of naturalist, explorer and co-founder of Australia, Joseph Banks, is narrative history at its finest. Published to rave reviews, it reveals Banks to be a man of enduring importance, and establishes itself as a classic of exploration.

"It is in his description of that arduous three-year voyage [on the ship Endeavor] that Mr. O’Brian is at his most brilliant. . . . He makes us understand what life within this wooden world was like, with its 94 male souls, two dogs, a cat and a goat."—Linda Colley, New York Times

"An absorbing, finely written overview, meant for the general reader, of a major figure in the history of natural science."—Frank Stewart, Los Angeles Times

"[This book is] the definitive biography of an extraordinary subject."—Robert Taylor, Boston Globe

"His skill at narrative and his extensive knowledge of the maritime history . . . give him a definite leg up in telling this . . . story."—Tom Clark, San Francisco Chronicle

330 pages | 6 halftones, 2 maps, 6 line drawings | 5-1/2 x 8-1/2 | © 1997

Biography and Letters

Biological Sciences: Natural History

History of Science

Table of Contents

Preface
1: Origins. Education. Botany
2: Newfoundland and Labrador
3: The Royal Society. Solander. the Endeavour Voyage
4: Tahiti and the Transit of Venus
5: New Zealand. Botany Bay and the Great Barrier Reef
6: Home Again. Resolution. Iceland
7: The Great Florilegium. Omai. Soho Square
8: President of the Royal Society. Marriage. the King and Kew. Botany Bay
9: HM’s Sheep. Plant Collectors. Bligh and Bounty. Revolution in France
10: War. New South Wales. the Privy Council
11: Trouble in Sydney and Iceland. Declining Health. the End
12: His Will, and some Letters
Notes
Bibliography
Index

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