No comments about In The Footsteps Of Daniel Boone (In the Footsteps).

2 comments about Memoirs of a Bengal Civilian.

1. John Beames was not a major historical figure, but this book should appeal to anybody who has an interest in British India. Beames describes his early life as the son of a minister in England and his college days at Haileybury, as part of the last generation of young men to pass through the East India Company's private college. The majority of the book is taken up with his career in the Indian Civil Service between 1858 and 1893. Beames is notable for his clean command of the english language - which was considered exceptional for the times he was writing in - hardly a phrase of purple prose in sight. He was also notable because he was considered to be an ordinary man, one of the civil servants who did their duty very well and to the best of their ability, contributed to history, but yet are not remember as many of the Viceroys India who had far shorter careers, often far less distinguished.

   One of the historical gems in the book is Beames' description of Calcutta. For him it was womderful city of palaces and parks, of high society, young woman keen on romance, and young men with too much leisure on their hands. These descriptions present such a contrast to the images of Calcutta today.

   In his descriptions of Indians and Anglo-Idnains Beames is perhaps a perfect man of his times in that he often displays the usual prejudices of the British in India. At the same time, however, he was not overtly racist and would acknowledge that individuals should be judged as individuals. In this respect some of the most entretaining passges are reserved for those of his english colleagues in Indian who he considered to be incompetent fools despite their often high standing in that society.

   A wonderful book for anybody who wants an insight into those times.




2. This is an excellent book on what life was like for englishmen in British India. John Beames was obviously a good writer and the narrative flows quite smoothly. His description of Calcutta with some specific street names (Chowrangee) brought back memories because things did not appear to have changed much in 1968 when I was in Calcutta.
   
   I agree with the publisher that the first chapter on ancestry is quite turgid and boring. So if you wish skip the first chapter. You will not miss much. Too bad that John Beames died before completing the book. However, his grandson has a nice epilogue to the text.
   
   Much of what Beames states in the book sounds familiar to me. I used to know a guy in Hyderabad, whose granddad was a "assistant" to one of the British Collectors and much of what he said coincides with several narratives in the book.
   
   Of course in keeping with the times Beames had the usual prejudices against the natives but that was the culture in those days.
   
   I found it interesting that an intelligent perceptive man like John Beames seemed not to question the white elephant, viz., what in tarnation were the British, doing in India?

No comments about From the Harpy Tomb to the Wonders of Ephesus: British Archaeologists in the Ottoman Empire 1840-1880.

No comments about The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit.

No comments about Breve historia de Francisco Pizarro/ Brief History of Francisco Pizzaro.

4 comments about The Man Who Mapped the Arctic: The Intrepid Life of George Back, Franklin's Lieutenant.

1. An incredibly well researched book. The Man Who Mapped the Arctic is a must read for anyone interested in Canadian and European history or Arctic exploration. This is not dull Canadian history! Peter Steele's writing is witty and engaging.



2. We need more of this kind of book in Canada.

   This was a fun read. The only complaint I have is the maps could have helped illustrate the routes taken.




3. As a resident of the Alaskan Arctic, I find it refreshing to read a book by a biographer who does not just sit at the computer, or camp out in a stately library somewhere. Steele, a doctor and mountaineer, as well as a biographer, actually went out and retraced the distant and remote routes across Northern Canada --the same routes of his subject--British explorer George Back. He followed the exploits of Back on foot, and also by canoe, boat and plane, including a forced landing on a remote lake.
   Steele also traveled to Back's birthplace in the Cheshire area of England, and the areas of France where he was held as a prisoner of war well before he reached he age of 20.
   Much has been written about a contemporary of Back's, the courageous John Franklin, but much less about Back himself. Perhaps this is because Franklin and his 129 crewmen perished in a tragic search for the Northwest Passage. Steele's book should help Arctic enthusiasts learn more about Back, Franklin's Lieutenant on three earlier Arctic expeditions.
   Back, who served in the British Navy as a teenager, and spent five years in French prisons, showed early maturity, a very hearty constitution and a strong will. He successfully explored vast areas of Northern Canada and discovered and traveled the Back River, including shooting its 83 rapids.
   Steele, reflecting his medical background, notes that Back died in his bed at a relatively advanced age (for that time) of 82 years old. Back kept very active, and was also a fine mapmaker and artist.
   Steele also provides a social and economic profile of England in the early and mid 1800's, to show the rather limited options for many bright and ambitious young citizens. Thus, Arctic exploration, despite all its dangers, became a way up and out from a rather entrenched power structure.
   I could feel the inner drive of explorers like Back, Franklin, Parry and others as they sailed out of English ports, bound for uncharted Arctic waters, and expected to be gone for years at a time, with no way of communicating good or bad news, or getting rescued. Kind of like our space program at present, although we do have much more communication, but still plenty of risk.
   Pick up this book like I did, during several months when the sun does not rise above the horizon in Arctic Alaska. Find a comfortable chair by a sturdy floor lamp, and call your Greenland Husky or other faithful dog to your side, and return again to the days of George Back and his Arctic explorations.
   Earl



4. It takes considerable flair and panache to write history in a way that makes it read like a novel and not very many authors have that ability. Canada's Pierre Berton has it! Dava Sobel and Simon Winchester are certainly up to the task! In "The Man Who Mapped the Arctic", Peter Steele demonstrated his rightful claim to membership on that short list. Steele, a physician who has spent most of his life in the North and an arctic adventurer and mountaineer in his own right, has eloquently told us the astonishing tale of George Back, Franklin's undeservedly obscure and unsung Lieutenant and his astonishing exploits in exploration that rival Samuel Hearne's or Lewis and Clark's in their extraordinary scope and difficulty.
   
   Steele's prose has painted a vivid picture of Back's working life as a Navy Lieutenant and explorer and the compelling setting in which the story takes place - endless waterfalls and rapids; excruciating clouds of mosquitoes or black flies; extreme temperature swings; backbreaking 90 to 100 pound loads hauled over strenuous ankle-breaking portages; the open water of Lake Winnipeg, Lake Superior and Great Bear and Great Slave Lake that might better be described as inland oceans when observed from the perspective of a canoe; changeable unpredictable weather; the dumb-founding athleticism of ten to twelve men paddling in perfect synchrony at 50 strokes per minute for hours on end singing, if you please, to provide a rhythm and take their minds off the numbing pain in their backs and shoulders; lost rations, near starvation and cannibalism; the stinging cold and near endless dark of sub-arctic winter camps; the political struggles, bickering, corporate fighting and espionage that occurred as a matter of course in the conflict between the Hudson Bay Company and the Northwest Company; and much, much more.
   
   Of Back's cultural indoctrination by fire upon his arrival in Canada, for example, Steele wrote:
   
   "He knew nothing of the rival fur companies' years of bitter forest skirmishes, sniping from riverbanks at each others' canoes, occasionally taking prisoners, and resorting in extremis to arson and theft, kidnapping and murder - tantamount to open warfare." "Neither did he understand the cultural differences that might arise between himself and a disparate group of French Canadian voyageur canoemen, Indian hunters and Eskimo guides, who he expected would guide them through the most barren and inhospitable land anyone could imagine, among people utterly ignorant of intrusive Westerners and their strange ways."
   
   In other words, Steele has provided us with an exciting biography of a talented naval officer, explorer, mapmaker, outdoorsman and survivor who has languished for too long under the shadow of Franklin, his considerably less talented superior. The Yukon News praises "The Man Who Mapped the Arctic" by suggesting that it is destined to become a classic story of Canadian Arctic exploration. I concur.
   
   Paul Weiss

1 comments about Searching for Fannie Quigley: A Wilderness Life in the Shadow of Mount McKinley.

1. As someone who doesn't live in Alaska and has no knowledge of the Gold Rush, I found "Searching for Fannie Quigley" to be a fascinating book. Jane Haigh manages to combine Fannie's personal story with historical background in a very readable way. I enjoyed the way the author interweaves her own account of "searching for Fannie" including driving around the Nebraskan homesteads where Fannie was born and searching for papers documenting Fannie's two marriages, numerous gold mine claims, and other information. The numerous photographs and maps greatly enhance the value of the book. I would recommend this biography to anyone who would enjoy reading about a remarkable pioneer woman and gaining an insight into an interesting slice of Alaskan history.

1 comments about Hudson's Bay Company Adventures: The Rollicking Saga of Canada's Fur Traders (Amazing Stories).

1. The early fur-trading history of Canada was not about exploring as much as it was about making money...and the author has brought to the book some of the most exciting stories and adventurers of that era. I liked how the author included stories about Native peoples and their importance to the fur-trade in early Canada.

No comments about Our Little House in the Arctic.

No comments about Colón: El hombre, el navegante, la leyenda.