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A Pirate of Exquisite Mind: The Life of William Dampier: Explorer, Naturalist, and Buccaneer Paperback – April 5, 2005

by Diana Preston (Author), Michael Preston (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 126 ratings
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Seventeenth-century pirate genius William Dampier sailed around the world three times when crossing the Pacific was a major feat, was the first explorer to visit all five continents, and reached Australia eighty years before Captain Cook. His exploits created a sensation in Europe. Swift and Defoe used his experiences in writing Gulliver's Travels and Robinson Crusoe. Darwin incorporated his concept of "sub-species" into the theory of evolution. Dampier's description of breadfruit was the impetus for Captain Bligh's voyage on the Bounty. He was so influential that today he has more than one thousand entries in the Oxford English Dictionary, including such words as chopsticks, barbecue, and kumquat. Anthropologists still use his work.
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  1. Print length
    384 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Penguin Publishing Group
  4. Publication date
    April 5, 2005
  5. Dimensions
    6.1 x 1 x 9.3 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    042520037X
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0425200377
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Diana Preston is an Oxford-trained historian, writer, and broadcaster who lives in London, England. She is the author of The Road to Culloden Moor: Bonnie Prince Charlie and the ’45 Rebellion and A First Rate Tragedy: Robert Falcon Scott and the Race to the South Pole.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Publishing Group (April 5, 2005)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 042520037X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0425200377
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.1 x 1 x 9.3 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 126 ratings

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Diana Preston

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
126 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

charles wilkins
5.0 out of 5 stars Just a fabulous book
Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2021
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Came to this book after taking a crack at Dampier’s original writings. This is a much more accessible way to get a handle on the extraordinary man. The Prestons do an incredible and well-researched job of knitting Dampier’s larger-than-live story into a compelling narrative that zips along. By far the best book I’ve read this summer!
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ann
5.0 out of 5 stars 3 amazing stories in one
Reviewed in the United States on March 13, 2023
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Any one of these historical accounts would almost be worth a book in itself
1) The incredible contributions to early early science, our understanding of the physical, natural & cultural worlds.... a bit like Humboldt in changing our understanding of our world. Interesting to see references to other science of the time in the Royal Society
2) Reports of a pirate's life... unbelievable hardships, conflict and at the same time the democratic norms aboard pirate ships. Who knew pirates elected their captains. I got a little lost in the descriptions of voyages and would have appreciated an appendix maybe with modern maps showing his route. Maps from the time are a bit hard to translate.
3) the adventures of Dampier are put in context with descriptions of contemporary customs e.g. the variety of ways a couple could be married, the popularity of London coffee houses, so popular among men that wives complained of what they did to their husbands and their marriages sounding much like later wives' complaints about gin.
What a huge amount of detailed research the couple has done, including retracing Dampier's voyages .
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C. Davis
4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book Across Several Disciplines
Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2005
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This book was first brought to my attention when it was being discussed on NPR. Diana Preston sounded like she was actually gushing when she talked about William Dampier. After reading this book, one can certainly understand why. While there are many gaps in the historical record - we know virtually nothing about Dampier's personal life, Diana and Michael Preston weave what is known into a highly enjoyable narrative that moves at the speed of an action novel.

William Dampier, a Scot, was a fascinating person. Like so many young unattached men of his time, he naturally turned to the sea as a means of livelihood. Like most sailors, he was a keen observer of the world around him. However, unlike many of his peers, he documented those observations, kept his papers in good order, and published his observations as sort of a half scientific journal/half travel story. He became sort of a folk hero to the large portions of English population who were wealthy enough to own his books, but not to experience the larger world first hand. His keen scientific observations deeply influenced meteorology, biology, and cartography for the next two hundred years. His charts were still in use as late as WWII.

Today, it is difficult for a layperson to be taken seriously by scientific community. Thus a common sailor and buccaneer who is also at the cutting edge of scientific study seems somewhat incredulous to the modern reader. Yet, in this sense, the 16th and 17th century scientific community was a bit more egalitarian then the current one. Yet this is a world where slavery was accepted as a fact of life and basic human dignity, especially for non-whites, was a luxury vice a fundamental right.

Likewise, Dampier himself was a case study in contradictions. A keen observer and analyst of the natural world, he seems completely unable to understand human nature. A gifted planner, navigator, and tough fighter; he fails at every leadership role that life thrusts upon him. Despite the fact that he was almost a folk hero at the time of his last expedition, he is more or less forgotten to the modern world with the exception of Western Australia. He was, after all, the first Englishman to visit Australia - sorry Capt Cook.

This book will appeal to anyone who is interested in the age of exploration, the history of science, or British history in the late 17th Century. The main drawback to this book is that there is very little insight into William Dampier's personal life. For example, the authors do not know when Dampier's wife died or much about her life when he was not at home. Regardless, this is a history book that is as readable as any novel.
16 people found this helpful
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Luis Mansilla
5.0 out of 5 stars What a life ... impressive!
Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2007
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No many people knows about William Dampier even though his life is totally impressive. As a person looking for an opportunity to make a living, Dampier took his life as a buccaneer to develop his passion as explorer and naturalist. He didn't attend Oxford, nor Cambridge, but his accounts reminds me of Joseph Banks, accounts that were of much use for navigators and naturalist in the coming years, including Cook and Darwin.
He survived three voyages around the world, but those voyages let him know fascinating places and cultures. I was especially delighted on the description of Juan Fernandez Island (In the coast of Chile), the use that pirates made of this island and the story of the Moskito indian and Alexander Selkirk, both castaways here. A book worth reading!
One person found this helpful
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Earl de Blonville
5.0 out of 5 stars Meet one of history's most remarkable explorers. This book won't let you go.
Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2016
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Dampier's story is extraordinary. He achieved so much personally and also gave the world so much for the future. I could not put this book down. It's brilliantly written, enthralling, often edge-of-the-seat narrative and yet full of the romance of discovery of ideas and new vistas. I thoroughly recommend this book. I think I will have to read it a second time. Why wasn't it made into a film?
One person found this helpful
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Rosella Byrd
5.0 out of 5 stars A rollicking good read
Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2009
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This book was given to me as a gift, and it is such a marvelously good read that I heartily recommend it to all those who enjoy a ripping yarn. Dampier was a man of many parts, a traveler and adventurer who played a role in the history of a number of countries, observed their cultures, and was an important cartographer whose maps were used well into the 20th century. Although Dampier is a well-known figure in Australian and British history, it is surprising that he is not remembered for the role he played in U.S. history. William Dampier went everywhere, did everything and met many fascinating characters along the way. Here's a story of a remarkable life that can only enrich your own.
One person found this helpful
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Scott
3.0 out of 5 stars There are lots of great age of exploration books out there. This is not one of them.
Reviewed in the United States on August 16, 2016
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Dampier certainly led an interesting life, but the author manages to transform his life into dull reading. Her treatment of technical issues such as the challenge of determining longitude for the era's mariners is weak and would be better read on Wikipedia. I am shocked at the number of typographical errors in this book and many other Kindle books I read. Preston refers repeatedly to Panama's San Bias (sic) Islands when I am quite certain she means the San Blas Islands. When an author can't get simple things like this correct it makes me question everything in the book. There are many more interesting seafaring books on the era available. Pass on this one.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Robert Ryan
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book about an extraordinary man
Reviewed in Canada on January 14, 2020
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This is a must read for anyone that follows the explorers in the age of exploration, thoroughly enjoyed it. I followed hs route around the globe on Google earth.
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John
5.0 out of 5 stars This is a desirable book.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 23, 2014
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The story of William Dampier is not well known and has never been told before in such a readable style. He made three circumnavigations of the world at a time when only a handful of men had been around once. During his voyages, he experienced a series of remarkable adventures, any one of which would have satisfied most men for a lifetime. Most importantly, he left a written legacy that formed a basis for scientists as well as for the navigators that followed him.
Although it is aimed at the general reader, this book is based on much painstaking and time-consuming research from original sources.
One person found this helpful
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Ottokar
5.0 out of 5 stars The Unknown Discoverer
Reviewed in Germany on November 25, 2008
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The jacket text of this book says that the exploits of Dampier "have been virtually invisible for more tnan a century". This is even more surprising because Dampier not only travelled around the world three times during the decades around 1700, he also published several accounts of his voyages, and these show him to be a dedicated scientist and explorer whose work was studied and admired by people like Charles Darwin and Captain James Cook. At the same time it shows how a man can turn from a lawless buccaneer to a much admired explorer.
The book is a lively account of a period that, in the usual textbooks, consists only of a succession of between the European Powers. It is carefully researched and proved a great help to me towards understanding this particular era.
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Mr. Robertson
5.0 out of 5 stars Informed Eye Opener
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 17, 2014
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Academia meets adventure story. Highly informed and eminently readable. The story of a man whose influence impacted on Cook and Defoe.
I cannot rate this highly enough!
2 people found this helpful
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Mrs. Tosh
3.0 out of 5 stars I haven’t had time to read it yet. So far so good but it’s a huge book. Ask me again in a few weeks.
Reviewed in Canada on April 12, 2024
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I like the descriptions of a controversial character. I don’t like the frequent diversions into unrelated topics. But it isn’t fair to review a book when I’ve barely started it.
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