Diana Preston

I've read that there's a difference between buccaneer vs pirate vs privateer. But what if someone has been all three?! After serving in the Royal Navy, he made his way to Port Royal, joined loggers in the Bay of Campeachy, survived a hurricane, and joined a group of buccaneers in Hispaniola, all before the age of 30! In 1678 he arrived back in England, married a lady-in-waiting named Judith but set out a year later to seek his fortune. It's not very clear what drove Dampier's wandering ways, but what certainly sets him apart is his skill as a naturalist. He diligently kept a journal and later wrote an autobiography, in which he describes native culture, the weather, animals etc. He was the first to describe an avocado in English! His first circumnavigation began in Virginia with privateer John Cook and ended in England via the Cape of Good Hope. His second from Ireland to Panama and round again from 1704-1707, during which he was arrested as a pirate. Finally, he joined Woodes Rogers, later Gov. of the Bahamas, to Cape Horn to Batavia and back again! His story is incredible! Blackbeard and Kidd have nothing on Dampier!

Honestly there are no complaints for this one. It's a thorough, well constructed biography of William Dampier! Even though Dampier spent a considerable amount of time in South America, I'm glad the author didn't decide to skip any significant portions in the timeline. It's all about the journey you know? Between understandably hostile natives, severe malnutrition and thirst, exhaustion, the Spaniards, and natural dangers, there's not one part that is truly boring. It was fascinating to see Dampier evolve from crewman to navigator to commander!. The authors have an engaging narrative style that isn't simply reciting his memoir, and they didn't romanticize him either. I'll be reading his memoir later and this is a useful guide!… (altro)

5803. Eight Days at Yalta How Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin Shaped the Post-War World, by Diana Preston (read 10 Oct 2022)..This book was published in 2019 so can look at Yalta more objectively, having the benefit of hindsight. I found the subject very familiar, having lived through all the events and was very conscious of them, as they happened, and of the intense discussion of them in 1945. In large part, I found the treatment very fair and I often agreed with the author. She tells in great detail of the events of the eight days and of the events thereafter. She shows that FDR and Churchill did the best that was doable and that if Stalin had lived up to what he agreed to the postwar world would have been far better than it turned out to be. And one can take some solace in the fact that the Soviet world did eventually collapse and at least briefly the Russian bear behaved as it should have I don't think the evil that Putin is perpetrating can be blamed on Yalta. The book is consistently great reading and is an excellent refresher as to the events recounted… (altro)

I looked for and read this book because I am reading [b:Viet Nam: A History from Earliest Times to the Present|12781033|Viet Nam A History from Earliest Times to the Present|Ben Kiernan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1481145095l/12781033._SY75_.jpg|17927532] by [a:Ben Kiernan|34255|Ben Kiernan|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-82093808bca726cb3249a493fbd3bd0f.png]. Reference is made to Dampier and his descriptions of Tonquin (now Viet Nam) and it's people and culture on his visit their in the 1680s. I am also familiar with Dampier from Glyn Williams' excellent book, [b:Naturalists at Sea: Scientific Travellers from Dampier to Darwin|17802943|Naturalists at Sea Scientific Travellers from Dampier to Darwin|Glyn Williams|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1366556143l/17802943._SX50_.jpg|24904614].

This is an excellent biography of Dampier and the authors have really done their homework into his life and experiences.

It is an entertaining and well-written book that I had no hesitation picking up every night. The only reason I did not finish it sooner is because I am splitting my time right now between a couple of 500 page books.… (altro)