The first half of Joseph Banks' consequential life was exceptionally varied and unusual for the time period. Kieza's biograph captures this especially well. But the latter half of Banks' life was more a tale of him holding multiple important positions (i.e., president of the Royal Society for over 40 years), sponsoring and funding other botanical explorers and promoting the sciences. At this point, Kieza's book becomes something more of a tale of the development of early Australia, which Banks definitely influenced but feels like the narrative has slipped off the rails. ( )

Joseph Banks was one of the most remarkable and influential people in history. Most famous for accompanying James Cook on his first voyage of discovery (or as Banks saw it - it was his voyage, and Cook enabled it), he went on to influence government policy, further journey's of discovery, set up gardens, and head the Royal Society for many years. Having said that, perhaps there is not much more to tell, because this book left me a little dissatisfied. It does use material from lots of sources, it does not hesitate to criticize him (and there are plenty of reasons to do so), but it comes across a bit like a chronological lists of events.
Perhaps to be read alongside Geoffrey Blainey's book on Cook's first journey https://www.librarything.com/work/24519905/book/207022260, and even this book on the age of discovery: https://www.librarything.com/work/6287571/book/54993930
A small point: it is supposed to be Banks's or Banks' ? ( )