[.ca] Barrow's Boys: A Stirring Story of Daring, Fortitude, ... (ISBN 0802137946)

Terrific!:
I recently enjoyed 'Blue Latitudes', the story of Captain Cook's three great voyages of discovery. 'Barrow's Boys' is a wonderful companion piece, carrying on the incredible story of British exploration following the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The author presents these interwoven stories in a well researched, breezy narrative and with a dash of humour that keeps the pages turning and the reader wishing for more. Highly recommended.

One of the best histories written:
Fleming is an excellent writer, period. The pages just fly by. One could almost place this book in the Humor section. Unlike most historians, he is quick to judge (and smear) a protagonist. John Barrow, the backbone of these stories, is continually chided. He makes great use of journal entries, many of which were written under great stress--could many write in that wordy, superfluous 19th-century prose while holed up in Saharan Africa? Not likely.

One of the best books of its kind:
Simply put it's a great book. "Barrow's Boys" is filled with amazing stories of exploration and consequent adventure in the first half of the 19th century. The title figure of Barrow is himself a rather uninteresting and, at least to me, disagreeable chap who takes a rightful place in the far background of this book. Barrow's importance is as the man who green-lighted the numerous British explorations detailed in Fleming's book. Most were in search of the elusive Northwest Passage, which took many a ship into the harrowing Arctic environs. This provides many of "Barrow's Boys" most captivating stories as ships, captains and crews battle the elements. The effect of extreme cold, severe Arctic storms and seemingly endless dark winters are hard to imagine. Fleming, to his credit, helps nudge the reader's imagination. One of his primary tools, and indeed a key to the success of the book, are the copious logs left behind by ship captains. What a treasure chest of primary documents that Fleming takes full advantage of. In addition to fighting the bitter cold, explorers challenged opposite elements in Africa in search of rivers and cities. Besides having to negotiate extreme dessert or jungle heat, explorers had to ward off myriad diseases and pass though the lands of hostile natives, often while seeking their help. It's all compelling stuff and Fleming has a writing style that never imposes itself on the stories but helps highlight elements of them. One of the highest praises of a history book is that it inspires the reader to want to read and know more. Well, through "Barrow's Boys" Fergus Fleming has done precisely that.

Filling in the gaps:
This book not only fills in the gaps on history it tells the story of how the gaps on our maps were filled in. From the wastelands of the Sahara to the northwest passage in Canada this book chronicles the adventures and misadventures of the men who dared to do the impossible. On Shoestring budgets these people went literally to the ends of the earth to fill in 'pointless' parts of the map. Yet without them we would never know what lurks in the extremes of our world. This is a grand tribute to English fortitude and daring the mapping of these savage areas had never been attempted or done before because no people, and no country had the guts to send men into such extremes of human endurance. Told as best it could be told, in flowing language this is a lovely account of human daring and folly.

A great look at exploration:
If you are a lover of adventure and exploration you'll love this book. Fergus Fleming has done a marvelous job of relating tales of British explorers of the early 1800's. Fleming has a knack for telling the story with great wit and you'll often smile as he brings these characters to life. From the Sahara to the Arctic and to the Antarctic and Australia Barrow (Second Secretary of the Admiralty) sends his "boys" in search of glory for the British. Many of these stories have been written about before but bringing them together as Fleming has done, puts this period of exploration in prospective. It was a great time for England even though most of these epics ended in disaster and failed to prove much of what Barrow was looking for.