"A Pirate of Exquisite Mind" by Diana and Michael Preston

This is a biography of William Dampier, the first person to circumnavigate the world three times, who landed on the coast of Australia 80 years before Captain James Cook and who became the best selling author who inspired the new genre of travel writing as well as Robinson Crusoe (being on both the expeditions which marooned Alexander Selkirk and which rescued him) by Daniel Defoe (whose biography is reviewed here) and Gulliver's Travels. He is also responsible for a host of words including avocado, barbeque, chopsticks and sub-species.

But he started off as a buccaneer. Sailing to the West Indies he began working on a sugar plantation but his wanderlust soon got the better of him. He spent time as a logger before signing on as a pirate. His career in piracy was pretty lacklustre; in his first voyage he sacked a couple of towns but kept missing the rich prizes and he returned to England (having rounded Cape Horn and crossed the Pacific) after twelve years at sea with little to show for his trouble. His second voyage, as a captain of a scientific vessel for the Royal Navy was equally unsuccessful. Only on his third voyage, demoted to navigator under the command of Woodes Rogers, did he help in capturing a Spanish Galleon which earned him some thousands of pounds, enough to pay his debts after he had died. In all, he did better as an author.

The Prestons tell his tale in great detail which sometimes slows the narrative. A great deal of time is spent on the first voyage (to be fair, it was the longest, it took twelve years). But Dampier did so much and discovered so much that it is difficult to see how any less detail would be possible. Certainly the book is action packed to the extent that I got a little lost a times. I would have liked to see some (modern) maps to show exactly where he was at which time.

This is is an interesting biography of a fascinating man and well worth reading.

August 2015; 461 pages

"Last orders" by Graham Swift

Jack Dodds, Bermondsey butcher,  is dead and has requested that his ashes be scattered off the Pier at Margate. Friends and drinking companions Vic (funeral director), Lenny (ex boxer), Lucky; Raysy (who plays the gee-gees and knew Jack in the desert campaign of WWII) and adopted son Vince (second-hand car dealer) but not wife Amy have a day trip to Margate (via pubs in Rochester and Canterbury) to fulfill his wishes.

The story is told from the point of view of the characters although Ray is the principal narrator. As they travel through Kent they think about their present concerns and their past relationships with Jack and his wife. Told in authentic south London voices, the author uses hints and ambiguities to keep the reader guessing and piecing together the back story.

This is a tautly written and captivating read which was shortlisted for the Whitbread Novel Award and won the James Tait Black memorial prize and the Booker Prize in 1996 . 

It has also been made into a super film.

March 2013; 295 pages.

This review was written by the author of Bally and Bro, Motherdarling  and The Kids of God