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bobbijopmh's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
slow-paced
3.5
While Banks' life is quite fascinating, the book detailing the entire span of his life was not particularly engaging for me. There are some very interesting chapters, and the book is well structured. However, it read more like a textbook account than an engaging biography. I was also hoping for a little more information on Banks discoveries, and some accounts of the plants, animals, fish etc; that he collected on his travels and through his network. For someone more interested in the man than his work, I'm sure they'd thoroughly enjoy this. But I went into this one expecting something more like the The Invention of Nature by Andrea Wulf which details the life of Alexander von Humboldt (who was a contemporary of Banks & actually visited Banks at his home after the voyage of the Endeavour) and which I thoroughly enjoyed. I was a little disappointed to find this more of an accounting of facts, and lacking any insight or interpretation (and at times context).
Early on in the book, there is a lot of family history and name listing and place listing, and that honestly meant next to nothing to me and made entire sections of this book very slow reading. I'm sure for those better versed in history and locations in Britain, it means more. While the book improved towards the middle chapters (during Banks' voyage with Cook), it went downhill for me again towards the end.
There is no question that Grantlee Kieza researched extensively, and conveyed an enormous amount of information, and it is not poorly written by any measure, there was just nothing that could keep my highly engaged.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Slavery, Blood, and Trafficking
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