Bright Paradise: Victorian Scientific Travellers

(Paperback)

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Description

Inspired by Darwin and his voyages on the "Beagle", a new generation of naturalists and scientists set out from Britain to explore tropical forests and mountain ranges. Some of them were entrepreneurs - many were dependent on selling their specimens to finance their trips - but they were also scrupulous and sensitive observers. This book traces some of the extraordinary journeys of these Victorian travellers.

Reviews

Lucid...fast-moving...skillful * Literary Review *
Enthusiastic, informed and racy, this is one of the most invigorating accounts of the exploits of people from an age whose intrepidity is staggering * Scotland on Sunday *
Excellent * Daily Telegraph *

Author Bio

Peter Raby lectures in Drama and English at Homerton College, Cambridge. His books include Fair Ophelia- A Life of Harriet Smithson Berlioz, Oscar Wilde, and the highly acclaimed biography Samuel Butler. He lives with his wife and family in a village on the edge of the fens.