Richard Keynes (1919–2010)

This excellent account of Darwin’s travels on the Beagle is written by his great-grandson Richard Keynes. It is a very full account, but it is difficult to review it without comparing it to two other books:

(1) Darwin’s own published book: “The Voyage of the Beagle”.
(2) Darwin’s personal diary written during the voyage, published as “Charles Darwin’s Beagle Diary” and edited by the same Richard Keynes.

For example, Keynes’ account of Darwin’s first landfall in the Cape show more Verde islands gives a full account of Darwin’s scientific investigations there, particularly his geologising. But it misses out some interesting stories of Darwin’s encounters with local people which appear in both of the other books.

On the other hand, the amusing ritual that Darwin had to undergo when the Beagle crossed the Equator is described in this book and also in the personal diary, but not in “The Voyage of the Beagle”. So, you win some and you lose some with each of the books.

Charles Darwin wrote much later in his life that “The voyage of the Beagle has been by far the most important event in my life, and has determined my whole career...” We can see why from this book.

We read about: Darwin as a victim of severe seasickness; Captain FitzRoy’s doomed attempt to bring “Christian civilisation” to the people of Tierra del Fuego; Darwin’s disgust at the slavery he saw in Brazil; and his scientific collecting and observation.

Darwin did not develop his theory of natural selection while on the Beagle, but things that he saw on the voyage - in South America and in the Galapagos Islands - certainly played a part in putting the idea of evolution into his head.

I recommend this book. But I would recommend Darwin’s own accounts even more. show less

The voyage of the HMS Beagle is largely associated with one man - Charles Darwin. This is unfortunate, as his association was only one element of an epic series of voyages by the vessel. Keynes, a descendent of Darwin, does the vessel and its crew justice by including within The Beagle Record a selection of text and images which can only serve to excite interest in other apects of the famous expediton, apart from what Darwin was up to. What I found most exciting about this book was the large show more number of illustration by Conrad Martens, an English landscape artist who subsequently settled in Australia and made a living selling watercolours in the picturesque style. Martens was artist on the expediton, having replace Augustus Earle, and the work of both features in this handsome edition. The mixture of heretofore unseen images, extracts from unpublished manuscripts and sections of the published accounts of the expedition make this book immensely readable and an important addition to the story of Beagle related works. show less

This book, written by a great-grandson of Darwin, gives a detailed account of Darwin's travels in the Beagle, plus some analysis of the events and findings.
Keynes gets much of the detail from the various journals of Darwin and others on the Beagle and brings the narrative together in a useful manner. The style is low-key, with no attempt to extract some startling new inference from the record. Indeed, he makes sure to debunk some over-excited frothings of previous writers.
HHardly a show more page-turner, but well done. Read Jan 2013. show less