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Loading... The Adventures of Sir Samuel White Baker: Victorian Heroby M. J. Trow
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Sir Samuel White Baker is one of those larger-than-life heroes only the Victorians could invent. For too long, the British Empire has been denigrated and equated with arrogance at best and racial bigotry at worst. Samuel Baker transcends that. He was an explorer and naturalist, recording new species on his many travels; a big game hunter with huge expertise across continents; an engineer of skill and ingenuity; a general of ability; an administrator second to none; and an ardent opponent of African slavery. M. J. Trow, in this the first biography of Baker for twenty years, draws heavily on Bak No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)910.92History and Geography Geography and Travel Geography and Travel History, geographic treatment, biography - Discovery. exploration Geographers, travellers, explorers regardless of country of originLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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The aspect of the story most likely to be controversial is the author's open sympathy for Samuel's brother Valentine, regarded as a brilliant cavalryman but cashiered after being convicted of attempt rape of a brother officer's sister in a railway carriage. Trow suggests the woman was deluded and the policeman who testified was corrupt, which I think very unlikely. Valentine was richer and more influential (a friend of the Prince of Wales) so why would a corrupt policeman side with the victim? Queen Victoria sided with the woman, and I think rightly so, though Trow makes nasty remarks about the "vengeful" old queen. Even Valentine himself admitted to doing something, though denying he went a far as the woman said, and Samuel commented that it was hard to explain away Valentine's trousers (which were apparently unbuttoned). ( )