Joseph Banks: A Life

Joseph Banks (1743-1820) led a life of great adventure. As a naturalist, he accompanied Captain James Cook on expeditions to Australia and Tahiti, where he cataloged new species of plants and animals; as an explorer, he helped chart sea passages along the coast of Canada to the Arctic. He was also at the center of power in his time, enjoying an on-again, off-again friendship with King George III and cultivating acquaintances with the leading scientists and statesmen of his time. Patrick O'Brian, well known for his captivating seafaring novels, brings dramatic flair to retelling the incidents of Banks's life, which are closely tied to the expansion of the British empire.