A nice fat, satisfying, historical novel, telling of Captain Fitzroy’s voyages to the south with Charles Darwin, and their tempestuous friendship. It draws on logs and journals of the voyages to weave an enlightening tale of one of history’s great journeys. Strong characters, vivid descriptions and a fascinating story superbly told, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Sadly this will be his only book as he tragically died at the end of last year of lung cancer although never a smoker.
This is an epic novel of sea-faring adventure set in the 19th century charting the life of Robert Fitzroy, the captain of the Beagle and his passenger Charles Darwin. It combines adventrure, emotion, ideas, humour and tragedy as well as illuminating the history of the 19th century. Fitzroy, the Christian Tory aristocrat, believed in the sanctity of the individual, but his beliefs destroyed his career. Darwin, the liberal minor cleric, doubts the truth of the Bible and develops his theory of evolution which is brutal and unforgiving in human terms. The two friends became bitter enemies as Darwin destroyed everything Fitzroy stood for.
Harry Thompson was the inventor and editor of many TV comedy series including Have I Got News For You and Never Mind the Buzzcocks. He was the author of acclaimed bestsellers, including Peter Cook: A Biography. His most recent book was a historical novel, This Thing of Darkness. He worked as a producer at Talkback TV and in his spare time ran an infamous cricket team, the Captain Scott XI. He died in November 2005.
