Traveler: One Man's Quest for Humanity from the South Seas to Revolutionary Paris
Traveler: One Man's Quest for Humanity from the South Seas to Revolutionary Paris
Traveler: One Man's Quest for Humanity from the South Seas to Revolutionary Paris
Description
Description
Step into the life and times of George Forster, the eighteenth-century naturalist who sailed the world and made waves with his revolutionary ideas about humanity and freedom--from the bestselling author of The Invention of Nature. "[A] thrilling biography-cum-adventure story." --Hampton Sides, author of The Wide Wide Sea "Enthralling. Superb. The Traveler is hypnotically successful and wonderfully restores George Forster as a major historical figure." --Richard Holmes, author of The Age of Wonder From an early age, it was clear that George Forster possessed a brilliant mind. At just ten years old, he became a botanist when he accompanied his irascible father, Reinhold, on a wild expedition to Russia. By the time he was twelve, they had moved to London and the young boy soon became the breadwinner by publishing translations of the most popular travel accounts of the day. Then, in 1772, at the age of seventeen, George Forster joined Cook's second voyage, the most daring expedition of the time. The HMS Resolution set sail with orders to find what was then the hypothetical southern continent of Antarctica, stopping at the islands of the South Pacific-- including New Zealand, Vanuatu, Tonga, Tahiti, and Easter Island--along the way. The Resolution carried the ambitions of the most powerful empire in the world, but Forster brought an understanding that was far ahead of his day. A gifted observer, linguist, artist, and writer, he studied the diverse cultures of the world without prejudice and was one of the first Europeans to talk about universal human rights. Recognized on his return as one of Europe's brightest minds, Forster used his fame to advocate for freedom and human rights and wrote against empire, white supremacy, and slavery. He admired strong, educated women, even accepting his wife's independence--and her love affairs. Driven by his passion for equality, Forster would eventually be pulled into the vortex of the French Revolution and live in Paris during the Reign of Terror. Throughout it all, he held close the radical belief that our common humanity is far greater than what sets us apart. The Traveler recounts the remarkable life of this deeply curious and exceptional man who, though largely forgotten by history, truly belonged to the future.
About the Author
About the Author
ANDREA WULF was born in India and moved to Germany as a child. She is the author of Magnificent Rebels, The Founding Gardeners, Brother Gardeners, and the New York Times bestseller The Invention of Nature, which has been published in twenty-seven languages and won fifteen international literary awards. Wulf has written for many newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, The Guardian, Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Atlantic. She is a member of PEN America and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. She lives in London.
Critical Reviews
Critical Reviews
"George Forster, a celebrity intellectual in his day, was a man far ahead of his time. In this thrilling biography-cum-adventure story, Andrea Wulf deftly shows us how Forster's far-flung wanderings inspired and nurtured one of the greatest minds of the Enlightenment era." --Hampton Sides, New York Times bestselling author of The Wide Wide Sea "The dauntless Andrea Wulf has gone adventuring, and returned with this enthralling account of young, nomadic George Forster. Her superb narrative shimmers with scholarly detail and magnificently sustains the 'breathless exhilaration' of his journeys, his extraordinarily liberal and observant mind and the intense emotional drama of his life. A combination of panoramic travelogue and tender psychological study animated at every point by Wulf's own travels and research, The Traveler is hypnotically successful and wonderfully restores George Forster as a major historical figure of early European Romanticism." --Richard Holmes, author of The Age of Wonder "A remarkable biography of a remarkable man. Wulf's books are always horizon-expanding, but with this one she has excelled herself. I loved it!" --Tom Holland, cohost of The Rest Is History and author of Rubicon "Andrea Wulf belongs to the small, splendid canon of writers unafraid to render fact with feeling--The Traveler is a work of devotion and rigor that celebrates the courage to look past the horizon of an era's givens and refuses to take the figments of a culture for facts." --Maria Popova, author of Traversal "Unfailingly and inspiringly humane, George Forster is the overlooked tragic hero of the European Enlightenment. With her characteristic combination of scholarship and empathy, Andrea Wulf conjures the global range of his curiosity, and the poignant wilderness of his family life. This book is the memorial that he has long deserved." --Neil MacGregor, author of Germany "With her beautiful, sensitive, impressively researched biography of George Forster, Andrea Wulf brilliantly narrates the novelistic life of a uniquely curious scholar at a pivotal moment in Western Civilization, a man who embodied the notion that travel breeds empathy. Forster's unquestioning love for his fellow human being, as recounted by Wulf, is a much-needed antidote to the vitriol that courses through present times." --Julian Sancton, author of Madhouse at the End of the Earth
"As George Forster circumnavigates the globe, Wulf circumnavigates the Enlightenment mind in all its complexity, making for a doubly brilliant and breathtaking adventure." --Sue Prideaux, author of Wild Thing "A revelatory biography of the little remembered but brilliant polymath and naturalist George Forster. . . . In a narrative that reads partly like a scientific adventure story, partly like a revolutionary bildungsroman, Wulf traces Forster's mental journey--drawing on his published works and private diaries and letters--as well as his literal journey, following his path throughout Europe and the South Pacific, trying to imagine the world from his perspective as 'a crosser of borders, a dreamer of worlds' who was able to see 'the connections rather than divisions.' Readers will be rapt by this immersive recreation of an intellectual awakening."
--Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Wulf amply restores [George Forster's] stature as a brilliant mind. A stirring, empathetic portrait. . . . His curiosity, tolerance, and humaneness contrasted sharply with the perspective of his Eurocentric contemporaries." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"As George Forster circumnavigates the globe, Wulf circumnavigates the Enlightenment mind in all its complexity, making for a doubly brilliant and breathtaking adventure." --Sue Prideaux, author of Wild Thing "A revelatory biography of the little remembered but brilliant polymath and naturalist George Forster. . . . In a narrative that reads partly like a scientific adventure story, partly like a revolutionary bildungsroman, Wulf traces Forster's mental journey--drawing on his published works and private diaries and letters--as well as his literal journey, following his path throughout Europe and the South Pacific, trying to imagine the world from his perspective as 'a crosser of borders, a dreamer of worlds' who was able to see 'the connections rather than divisions.' Readers will be rapt by this immersive recreation of an intellectual awakening."
--Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Wulf amply restores [George Forster's] stature as a brilliant mind. A stirring, empathetic portrait. . . . His curiosity, tolerance, and humaneness contrasted sharply with the perspective of his Eurocentric contemporaries." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Publishing Information
Publishing Information
Publisher:
Knopf Publishing Group
Pub date:
2026-06-09
Length:
512 pages
The Allstora Membership
Membership Perks:
- Save 30% on all online store purchases
- Exclusive access to author's content
- You pay less, but authors still earn double
Membership Terms:
First Month:
$0.00
Monthly price:
$5.00
- To access membership discount simply log in and add to cart, discount applied automatically.
- One month free trial, cancel anytime. Membership renews on the 15th of each month.