![]() ![]() ![]() His first decade in office was dominated by thesecond half of the Napoleonic Wars, a conflict to which hecontributed a decisive solution by suggesting the super-remote StHelena as a suitable place of exile for Napoleon (Elba havingproved a bit too close for comfort). Fergus Fleming does not exactly drag him into thelight in Barrows Boys - that is not his purpose -but by making Barrows lifes work in the Admiralty theorganizing principle of his book, he provides narrativecontinuity to a bewildering variety of exploratory ventures, andthrows light on the often haphazard processes by which scientificand imperialist motives drove geographical discovery.īarrow was a bright boy who, through hardwork at school and ingratiating himself with the right people,secured a job as interpreter on a diplomatic mission to China,then worked in the government of Cape Colony in South Africabefore he secured his prestigious Admiralty job in London at theage of forty. ![]() ![]() Sir John Barrow, the Second Secretary tothe Admiralty from 1804 to 1845, has been a shadowy figure in thebackground of many narratives of British Arctic exploration.Picking leaders for expeditions, deciding their routes anddestinations, even, seemingly, ordaining what geographical factsthey would or would not discover, he has nevertheless scarcelyemerged from the obscurity to which his dreary job title seemedto confine him. ![]()
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