Product Description

This biography of Charles Darwin attempts to capture the private unknown life of the real man - the gambling and gluttony at Cambridge, his gruelling trip round the globe, his intimate family life, worries about persecution and thoughts about God. Central to all of this, his pioneering efforts on the theory of evolution now that recent studies have overturned the commonplace views of Darwin that have held for more than a century.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #30838 in Books
• Published on: 1992-10-29
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 832 pages

About the Author
Adrian Desmond studied at London University and Harvard, has higher degrees in vertebrate palaeontology and the history of science, and a Ph.D. for his work on Victorian evolution. He is an Honorary Research Fellow in the Biology Department at University College London. Adrian Desmond's bestselling Darwin (Penguin, 1992, written with James Moore), won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in Britain, the Grand Comisso Prize in Italy and the Watson Davis Prize from the History of Science Society in America. In 1997 the British Society for the History of Science awarded it the first Dingle Prize for the best book of the decade in communicating the history of science to a wide audience. His study of the pre-Darwinian generation, The Politics of Evolution (1989), received the Pfizer Award from the History of Science Society. He has also published The Hot-Blooded Dinosaurs (1975), The Ape's Reflexion (1979) and Archetypes and Ancestors (1982). In 1993 the Society for the History of Natural History awarded him its Founders' Medal. James Moore is a reader in history of science and technology at the Open University.

Customer Reviews

A stunning evocation of the man, his work and his time
For anyone with an interest in natural history, the Victorian era and the enigma of Darwin this book cannot fail to please. Revealed within its more than 600 pages of narrative (the rest of the book is index / bibliography) is the dramatic and fascinating story of how evolution travelled from heresy to accepted wisdom in the space of a single generation. Far from being a matter of purely scientific interest, evolution and natural selection went to the very heart of a country riven with conflict over the place of man in the scheme of things. The ruling classes and the wealthy clergy could not allow the idea of evolution to take hold - to accept that we are all descendants of apes is to accept that there is no fundamental difference between men of different classes and no overriding need for the Established Church (a mere invention of man).

Thus we see that Darwin was torn throughout his life between loyalty to his class (landed gentry) and loyalty to his science. Other men went to prison for denying the truths of Christianity but Darwin was no martyr. His approach was rather one of stealth - gradually pursuing his research and publishing only when the time was right, often many years after his discoveries were made.

A weak man physically we see a man of inner strength and possessing a determination to see the truth prevail.

From first to last this book is a masterpiece of its genre.

Impressive insight into the man and his time
I first read this book some ten years ago. It remains one of my very favourite biographies. As well as providing an excellent insight into the work of Darwin, it sets his life in the political and social context in which he lived. It is impressive that two authors have created a book which is such a compelling and enjoyable read.

An extraordinary achievement
If you have even a passing interest in Darwin or the Victorian age this book will thrill you. It is very long and detailed but incredibly well-written and accessible. At times it is more like reading a gripping novel than a historical biography. Fully deserving of all the awards and accolades it received, it really places Darwin in his historical context and is as good a biography as I have ever read.