It was a noble idea, but by most measures it proved to be a spectacular failure.
It was Barrow's idea to send these idle sailors off to explore the unmapped corners of the globe, particularly the Arctic, the Antarctic, and Africa.
The first decade of his career was consumed with organizing the navy to defeat Napoleon and his forces, but after that threat was finally defeated in 1815, the British found themselves with far more naval officers than missions for them. In a New York Times Book Review critique of Ninety Degrees North: The Quest for the North Pole, Jonathan Dore noted that one of Fleming's strengths as a writer is his "admirable detachment," which makes him "always ready to be amused by pomposity." Plus, Dore continued, "He has great narrative gifts, and his brief character sketches draw readers in while pithy summaries of each expedition carry us on breathlessly from one ice hummock to the next."įleming's first book, Barrow's Boys, takes its title from John Barrow, the man who was second secretary of the British navy from 1804 until 1845. "There are few people writing today who can capture the lunatic spirit of adventure that possessed these often suicidal missions so well," Chris Martin declared in Geographical. SIDELIGHTS: Fergus Fleming has made a career out of chronicling the foolhardy adventures of the brave men who mapped the far reaches of the world during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Sword and the Cross: Two Men and an Empire of Sand, Grove Press (New York, NY), 2003.Ĭassell's Tales of Endurance, Cassell (London, England), 2004.Ĭontributor to periodicals, including New Statesman.ĪDAPTATIONS: Barrow's Boys was adapted as a radio play, BBC RaKilling Dragons was adapted as a radio play for BBC Radio 4. The Cuban Missile Crisis: To the Brink of World War III, Heinemann Library (Chicago, IL), 2001. Ninety Degrees North: The Quest for the North Pole, Grove Press (New York, NY), 2001. Killing Dragons: The Conquest of the Alps, Atlantic Monthly Press ( New York, NY), 2000. WRITINGS: NONFICTIONīarrow's Boys, Granta Books (London, England), 1998, Atlantic Monthly Press ( New York, NY), 2000. Martin's Lane, London WC2H 9EA, England.ĬAREER: Trained as an accountant and lawyer became furniture-maker freelance writer, 1991–.ĪWARDS, HONORS: Winner of a British national poetry competition, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), at age ten. Education: Attended Oxford University and City University, London.ĪDDRESSES: Agent-c/o Author Mail, Cassell, Orion Publishing Group, Orion House, 5 Upper St.
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