Eccentric Travellers

In this book, Keay collects the stories of seven travellers, all of whom fit the mould of ‘Eccentric'.
The stories are variable although the collection works well enough as a whole.

1 - Captain Philip Thicknesse in A Free Citizen - Probably not the story Keay should have led with in this collection - I didn't find it particularly inspiring reading. 2/5
2 - Thomas Manning in I Anxious Manning's story on the other hand was excellent. A scholar of China - perhaps the most learned in Chinese matters, who undertook an incredible journey to be the first westerner to reach Lhasa. 4.5/5
3 - James Holman in A Humble and Afflicted Individual - Although blind, Holman undertook a journey more strenuous and demanding than other sighted explorers - including Siberia. 4/5
4 - Charles Waterton in A White Man from Yorkshire - Probably the most ‘eccentric' of the eccentrics, Waterton took over a family estate in British Guiana before exploring Guiana and Brazil extensively, taking to taxidermy before returning to his family home in Yorkshire and becoming a recluse. 5/5
5 - Joseph Wolff in That Sublime Vagabond - Extensive travels are outlined before perhaps his most famous expedition - to Bukhara in an attempt to rescue two British officers imprisoned by Amir Nasrullar Khan. 4.5/5
6 - William Gifford Palgrave in So Many Various characters - in various guises, including a Syrian Doctor, Palgrave was the first westerner to visit Riyadh and passed though much of the Middle East. 3.5/5
7 - Doctor GW Leitner in A Mistake to Take any Notice of him - Born in Hungary, Leitner was a prodigious learner of languages, and was appointed interpreter to the British Commissariat in the Crimea at age 15, with the rank of Colonel. He travelled extensively in India (Pakistan included). 3/5

Some good, some excellent.
4 stars overall.