Naturalist, explorer, revolutionary: In her new book, Andrea Wulf tells the life of Georg Forster, who took part in James Cook's second circumnavigation of the world (1772-1775) at the age of seventeen – exactly at the time when the world began to change more radically than it had for centuries. When he returned, soon no stone was left unturned: North America rebelled and declared independence from Great Britain and the French Revolution was ante portas! The journey led between the icy Antarctic and the island worlds of the South Pacific. Forster researched plants, animals, people and cultures, and returned to humanity and freedom far ahead of his time with a belief in equality and radical ideas.
After his return, Forster was celebrated in England, France, Germany and Poland. He used his fame to stand up for freedom and equality and to argue against imperialism, racism and slavery. Later, he got caught up in the maelstrom of the French Revolution and became a leader of the short-lived Mainz Republic.
"The Traveler" draws on Forster's extensive correspondence and paints a portrait of a brilliant, intrepid young man whose life led from the remote regions of the known world to the political upheavals of Europe.
Andrea Wulf, born in India and raised in Germany, lives in London. She is the author of internationally successful non-fiction books, including "Alexander von Humboldt and the Invention of Nature" and "Fabulous Rebels". She writes for the New York Times, The Atlantic and the Financial Times, among others, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.