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Bezig met laden... Raffles: The Man in His Moment (2012)door Victoria Glendinning
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 Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek.  gjky | Apr 9, 2023 |    ) NJSResearch | Jun 18, 2020 |  ) pbjwelch | Jul 25, 2017 | I knew absolutely nothing about Raffles when I started this - had a vague image of an English colonial striding about Singapore's Raffles Hotel. Nothing could be further from the truth! Can't say this was a hugely gripping read, but it certainly is informative, following our hero from his youth in London (his father died in the workhouse), and years as a lowly clerk for the East India Company before finally getting sent out east... There's an awful lot of jealousy and sniping, he and his fellow officials firing off letters of criticism about one another to the slow-moving bureaucratic Company. But action too - war in Java and finally arriving in Singapore which he foresaw would make an excellent trading post for Britain, though at the time it had only around 150 occupants including the Malay sea-gypsies 'whose activities were evident from the human skulls bobbing around in the shallow waters.' With two devoted wives, a large family, and a senior role in local rule, Raffles' star seems in the ascendant... Feel I've learned a great deal. ( ) starbox | Apr 29, 2014 |  ) adamclaxton | Aug 4, 2013 | geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe
Thomas Stamford Raffles (1781-1826) was the charismatic and persuasive founder of Singapore and Governor of Java. An English adventurer, disobedient employee of the East India Company, utopian imperialist, linguist, zoologist and civil servant, he carved an extraordinary (though brief) life for himself in South East Asia. The tropical, disease-ridden settings of his story are as dramatic as his own trajectory - an obscure young man with no advantages other than talent and obsessive drive, who changed history by establishing - without authority - on the wretchedly unpromising island of Singapore, a settlement which has become a world city. After a turbulent time in the East Indies, Raffles returned to the UK and turned to his other great interests - botany and zoology. He founded London Zoo in 1826, the year of his death.Raffles remains a controversial figure, and in the first biography for over forty years, Victoria Glendinning charts his prodigious rise within the social and historical contexts of his world. His domestic and personal life was vivid and shot through with tragedy. His own end was sad, though his fame immortal. Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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 Google Books — Bezig met laden...GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)942.073092History and Geography Europe England and Wales England Hanover 1714-1837 George III 1760-1820LC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde: (3.68)
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The book probably pays too much attention to Raffles' home life and that of his relatives at the expense of more detail on the early days of Singapore. Aside from that it's still an interesting and informative read about a highly influential man whose deeds helped shape the modern world. (