Explore A Sense Of The World: How A Blind Man Became Historys Greatest Traveler Penned By Jason Roberts Available In Kindle

amazing biography on a littleknown historical figure, John Holman, I think this blurb describes it best:

"He was known simply as the Blind Traveler, a solitary, sightless adventurer who fought the slave trade in Africa, survived a frozen captivity in Siberia, hunted rogue elephants in Ceylon and helped chart the Australian outback.
Once a celebrity, a bestselling author and inspiration to Charles Darwin and Sir Richard Francis Burton, the charismatic, witty Holman outlived his fame, dying in an obscurity that has endureduntil now.
"

Jason Roberts does a fantastic job of capturing the spirit of a man who loved to travel under the radar but who would not be ignored, Indeed, this is a rare biographical work that engages the reader thoroughly and makes one hopeful for more such books,

Author website: sitelink jasonroberts. net/holman. html Somehow this book, purchased inbut never read, "spoke" to me in a stack going out for adoption or disposal, and I rescued it and read it over the past month.
Such an outstanding history, painstakingly researched we are fortunate that Jason Roberts did the work to bring this story to our attention, Not only do we learn of such an unusual peripatetic person, along with the places he went and the things he "saw," but also a perceptive description of blindness and the ways people deal with this.


Roberts' description of the blind and visually impaired and how they manage to function is both breathtaking and fulfilling, The interpretation of sounds becomes a virtual sixth sense for those who have the ability: "normal" echoes as well as clicking of a cane, and even "ticking" of the tongue can provide an amazingly accurate picture.
The word "eidetic" is used to denote mental images that are so vivid as to render a scene as virtually visible,

For those who enjoy being challenged with rich vocabularies, this book is a treasure, Polish up your word skills with haptic sensing an environment without visual sight, fust the musty smell of an interior, . . stated as Stygian fust it sends many of us to the dictionary, filip that word is not uncommon, but required refreshing to confirm it means a trivial addition, eidetic described above, pestiferous self descriptive, with numerous pests, and dolorous referring to extreme misery or grief.


James Holman, the "Blind Traveler" subject of the book, lived in the Nineteenth Century in England, Following a promising naval career, he lost his sight and by his midtwenties was blind, But he never accepted this as a limitation and traveled the world, with multiple routes through many countries, His membership in several exclusive British "Societies" at the height of the British Empire is a vivid look into that empire at the acme of its power, In addition, Queen Victoria is described in a delightful manner,

Holman travels much of the time with one of two separate companions, men he meets as fellow explorers, but at other times he hires guides, All this is done with a very modest income from his navel service disability pension, The descriptions are vivid, but become a blur as Holman makes it through eastern Europe, much of Africa and the MidEast, SW Asia and India, and Australia and the Indian Ocean.
The reader nearly gasps with he travels along through fourteen European cities in one month, all on foot!

The author paints a vivid and enchanting picture, all derived painstakingly from those records that do exist, of a person who was famous in his day, but who has nearly disappeared from history.
It's a terrific book, travel guide, and encouraging story of how people overcome visual impairment in an impressive way, this book seems to give a good picture about the following things i have never experienced:

, being blind

. living in theth century

, being in the british navy

, the nature of world travel before there was a world tourism industy

, the nature of the medical profession in england in theth century

This book is a biography and travel account of Englishman: James Holman, During his life, he became "the most accomplished traveler of all time", covering no less than a quarter of a million miles in his circumnavigation of the world,

It is exceptional that a person ventured of his own initiative with an impulse towards the exotic but perhaps even more epic, because this solo traveler was blind.



The Blind Traveler wrote more thanbooks, regarded himself of equal to any seeing task, and rarely commented on his loss of sight, Only n his final book, and autobiography did he write about the world that blindness had closed up to him, and the one it had opened up,

Fascinating what moves people to action and how perspective and attitude can help change the world,


Author: Jason Roberts
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Copyright:
Genre: Biography/Travel
Pages:
Date Readto

Notes:
p,
"Contrary to popular conception, the remaining senses of the blinded person do not become more acute, They become more eloquent. A blind hears no better than he did when sighted the change is wrought in his ability to extract new meanings from familiar sounds, Touch is not increased, but it's role is heightened, It is called upon for more than the blunt confirmation of contact, The shift from raw sensation to refined perception arises from a cultivation of attention, "

p.
"Holeman was ready to continue his own transformation, He'd started this journey as a frail invalid, a bit of human baggage, He'd bloomed into an expatriate, a tourist, then an active, questing, and questioning traveler, Now he was ready to become an adventurer, A very enjoyable biography. The story is both sad and inspiring touching and exciting, This book is about the GREATEST traveler in all of history who somehow faded into obscurity, Roberts resurrects James Holman with this excellent book and presents the nearly unbelievable story of a blind man who overcame his affliction and experienced a life full of travel and excitement.
A Sense of the World is a biography of James HolmanOctoberJulya lieutenant in the British Royal Navy who was rendered blind at the age ofby an illness.
He subsequently set out to journey around globe, earning him the moniker The Blind Traveler, It is thought that he traveled further than anyone before his time, an estimated,km,miles by foot, horseback, ship and carriage, Although celebrated during his lifetime, he fell into obscurity after his death,

Jason Roberts revives Holmans legacy in this lively and interesting biography, Although Holman was not an important historical figure in any way, he was a fascinating individual who lived a remarkable life, Although the book is quite long, I found it interesting throughout, A fascinating, very wellwritten book about someone you've probably never heard of James Holman, the "Blind Traveler," who lived fromto,

In this age of Google Glass, Earth, Maps it's very hard to remember that there was a time when travelers could still journey to places that were absolutely unmapped and unexplored.
Holman did make these journeys, and he did it as a blind man who had very limited means, only the most basic transportationhe mainly walked, and, usually, no companionship he preferred it that way.
Losing his sight in hiss, suffering also from serious rheumatic illness, he rejected the inactive, coddled life expected for someone in his position at that time, Instead, he began his travels, writing about them and becoming a wellknown and admired figure,

Sadly, though, he became almost forgotten after his death until Roberts read a short description of him in a book and became obsessed with wanting to know more.


The book follows Holman's life from his birth, to his Navy career, through his many journeys, and into his old age, Reading about Holman's determination to live his life on his own terms, despite the prejudices at the time against blind people in general and blind travel writers in particular, is inspiring.


Note: the Kindle edition of this book does not include most of the illustrations, including many portraits of Holman, I strongly suggest getting the paperback version instead,

Audio. I've already recommended this to two people a good popular history choice, It was a little long as an audio, but consistently interesting and good reader, I enjoyed the range of historical details that were added to the strict biography I felt I got a good feel for the settings to which Holman traveled and the times in which he lived.
I was left not only with a good bit of wonder for his accomplishments and tenacity but also with some nice historical tidbits to look into further Naval Knights amp Travers College, Fernando Po, etc.
I have read an amazing book about a blind traveler in the XIXth Century, Jason Roberts has done a priceless job in bringing this rolesetting man to life again, The book is truly breathtaking, Holmans adventures sound like very farfetched fiction, Its insane how he could travel the world alone at those times, To top it all, it turns out his only pal was deaf, Here are some of the many increadible things he managed to achieve alone with very limited funds and no sight at all:

explore the Brazilian jungle
travel through Siberia
go elephant hunting on horseback in the jungles of Sri Lanka and actually shoot a gun in action
travel on horseback across uncivilized parts of South Africa
climb the mast of a sailing ship
negotiate for the English with nomad tribes without understanding a word of their languge
climb the Vesuv before eruption
Its so unbelievable your jaw drops!
Remember the name of James Holman.
It has been forgotten long enough,

sitelink wordpress. com An interesting man who went from being a naval lieutenant who suffered from joint pain then became blind and traveled the world alone, Fascinating! And this all takes place from, James Holman was an apothecary/shop owner's son who was destined to follow in his father's footsteps when family fortunes changed, He goes to the Navy atand expects to be there for the rest of his life but his health turns bad and he must retire on halfsalary, He becomes a Naval Knight of Windsor to retain his halfsalary, He absents himself a lot from his duties as he travels the world, What is does and how he learns his way around with short funds and limited language skills is remarkable,

I loved that the history of the time is explained and that what is happening in the countries he explores is also given, That he often is on naval vessels and helps is remarkable, I also enjoyed seeing the societal downsides of his times, He is a remarkable man, I am glad the bookseller recommended it as I was checking out, Excellent read! A chance encounter in a library led the author to discover James Holman, Son of a shopkeeper, James rises to lieutenant in the British Navy right around the War of, He is forced out of the Navy due to medical issues blindness as well as rheumatic arthritis and although nearly penniless, finds he is in the best of health when travelling in exotic countries and climes.
alone.

Holman's charm and cunning nets him excursions to the Americas, Africa and the Orient hunting slavers or exploring the depths of a continent, He climbs Mt. Vesuvius during its active phase and even travels nearly the width of Mother Russia before being turned back due to the Tsar's politics,
His travel memoirs made him wildly popular at first, then his blindness became a drawback if a blind man could do all these things, how difficult could they be Interest in his exploits flagged and James Holman faded into obscurity.

Roberts presents a thrilling tale of success against adversity keeping Holman human, while celebrating his achievements, Recommended to anyone interested in historical travel, This was a timely read, I've been thinking a lot lately about eyesight and world travel and this is an interesting book about the life and travels of James Holman a man born in England in the lates.
After several years in the navy and other illnesses he suddenly finds himself blind, Even though this leaves him with little support and opportunities, it doesn't stop him from living his life fully, He finds a way to take care of himself and even to travel the world and write about his adventures, He is still little known, but it's quite remarkable to think about the courage he had to explore and experience the world,

Here are a few quotes that I liked:

"He insisted on walking over places where we could hear the crackling effects of the fire on the lava beneath our feet, and on a level with the brim of the new crater, which was then pouring forth showers of fire and smoke, and lava, and occasionally masses of rock of amazing dimensions, to an enormous height in the air p.
. "

"Geographic knowledge was discontinuous and often sketchy, shaped more by the need to navigate trade routes than to gain a comprehensive understanding of the world, Coastlines of traderich regions like India or Sumatra were well mapped, but with an accuracy that degraded rapidly away from the principal ports, Outside of Europe and pockets of the New World, interiors were still largely uncharted, with rivers running vaguely through guessedat regions p,. "

"I felt an irresistible impulse to become acquainted with as many parts of the world as my professional avocations would permit, . . and I was determined not to rest satisfied until I had completed the circumnavigation of the globe p,. "

"Clear eyesight is a requirement for every Royal Navy lieutenant, Holman had experienced no prior problems with his visionhad never even required spectaclesyet on an otherwise ordinary day he found himself cupping his face in his hands, struggling to maintain his composure.
Something was wrong with his eyes p,. "

"In, even the most enlightened medical professional knew no more about the eye than might a curious butcher p,. "

"Uncertainty is itself an affliction, His eyes had failed at the height of summer, By the beginning of spring Holman was desperate, not for a cure so much as a means to rationally comprehend what was happening to him, 'The suspense which I suffered, during the period when my medical friends were uncertain of the issue, . . appeared to me a greater misery than the final knowledge of the calamity itself p,. '"

"He did not wear a rag around his eyes, Nor did he shirk from the gaze of others, 'Others hear, but not as do the blind, He concentrates his very soul while he listens, and can detect

the slightest variations, the finest fractional point of tone, . . they tell minutely all the alteration of welcome, of regard, of coldness, pleasure, pain, joy, reproof, and all that fill the measure of his misery or his mirth, ' Holman began to use his ears not only to read people, but to read the landscape p,. "

"Holman was an unusual blind man in another respect, He learned how to write, In the era of featherquill pens, the act of writing required a number of skills p,. "

"The reliance on the verbal, not the visual, made for an educational experience that would hardly be recognizable as such by today's university standards, But it also made the dreams of a blind student not entirely possible, To learn was to listen p,. "

"Blindness, compounded by silence, had made Holman all too easy for everyone to ignore, Henceforth he cultivated the skill of subtly reaffirming his status as a human being, observing every wordless courtesy and taking pains to speak with a geniality that needed no translation.
Decades later, fellow travelers encountering him for the first time would be struck by how easily and quickly his voice assumed 'the earnest tone of an ancient friendship, ' It was a genuine sociability, but also a measure against slipping into invisibility p,. "

"His journey had reacquainted him with, . . the invigorating embrace of risk, the engrossing immersion in the unknown p,. "

"When he felt his own powers of description were inadequate to evoke a strongly visual scene, he unabashedly borrowed from published accounts by sighted travelers p,. "

"Go and wander with the illiterate and almost brutal savage!go and be the companion of the ferocious beast!go and contemplate the human being in every element and climate.
. . It is only by patience, perseverance, and humility, by reducing thyself to the lowest level of mankind, that thou canst expect to pass through the ordeal with either safety or satisfaction p.
. "

"Notwithstanding his blindness, . . his readers will not fail to derive gratification from accompanying him p,. "

"A Naval Knight was, by definition, 'aged or infirm,' but a young man mustering the strength to gallivant across a third of the globe seemed to meet neither criteria p.
. "

"While other travelers were content to cling to increasingly Europeanized population centers with occasional day trips to take in local color, Holman had experienced in both Siberia and Fernando Po the exhilaration that came only from venturing off the maps.
Hearing a foreign language spoken and eating exotic foods were no longer sufficient distraction from his afflictions, Henceforth his travels would usually comprise a cursory survey of cities, then a beeline for the wilderness p,. "

"By the summer of, after five consecutive leave rejections, he was genuinely suffering from the effects of idleness, 'We find him much out of health, being greatly emaciated, and in a state of nervousness, approaching to melancholy, All these complaints we attribute to the sedentary habits and confinement of his College residence, . . and for which we have no hesitation in recommending him immediate change of air and scene p,. "

"The only chance remaining to the said James Holman of ultimate restoration to health would be afforded by a continual change of scene and of climate, together with the unrestrained exercise of his mental and physical powers prolonged for a period of at least three years p.
. "

"By October of, . . his travels totaled no less than a quarter of a million miles, While other contemporary, professional travelers, such as Cochrane, had racked up impressive mileages, none could even approached the achievements of the Blind Traveler, He could claim a thorough acquaintance with every inhabited continent, and direct contact with at least two hundred distinctly separate cultures, Alone, sightless, with no prior command of native languages and with only a wisp of funds, he had forged a path equivalent to wandering to the moon p,. "

"Some difficulties meet, full many, I find them not, nor seek for any p,. "

"Holman's obscurity has become almost total, But the blind remember the Blind Traveler, 'To be sure, many blind persons have been cowed by the myth of helplessness into remaining in their sheltered corners, . . Holman's story is important for its demonstration that blind people could wear sevenleague boots almost two centuries agobefore Braille or the long cane, before residential schools or vocational rehabilitation.
' There will never be another James Holman, a sightless person dedicating a lifetime to ranging the entire world 'alone, without counsel, and without attendance,' as he put it p.
. "

"To discover the unknown is not a prerogative of Sinbad, of Eric the Red, or of Copernicus, Each and every man is a discovered, He begins by discovering bitterness, saltiness, concavity, smoothness, harshness, the seven colors of the rainbow and the twentysome letters of the alphabet he goes on to visages, maps, animals and.
He ends with doubt, or with faith, and the almost certainty of his own ignorance, . . I have shared the joy and surprise of finding sounds, languages, twilights, cities, gardens and people, all of them distinctly different and unique p,. "

"Conscious, sensoryrich travela process of awareness, not a means of conquering distanceis beginning to make a comeback, In the last century, the race was to provide speed and comfort in ever increasing quantities, to make journeying a sort of blank spot between destinations, . . Each summer, the Italian countryside now plays host to people exploring it as Holman had, . . at a companionable walking pace, . . There will never be another James Holman, But there will always be people who must summon the courage to plunge, wholeheartedly, into a world complex beyond our illusions of comprehension p,. "

"On the summit of the precipice, and in the heart of the green woods, . . there was an intelligence in the winds of the hills, and in the solemn stillness of the buried foliage, that could not be mistaken, It entered into my heart, and I could have wept, not that I not see, but that I could not portray all that I felt p,. "

"Time, if not space, renders all of us travelers, Cling as we might, we are ultimately compelled to let go of the familiar, to forge affinities with the new, and to sense the approach of the more unfamiliar still.
We feel our way. If we are as fortunate as the Blind Traveler, we are given the grace to listen, with equal attention, to the intelligence of winds and the solemnity of silence.
To remain, joyfully, awake to the path itself p,. ".