I felt this book left me with nearly equal feelings of enjoyment and irritation. It is not the author’s fault that there is just not that much information available. That she uses a combination of analysis and imagination to try to fill in the gaps is understandable, but at times she really unleashes the imagination to a disturbing extent. At a time where spelling of everything is consistently variable, she speculates that two r’s In the main character’s name is hard evidence of ptsd due to gang rape. Whilst she makes every allowance for questionable behavior of Baret, she has no compunction speculating that all the male characters are guilty of a variety of unseemly behaviors ranging from mild selfishness to taking part in and covering up said rape. I’m not saying there weren’t some who were, that seems likely, but she seems to use a broad brush ( )

Fascinating, informative story about Jeanne Baret, the first woman to circumnavigate the world - in disguise (at first) to be sure, but undertaking all the hard work and privations of her otherwise male companions. Not only does Glynis Ridley do a masterful job of telling the story, teasing out the original sources and drawing insightful inferences, but she makes the central character come alive in a thoroughly believable way. The history of apothecaries and their plants-women was a revelation, at least to me. ( )

A fascinating look at a woman I never knew existed--the first woman known to have circumnavigated the globe. Jeanne Baret was a French peasant woman who became an assistant to a French physician and naturalist, Philibert Commerson. She was an herb woman who gathered and sold natural remedies to the male doctors for use on their patients. Baret became Commerson's housekeeper and mistress after the death of his wife. They moved to Paris together when Commerson was offered a government post in the Royal gardens. In 1765 he was offered the position of naturalist on the expedition led by Louis-Antoine de Bougainville to explore the South Pacific in hopes of discovering lands and useful crops for France's empire. Baret could not be an official member of the expedition as women were forbidden on French naval ships; she disguised herself as a boy to accompany Commerson. Commerson needed her help both in the field to gather specimens and as a personal nurse, as he suffered from a recurring leg infection. The trip was long and filled with hardships and is described in detail by Ridley.

My one problem with the book is Ridley's tendency to project contemporary emotions on her subjects. This problem is not unique to Ridley, indeed it seems to be a pattern in recent histories. Admittedly there are sections of the story that beg for explanation, especially Bourgainville's decision to ignore what appears to have been the open secret of Benet's actual gender and allow her to continue on the voyage when he could have put her ashore in Rio de Janiero.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of science and the history of women in science.

A basic biography of Jeanne Baret would have been excellent, but Ridley's speculative readings of many of the source documents goes a bit too far for my taste; she leaps to certain conclusions that I'm just not sure the original materials warrant, even if read with a (much-warranted) skeptical eye. ( )

The Discovery of Jeanne Baret: A Story of Science, the High Seas, and the First Woman to Circumnavigate the Globe by Glynis Ridley introduces Jeanne Baret, a young woman who was an expert in herb-lore. She posed as a young man in order to assist her lover, the naturalist Philibert Commerson, on French explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville's round-the-world expedition from 1766-69. This is a fascinating account of that trip and the oversight history has dealt Baret - ignoring her contributions to Commerson's work, as well as her abuse during that voyage.

Ridley's The Discovery of Jeanne Baret is a well researched portrayal of what likely occurred during the expedition based on the few written documented facts available. Because a French Royal ordinance forbade women being on French Navy ships, Baret had to disguise her sex in order to assist Commerson. In her disguise, whether it was truly fooling anyone or not, Baret worked harder than many men and most certainly harder than Commerson.

Ridley points out that Baret very likely discovered many or most of the plants on the expedition. She certainly discovered the bougainvillea plant, which was named for named for the ship's commander. The one plant named after Baret during the trip has since shed her name.

While Ridley does have to make some assumptions, I felt like they were very likely accurate ones, based on the information and this period of history. Certainly it must be acknowledged that Baret's major contributions to Commerson's work have been largely ignored until now and, additionally, that this was not a kind period of time for women.

The Discovery of Jeanne Baret is not only well researched, it is well written. I would imagine that anyone interested in botany and historical biographies would certainly enjoy this account, but I also felt it is a narrative that would be very accessible to anyone. I know I thoroughly enjoyed this historical overview of Baret's life.

As is my wont, I fully appreciate that Ridley includes eight pages of pictures, an afterword to the paperback edition, notes and references for each chapter, notes on source materials and illustrations, sources and a select bibliography, acknowledgements, an index, and a reader's guide.

Very Highly Recommended - it's early in the year but this may make the top nonfiction list by the end of the year. I enjoyed it immensely. http://shetreadssoftly.blogspot.com/

Disclosure: I was given a copy of The Discovery of Jeanne Baret by Crown Publishing Group for review purposes.
( )

This is the story of Jeanne Baret, a young woman who, disguised as a man, joined a French expedition in 1765 and became the first woman to circumnavigate the globe. She was the mistress of the expedition's offical naturalist, Philibert Commerson, and, crucially, had a lot of botanical knowledge herself due to her profession as a herb woman. She contributed a lot to Commerson's success, a contribution which went competely unacknowledged. Her life among some 300-odd men on board must have been incredibly hard and it seems her identity was suspected early on. However, although I'm not denying Baret's undoubted achievements, and despite the author's constant efforts to make me like her subject, I could not find much sympathy for her. Baret abandoned her newborn son at an orphanage, chosing her lover over her child, and no matter how much the author tried to gloss this over, it tainted the story for me.

That aside, this is a scholarly examination of an expedition, it's background and the emerging natural sciences. There is an incredible amount of information about the times, the customs, the age of sail and science and I certainly learned a lot. If you're looking for a swashbuckling adventure story you will be disappointed.

The book includes a comprehensive bibliography, however the notes are brief and not annotated, which I found disappointing. As there is very little known about Jeanne Baret, there is necessarily a lot of supposition and it isn't always clear which is which. Overall, it was an informative and interesting read. ( )

“The Discovery of Jeanne Baret” (Crown Publishers, 2010), by Glynis Ridley, describes another fearless woman. Jeanne Baret became the first woman to circumnavigate the globe. To do that, she disguised herself as the male assistant to a plant-hunter – also her lover – and they both sailed on a French vessel under the command of French admiral and explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville. Readers who’d like to find out how that journey went, will have to read Ridley’s book. All I will tell you for now is that during that voyage, Jeanne, a self-taught botanist herself, discovered a vine we now call bougainvillea. ( )

One of those little gems you stumble upon occassionally without any prior warning, but turn out to be so enriching. A really gripping tale of a young woman in 18th century France, intelligent and desperate for learning, but prevented by her sex and lowly station in life from ever fulfilling her potential. So she seizes her chance when the wealthy dilettante whose mistress she has become is offered a position upon a major scientific expedition to the South Seas. She disguises herself as a boy and boards the ship as her lover's assistant and embarks on a voyage a woman in that time could only dream about. She pays a high price for her temerity. predictably perhaps, her imposture is discovered, and she is raped by a group of sailors, which results in her becoming pregnant. But she survives the voyage and makes her way home, and lives to a ripe old age. A really amazing, and well-written story about someone that very few people will have ever heard about. Highly recommended. ( )

Any non-fiction book that tells the story of an unknown (to me) and unusual historical character and fascinating history of something we all take for granted - - - gets a 5 star rating !
Not only for Ms. Baret, but the story of botany, ship voyages.
These are my cryptic notes - made to help my memory of some facts:

Herbal woman-rural France-met Commerson, became his ‘live-in’ & aid/co-worker.
Philibert Commerson has passion for Botany - Naturalist
works with Swedish Linneaus who created nomenclature for species, etc
Louis Antoine de Bougainville - French circumnavigation in 1766–1769

Baret disguised as man aboard ship (illegal for women) - was his ‘beast of burden’ Much thought that her gender was “known” ? but . . . claims to be ‘eunuch’
They end up in the captain’s quarters (ease of storing plants - Capt. closer to sailors) so easier to conceal
Rio, Straits of Magellan, Tahiti - at some point a gang-rape becomes pregnant - has child while she and Commerson stay in Mauritius
supposedly to help another French settlement Botanist
He dies, she marries army member
Gets passage back to France - claims inheritance from Commerson
and later gets a pension (equal to what Commerson would have gotten)
lives out life in small town

( )

A profoundly annoying book. Great story - the first woman on record to sail around the world, Jeanne Baret disguised herself as a man and did not just accompany her lover Commerson on Bouganville's voyage of discovery, she worked as hard or harder than most of the expedition as a botanist's assistant. It appears however that the records are scanty and Ridley fills the gaps with great screeds of guesswork, including what the characters were thinking and feeling, much of which seems anachronistic to me. I feel that this would've been better as a novel with an epilogue explaining what is known about our heroine. (Reminded me rather of "The Stolen Woman" which suffers from the same speculative structure). Read it if you are interested in the story but read it with a grain of salt... ( )

While Jeanne Baret is a fascinating subject and admirable heroine for any woman, the execution of The Discovery of Jeanne Baret: A Story of Science, the High Seas, and the First Woman to Circumnavigate the Globe suffers as Glynis Ridley interjects too much supposition for a woman who left virtually no paper trail. No one could possibly know her thoughts or her feelings, and yet that is precisely how Ms. Ridley fills the pages. There is a bit too much reading between the lines on firsthand accounts of the journey as it is, and the insertion of emotions and thought processes for a woman who will always remain a shadowy figure in history compounds the issue. Unfortunately, it is excellent historical research undone by the author's personal feelings interspersed throughout the pages.

"You don�Äôt have to be a history buff or a science junkie to enjoy this true tale. Ridley weaves the various threads with excellent skill, and sets the historical stage with well-written prose that reads like historical fiction.

The Discovery of Jeanne Baret is incredible well-researched, although Ridley takes a lot of liberties where there are gaps in historical knowledge. Ridley sets forth many explanations and hypotheses for the historical outcome, while commenting on what more likely occurred.

There are a couple things that I felt lukewarm about: Occasionally the source references felt a little heavy-handed, but once I was familiar with Ridley’s style, the story read smoother; the other thing that bothered me, is that there is a lack of primary sources for Baret’s own thoughts and feelings, yet Ridley often inferred that they were documented.

Read my full review on my blog: http://www.monniblog.com/2012/07/the-discovery-of-jeanne-baret-by-glynis-ridley/" ( )

Summary: Jeane Baret was born in rural France at a time when most peasants never travelled further than 20 miles from home, yet she became the first woman in history to circumnavigate the globe. Her lover, the eminent botanist Philibert Commerson, had been selected to accompany the expedition ordered by King Louis XV, to identify plants from around the world that could be used to support the French drive for expansion and colonization. Baret, with considerable botanical knowledge of her own, disguised herself as a boy, and came aboard as Commerson's assistant. But maintaining her disguise on a ship full of hundreds of men was a difficult proposition, with terrifying consequences if she should fail. Working from the limited available sources - Baret left behind no account of her own - Ridley works to uncover the truth about Baret's experiences, and to bring to light an exceptional woman who has been largely forgotten by history and science both.

Review: Seeing as I am a) a woman, b) a scientist, and interested in c) the age of exploration and d) the age of sail, I can't quite believe that I'd never before heard of Jeanne Baret. Hers is a really fascinating and inspiring story, and this book deserves a lot of credit for introducing me to such an interesting part of history that I'd missed. I stayed glued to the pages much more than I would normally expect for non-fiction or biograpy, and learned a lot - not just about Baret, but tons of other interesting trivia. (For instance: bougainvillea was named by Commerson in honor of the expedition's captain, Bougainville, and Peter Piper was actually a Frenchman named Pierre Poivre who was in charge of increasing Mauritius's yield of exotic commercial crops - including peppercorns.)

However, as much as I enjoyed the Baret's story, I was less enthralled with Ridley's way of telling it. The hand of the historian is very apparent in Ridley's prose, much more so than in most history and biography that I've read. Rather than telling the story and then revealing the sources, or integrating the source material as she goes, Ridley often talked about the sources and their veracity first, then gave us her interpretation, and rarely provided enough direct quotes for the reader to draw their own conclusion. I guess this method of unveiling the story from the historian's point of view underscores the "discovery" part of the title, but I found it somewhat distracting. It also occasionally read like Ridley was not quite sure about her interpretation but was trying very hard to convince us that it's right. However, sometimes I was left with the feeling that she was over-interpreting complex events and emotions based on a single phrase or instance of word choice.

One thing that she seems certain of, however, is what happened when Baret's gender was made known to the crew (namely: gang rape.) While I don't disagree with Ridley that this is a possible - even likely - interpretation of events, I do think that it is based on a lot of inference, and little-to-no direct evidence, and I was not a fan of the way she kept bringing it up as if it were fact. She was similarly prone to describing Baret's emotions and thoughts as if they too were documented, when she had already told the readers that Baret left behind no journal or account, and had in fact criticized previous historians of the expedition for interpreting what primary sources were available based on their own personal and cultural prejudices. Again, I didn't often disagree with Ridley's conclusions, but thought it a bit disingenuous the way they were presented as being truth rather than interpretation.

While I did have some issues with the means of telling, overall I did quite enjoy the book. Any story engaging enough to shine through the pages and capture my interest despite my issues with the narrative style is one worth reading. 4 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: I think this will be interesting to a lot of history readers, primarily those interested in the age of exploration or the history of women in science. ( )

The Discovery of Jeanne Baret
A Story of Science, the High Seas, and the First Woman to Circumnavigate the Globe
By Glynis Ridley
Crown Publishing Group, Random House 291 pgs
978-0-307-46353-1
Rating: 4 - Read This Book!

Jeanne Baret was an 18th century woman, lover, wife, mother, herb woman, botanist, sailor, adventurer, administrator and sometime cross-dresser. Think about that for a minute. Baret was born a French peasant in 1740, a woman who typically would never travel more than 20 miles from the parish of her birth. A country woman at a time when she would have been chattel, she boarded a ship in 1766 with her lover, the imminent naturalist Philibert de Commerson, and sailed around the world, collecting flora and fauna for the glory of the French Empire. Awesome.

Jeanne Baret was born in the Loire valley in 1740 to an illiterate couple, as 80% of the population at that time were, who rose before the sun and worked hard all day. The average life expectancy was 26. Philibert de Commerson was born near the city of Lyon in 1727 to a prosperous lawyer and estate owner. Much to his father's displeasure Commerson was consumed with a fascination for botany and made it his life's work, traveling across Europe collecting. At some point during the early 1760s Baret and Commerson became acquainted and the naturalist began paying the herb woman to teach him everything she knew. They became lovers during this time and he moved her in as housekeeper. Tongues wagged and soon the couple decamped to an apartment in Paris. Imagine again what this experience must have been like for Jeanne Baret. She had gone from dirt floors, no shoes, no heat in winter and no meat to eat, to a lovely apartment in a beautiful, cosmopolitan city in Enlightenment France, with plenty to eat, no privations. How far she had come!

In 1766 Commerson was charged by the French government to join an expedition to sail around the world in search of lands in which to spread the empire and discover new crops. Luxuries such as coffee and nutmeg would be worth millions if France could grow these commodities domestically. It was to be a trip for a duration of two years and Commerson and Baret would not be separated, besides which she was indispensable to their work. Maritime military regulations prohibited women on board, so our conspirators hatched a plan: Baret would bind up and impersonate a man for the opportunity of a lifetime.

This is such a fascinating story. No one teaches this stuff. Such devotion between Commerson and Baret is rare indeed. Especially on Baret's part. I have two quibbles: 1) things move slowly for the first half of the book, but oh the second half! The second half is well worth waiting for. And 2) I have reservations regarding the author's ascribing mental processes and emotions that might reasonably be inferred but could not possibly be known. However, this is an accepted practice and it enables the facts to become something more than that. They become a human story. I do recommend this book, especially for history buffs and women's studies enthusiasts. Bon voyage!

You can find the author here: http://louisville.edu/english/facultyandstaff/department-of-english/glynis-ridle... ( )

In 1765, King Louis XV ordered the first French expedition around the world. Philibert Commerson was appointed the voyage's botanist and charged with discovering medicines, spices and other resources. No women were allowed on ships on this kind of voyage but Commerson's mistress, twenty-six year old Jeanne Baret managed to come aboard posing as Commerson's young male assistant. She was able to keep the ruse up for quite a while but eventually it all fell apart. Even so, she was the first woman to circumnavigate the Earth.

This book was incredibly well researched but I found it too academic for my taste. Because everything takes place was so long ago and not many first person accounts from people on the voyage are out there, the author has to make quite a few assumptions about what may or may not have happened. She always backed them up with historical background information or by outlining the logic that lead to her conclusions, which I thought was great. However, since there is no known first person journal or letters written by Jeanne Baret herself, the author also makes a lot of assumptions about how Baret was feeling or what she was thinking in various situations. I didn't always agree with the author's reasoning in these cases. The author clearly admires Baret, which she should, but I think this led her to be overly generous with some of her assumptions.

I would have preferred to read this story as historical fiction - then the author could have made all the assumptions she wanted without having to outline her reasoning and documentation. I think that is part of what made this a dry read. There is quite a bit of information about the plants that Commerson and Baret documented on the voyage so if you have an interest in botany, you will probably enjoy those parts quite a bit. All in all, it is an interesting story and even though I thought the book had some flaws; I'm glad I read it. ( )

If anyone asked me a month ago what I thought about Jeanne Baret, I would not have known who they were talking about. However after reading The Discovery of Jeanne Baret by Glynis Ridley I can now say that Jeanne Baret was quite a woman. Jeanne lived in the 1700's. This time in history was not kind to women. Woman were thought of as feeble, unintelligent and impassioned. Jeanne Baret was none of these things. She grew up and lived in France until she met Philibert Commerson and became not only his lover but also his assistant on an expedition to take her across the globe. Commerson was a botanist who was enamored with Baret and her knowledge of plants. When King Louis XV ordered an expedition around the world to gather information about medicinal plants and information that would help France become the leading expert in these areas, he appointed Commerson the prestigious position of working on this voyage.
Commerson needed someone knowledgeable and hard working to assist him on this journey. None other could compare to Baret. They devised a plan so that Baret could accompany him on this trip. Baret disguised herself as a man. She took on the arduous task without complaint. She worked harder than most men ever do. Her job was back breaking in miserable conditions. She tried very hard to hide the fact that she was a woman however she didn't fool everyone and because of that she faced dire consequences.
The Discovery of Jeanne Baret is a fantastic read. I don't have a particular love for botany but I love discovering historical gems. Glynis Ridley did a fantastic job with uncovering the mystery of Jeanne Baret. She also gives historical background information and explains as to why something is a big deal or what it means for that period of time. This is important because today we don't face the same restricting conventions that people faced in the past. This book is interesting from cover to cover. It's well written and very informative. I'm so glad I had an opportunity to read this novel. If you love history, botany or love reading about people who defy conventions this is a great book to read. ( )

Maybe it is because I now have many wonderful followers of my blog or maybe it is because so many wonderful fellow bloggers leave wonderful comments on my blog posts…well, honestly, I don’t know why, but for some reason I now receive many, many offers of free books to be reviewed. And now, unlike in the past, many, many of these many, many offers of free books are books that are fabulous. And not well known.

My favorite kinds of reads. Small, unknown treasures.

This book is one of those small, unknown treasures. It’s nonfiction and it’s the best kind of nonfiction, nonfiction that reads like fiction.

Let me tell you a little about the story. Jeanne Baret grew up in poverty in rural France in the mid-seventeen hundreds. She became very knowledgeable about herbs and plants. She came to the attention of renowned botanist Philibert Commerson and became his assistant, collecting plants and helping him classify and label them. Eventually she became his mistress. Commerson was asked to undertake a round-the-world trip to collect plants and Baret, disguised as a man in order to accompany him, went along.

The author has carefully researched this story and put clues together to create a complete picture of Baret’s time aboard this ship. A fascinating and intriguing story.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me this great read. ( )

When I began this book, I was quickly drawn in by the story of Jeanne Baret who was an herbwoman in France who circumnavigated the globe with Bouganvillea's expedition. The writing is well researched and Ridley knows how to make the past approachable, yet I finished this book feeling unsure. My uncertainty is due to how Ridley presents the discovery of Baret's sex during the journey as she puts a modern reading of the historical sources. This can be important but as most of the book is spent explaining how the society that Baret lived existed, its jarring to suddenly read the author diagnosing how Baret is feeling and acting across the centuries. I would recommend this book as the history is amazing and I'm glad to know Baret's story, I only wish that Ridley had used a lighter hand in terms of her own readings of the past. ( )