Iain McCalman. The Reef: A Passionate History: The from Captain Cook to Climate Change. New York: Scientifc American / Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014. 352 pp. $16.00, paper, ISBN 978-0-374-71170-2.

Reviewed by Elke Ackermann

Published on H-Environment (September, 2015)

Commissioned by Dolly Jørgensen (University of Stavanger)

The tremendous seascape of the Great Barrier McCalman's aim to show the great scope of moti‐ Reef on the northeast coast of is the lo‐ vations that have driven people to engage with cation of a multifaceted history of human pres‐ this extraordinary site and to demonstrate their ence: deathtrap for seafarers in the nineteenth common ground: a passion for the Reef. Situated century, refuge for castaways, spiritual homeland at the crossroads of scientifc, cultural, and natu‐ to Aborigines, paradise for dropouts, natural won‐ ral history, with biographical infuences, the book derland for scientists, and a continuous battlefeld is grouped chronologically around three main between conservation and economic prospecting parts emphasizing diferent representations of in the twentieth century. In his book The Reef: A the Reef, namely "Terror," "Nurture," and "Won‐ Passionate History: The Great Barrier Reef from der," each expanded upon in four subchapters. Captain Cook to Climate Change, Iain McCalman The frst part, "Terror," explores the Great takes us on a compelling journey to this extraordi‐ Barrier Reef through the perspective of early en‐ nary site and convincingly portrays the manifold counters with the Reef that emphasize its dangers, history of the Reef through the lens of twenty in‐ horrors, and ambivalent fascination. McCalman dividuals covering a time span of more than two starts by narrating the dramatic voyage of Captain hundred years. Cook's crew through the coral labyrinth and illus‐ Deeply inspired by the enchantments and ad‐ trates the devastating and exhausting conditions ventures of the Reef through personal experi‐ at sea. He then depicts Matthew Flinder's chal‐ ences as a historical consultant on a BBC reenact‐ lenging and inspirational experience with the ment tour, McCalman has crafted a thoughtful sto‐ Reef within the cultural setting of English Enlight‐ ry about this place, which according to him "was enment and Romanticism: encounters were inten‐ built by human minds as well as by coral polyps" tionally used to "sell a sentimental, racist, and (p. 9). The interaction and tension between natu‐ sensationalist true life story" (p. 76) and bolster ral and mental construction accompanies the sto‐ Britain's colonial and civilizing mission, such as ryline of the book and comes alive through the Eliza Fraser's story of a shipwreck and subse‐ encounters of twenty people who have shaped the quent stay with Aboriginal clans. Reef's image from the time of to the The second part, "Nurture," delves into the present day. The selection of protagonists follows lives of people who voluntarily or by force made H-Net Reviews the Reef their home. Here McCalman highlights By combining his skills as a historian of sci‐ the stories of castaways and dropouts who experi‐ ence and social scientist with his personal passion enced care and assistance from indigenous popu‐ for the Reef, Iain McCalman has created a multi‐ lations in the second half of the nineteenth centu‐ faceted history that links the surprising twists of ry. McCalman argues that it was the constraints of individual destinies with a changing human imag‐ mid-nineteenth-century British colonial society fa‐ ination about the Great Barrier Reef over time. voring "anti-Aboriginal sentiment" (p. 118) and With great fnesse he has interwoven scientifc in‐ sensational castaways narratives that hindered al‐ quiry with cultural settings and introduced us to a ternative and more positive images of the Reef wide range of European-Australian and Aborigi‐ from entering the public imagination. He illus‐ nal protagonists. Their life stories and diferent trates this fate with the ethnographic testimony of motivations—scientifc, economic, vital, or aes‐ Barbara Thompson, a young woman who was thetic reasons—make the book a lively account of adopted for several years by a native Kaurareg the modern-day understanding of this site. McCal‐ family after being shipwrecked. By analyzing the man's fndings from unpublished and edited ma‐ works and lives of "Australia's frst professional terial provide fresh insights into the circum‐ Reef scientist" (p. 140) William Kent and Reef- stances, personal motivations, and encounters of lover Ted Banfeld, McCalman further shows how people with the Great Barrier Reef. Although each British-Australian awareness of the scenic beauty, of the interesting stories would defnitely merit a scientifc resources, and touristic potential of the book of its own, I note it is especially twentieth- Reef increased in the beginning of the twentieth century developments such as discussions of the century. common resources of mankind, the development The third part, "Wonder," emphasizes the of global tourism markets, the rise in global media struggle between economic, scientifc, and touris‐ coverage, and universal heritage declarations un‐ tic claims about the Reef in the twentieth century. der the World Heritage Program of UNESCO that McCalman demonstrates how Amercian zoologist can provide additional insight into the staging of Alex Agassiz's personal crusade to discredit the Reef's image as a global concern. However, helped the Reef become a site of with respect to the purpose and approach of this "global scientifc prominence" (p. 187). He also book, Iain McCalman has brilliantly achieved the points out how the scientifc image of the Reef in‐ goal of narrating the story of the Great Barrier tensifed through media coverage by retracing a Reef as a site that was crafted both by natural year-long British-Australian expedition led by ex‐ forces and human ideas. The Reef is highly recom‐ perimental biologist Charles Maurice Yonge. Mc‐ mended reading for all those interested in gaining Calman further explores the important impact of insights into the manifold images of the Great public campaigning on moral conceptions of Aus‐ Barrier Reef and the lives of the people who have tralian nature conservation by analyzing the envi‐ produced them. ronmentalist battle of Australian poet Judith Wright, artist John Busst, and forester Len Webb. Finally, it is the fgure and story of Charlie Veron, the modern-day Charles Darwin of the coral reef and "prophet of its extinction" (p. 273) that McCal‐ man uses to highlight the current image of the Reef as endangered and to plead for active opti‐ mism to confront the challenges of the future.

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Citation: Elke Ackermann. Review of McCalman, Iain. The Reef: A Passionate History: The Great Barrier Reef from Captain Cook to Climate Change. H-Environment, H-Net Reviews. September, 2015.

URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=43416

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

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