The Traveler

One Man's Quest for Humanity from the South Seas to Revolutionary Paris

By: Andrea Wulf

Step into the life and times of George Forster, the eighteenth-century naturalist who sailed the world and made waves with his revolutionary ideas about humanity and freedom—from the bestselling author of The Invention of Nature.

"[A] thrilling biography-cum-adventure story." —Hampton Sides, author of The Wide Wide Sea

“Enthralling. Superb. The Traveler is hypnotically successful and wonderfully restores George Forster as a major historical figure.” —Richard Holmes, author of The Age of Wonder

From an early age, it was clear that George Forster possessed a brilliant mind. At just ten years old, he became a botanist when he accompanied his irascible father, Reinhold, on a wild expedition to Russia. By the time he was twelve, they had moved to London and the young boy soon became the breadwinner by publishing translations of the most popular travel accounts of the day. Then, in 1772, at the age of seventeen, George Forster joined Cook’s second voyage, the most daring expedition of the time.

The HMS Resolution set sail with orders to find what was then the hypothetical southern continent of Antarctica, stopping at the islands of the South Pacific— including New Zealand, Vanuatu, Tonga, Tahiti, and Easter Island—along the way. The Resolution car­ried the ambitions of the most powerful empire in the world, but Forster brought an understanding that was far ahead of his day. A gifted observer, linguist, artist, and writer, he studied the diverse cultures of the world without prejudice and was one of the first Europeans to talk about universal human rights.

Recognized on his return as one of Europe’s brightest minds, Forster used his fame to advocate for freedom and human rights and wrote against empire, white supremacy, and slavery. He admired strong, educated women, even accepting his wife’s independence—and her love affairs. Driven by his passion for equality, Forster would eventually be pulled into the vortex of the French Revolution and live in Paris during the Reign of Terror. Throughout it all, he held close the radical belief that our common humanity is far greater than what sets us apart. The Traveler recounts the remarkable life of this deeply curious and exceptional man who, though largely forgotten by history, truly belonged to the future.