The author’s extensive discussion of how blind people experience the world and how sighted individuals mistakenly dismiss their perspective – not just visually, but emotionally, intellectually, even sexually – is the highlight of the book.
And it’s on this topic that Holman’s saga becomes much more than a unique adventure story. Yet despite his successes, there were many critics who vigorously contested the idea that a blind man could actually be a legitimate explorer. Holman eventually became famous as “The Blind Traveler” and he went on to publish accounts of his travels to significant acclaim, even contributing observations that were subsequently used by scientists and naturalists that followed in his footsteps. While he would accept assistance when it was available, he often preferred to explore on his own, relying on his own wits and his non-visual senses to keep himself out of harm’s way.
Climbing Mount Vesuvius during an eruption, fighting the slave trade in West Africa, hunting rogue elephants in Ceylon and exploring untamed wilderness on horseback in Australia, Holman pursued adventure purely for adventure’s sake, never turning down an opportunity or letting his blindness limit his ambition. But despite his poor health, blindness and limited finances he still had an overwhelming desire to explore the world.Īrmed with a stout walking stick, a sturdy pair of walking shoes and an incredibly astute sense of self preservation, Holman proceeded to explore the entire globe. As his vision failed, he returned to his native England, retiring from service on a small pension and with no obvious way to support himself. However, his service was cut short due to the abrupt onset of incapacitating arthritis and a rapid deterioration of his vision in his early twenties. In A Sense of the World, author Jason Roberts tells his incredible story.Įnlisting in the British Navy at age twelve, Holman spent his brief naval career serving during the Napoleonic Wars and defending the British crown’s interests on the shores of eastern North America following the American Revolutionary War. But despite countless generations of daring adventurers, there may never have been a more remarkable explorer than James Holman, a sickly, blind man from Exeter. That drive has continued into modern times, in the form of celebrated heroes like Marco Polo, Magellan and Captain Cook. From the Phoenicians and the Polynesians to the prehistoric colonizers of North America, humans have been unstoppable, often despite overwhelming adversity. Ever since our Homo sapiens ancestors ventured out of Africa some 70,000 years ago we have displayed a seemingly unquenchable drive to explore every corner of our planet. Humans have been explorers since the dawn of time.
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