A review by annie139d7
Between Man and Beast: An Unlikely Explorer, the Evolution Debates, and the African Adventure That Took the Victorian World by Storm by Monte Reel

adventurous informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

Adventure narratives are always very hit or miss with me and I was excited to find that Between Man and Beast by Monte Reel was a win! This book details the life of explorer Paul Du Chaillu in the late 19th century.  In the 1960s, Du Chaillu introduced gorillas to England and America sparking worldwide interest in their connection to humans. Appearing on the scene at the same time as The Origin of Species, Du Chaillu’s discoveries launched him into fame and all the resulting challenges of maintaining that status.

I’m always nervous to pick up books dealing with the adventures of explorers in the 19th century as they tend to be hyperbolic and nostalgic for a time that is unarguably worse than today. Additionally, they often gloss over problematic aspects of the time instead of placing the thoughts and contributions of the scholar in historical context. I did not find that to be the case in Between Man and Beast. 

The book spent a lot of time on Du Chaillu’s past and how his likely mixed-racial status influenced his actions. Likewise, there are discussions of how the ‘gorilla wars’ between Huxley and Owen contributed to the rise of eugenics. Further, Reel provides a balanced take on the early wars over evolution where neither Owen nor Huxley and Darwin and inarguably correct in their convictions. As someone whose career involves dealing with the ambiguity of history, I appreciate when popularized nonfiction includes these conversations!

4/5

Bonus quote: 

“‘It may be truth,’ Huxley wrote of Paul’s work, ‘but it is not evidence.’”