An extraordinary life

THE work of Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) should need no introduction. His contribution to the theory of evolution is increasingly recognised (even if it still lags some way behind Darwin’s in terms of acknowledgement) and he is widely considered the ‘father of modern biogeography’, writing about the now eponymous ‘Wallace’s Line’ that broadly divides the faunas of Indonesia into Sundaic and Australasian, in a region also widely known as Wallacea.

For those with even a passing interest in Asian ornithology or evolutionary biology, these facets of his contribution will be known, perhaps mostly due to the works of Wallace himself, especially The Malay Archipelago, arguably one of the best zoological travelogues of the 19th century. What is far less known is the life of the man himself.

James T Costa fills this gap with impressive thoroughness, providing us with a 552-page biography that offers the most complete and comprehensive account of Wallace’s life and contribution in a single book to date: Radical by Nature:

The Revolutionary Life of Alfred Russel Wallace.

The ultimate purpose of any biography is to provide readers with an accurate account of a person’s life, and in this respect, it is hard to find fault. Is it accurate? Well, given Costa’s position as one of the world’s leading experts on ARW, it would be arrogant for me to suggest that it might not be, and the impressive list of acknowledgements, which includes many of the other leading ARW academics, grants confidence to any reader that they are reading a work of considerable scholarship. Reading through all the pages, which cover Wallace’s life from his upbringing to his little-known social advocacy, Costa leaves us with no obvious gaps. It is as authoritative and comprehensive as a single-volume biography gets and extends far beyond a conspectus on his scientific contribution (although this is expectedly covered in admirable detail). In this respect it would be objective to say that Costa delivers, but translating knowledge into a good read is the (often failed) objective of many biographers.

In his introduction, Costa apologises for his own idiosyncratic writing style.

While it makes some (few) sections slightly harder to read than they perhaps could have been, there is a great charm to Costa’s writing that is rare in biographical literature. It is clear that this project was a labour of love, and Costa’s ability to write lyrically about even drier aspects of Wallace’s life genuinely make this a hard book to put down.

I am loath to write book reviews without any negative criticism, but it is truly hard to find fault. No doubt for some – especially those who were unprepared for its content, or those for whom the book is not written – Costa’s thoroughness and detail will verge into tedium (it must be said that it is not light reading, and takes considerable time to digest), but to suggest that this meticulousness is a flaw would be remiss. For those with an interest in Wallace that extends beyond information collatable online, this fabulous book makes for essential reading.

“This project was a labour of love, and Costa’s ability to write lyrically about even drier aspects of Wallace’s life genuinely make this a hard book to put down”