Douglas Scott Botting (22 February 1934 – 6 February 2018) was an English

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

, author, biographer and TV presenter and producer. He wrote biographies of naturalists

Gavin Maxwell Gavin Maxwell FRSL FZS FRGS (15 July 19147 September 1969) was a British naturalist and author, best known for his non-fiction writing and his work with otters. He wrote the book ''Ring of Bright Water'' (1960) about how he brought an otter ba ...

and

Gerald Durrell Gerald Malcolm Durrell, (7 January 1925 – 30 January 1995) was a British naturalist, writer, zookeeper, conservationist, and television presenter. He founded the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and the Jersey Zoo on the Channel Island ...

(the former also being a personal friend). Botting was the inspiration behind and writer of the 1972 film '' The Black Safari'', a role-reversal parody of English explorers, with Africans touring England, shown in the

BBC 2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

documentary series ''

The World About Us ''The World About Us'' was a BBC Two television documentary series on natural history which ran from 3 December 1967 to 20 July 1986.''Encyclopedia of Television'' (2d ed.), ed. Horace Newcomb, p. 324, 620, 1363. The show was created by David At ...

''. He also featured in much other BBC programming, including ''Under London Expedition'' exploring the

London sewerage system The London sewer system is part of the water infrastructure serving London, England. The modern system was developed during the late 19th century, and as London has grown the system has been expanded. It is currently owned and operated by Thames ...

, as part of the

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

nature series ''

''. He wrote numerous

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and early

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...

books for Time Life Books. Botting took part, with Anthony Smith, in the first balloon flight over Africa.

Biography

Botting was born in

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...

, Surrey; he lived in and went to school in

Worcester Park Worcester Park is a suburban town in South London, South West London, England. It lies in the Boroughs of London, London boroughs of London Borough of Sutton, Sutton and Royal Borough of Kingston, Kingston, and partly in the Surrey borough of Ep ...

. Having witnessed the

London Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

first-hand, he went on to make documentaries and write historical records of the

and aviation. Botting got an early flavour of travel when he served as an infantry

subaltern Subaltern may refer to: *Subaltern (postcolonialism), colonial populations who are outside the hierarchy of power * Subaltern (military), a primarily British and Commonwealth military term for a junior officer * Subalternation, going from a univer ...

for the

King's African Rifles The King's African Rifles (KAR) was a multi-battalion British colonial regiment raised from Britain's various possessions in East Africa from 1902 until independence in the 1960s. It performed both military and internal security functions withi ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

, as part of his

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

. He went on to study English at

St Edmund Hall, Oxford St Edmund Hall (sometimes known as The Hall or informally as Teddy Hall) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. The college claims to be "the oldest surviving academic society to house and educate undergraduates in any university ...

, during which time he undertook a pioneering exploration of the little-known island of

Socotra Socotra or Soqotra (; ar, سُقُطْرَىٰ ; so, Suqadara) is an island of the Republic of Yemen in the Indian Ocean, under the ''de facto'' control of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council, a secessionist participant in Yemen’s ...

in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

. His first book, ''Island of the Dragon's Blood'', is an account of this trip. During Oxford and post-Oxford years, he volunteered and worked in a variety of positions, including as a paramilitary ambulance unit member during the

1956 Hungarian Revolution The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 10 November 1956; hu, 1956-os forradalom), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hunga ...

, as a private tutor to the

Crown Prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wif ...

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

, as a worker in a

leper colony A leper colony, also known by many other names, is an isolated community for the quarantining and treatment of lepers, people suffering from leprosy. '' M. leprae'', the bacterium responsible for leprosy, is believed to have spread from East Af ...

Biafra Biafra, officially the Republic of Biafra, was a partially recognised secessionist state in West Africa that declared independence from Nigeria and existed from 1967 until 1970. Its territory consisted of the predominantly Igbo-populated form ...

, and as a trainer for ex- head-hunter tribes undergoing re-training in the

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...

. However, he chose

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

making, and

investigative journalism Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years rese ...

as his career. As a BBC Special Correspondent to the former

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

, he reported news events such as the first

cosmonaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

s' homecoming and

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...

's state visit, and was the first person from west of the

Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) to block itself and its s ...

since the

Russian Revolution of 1917 The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...

to travel voluntarily among the nomadic reindeer tribes of Arctic

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

and the

Gulag The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= was the government agency in ...

. Botting went on to make documentary films for organisations including

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...

, the BBC,

Time Life Time Life, with sister subsidiaries StarVista Live and Lifestyle Products Group, a holding of Direct Holdings Global LLC, is an American production company and direct marketer conglomerate, that is known for selling books, music, video/DVD, ...

and

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

. Among his other occupations was that of writing: Botting wrote a series of Time Life Books on the Second World War, early aviation and maritime vessels. His foray into investigative journalism included several other Second World War books, including the best-selling ''

Nazi Gold Nazi gold (german: Raubgold, "stolen gold") is gold possessed by Nazi Germany. Much of the focus of the discussion is about how much of this was transferred by Germany to overseas banks during World War II; the ruling Nazi party executed a policy o ...

: The Story of the World's Greatest Robbery - And Its Aftermath''. His back-to-back biographies of Gavin Maxwell and Gerald Durrell also earned him praise. He was the father of newsreader

Anna Botting Anna Elizabeth Botting (born 4 November 1967) is an English news presenter with Sky News, a broadcasting network based in the United Kingdom. She currently presents Sky News from 21:00 until midnight from Monday to Thursday. Prior to the channel ...

. His former wife is the broadcaster and company director

Louise Botting Elizabeth Louise Botting CBE (born 19 September 1939) is a British company director and former broadcaster. She was presenter of BBC Radio 4's ''Money Box'' programme between 1977 and 1992. After her broadcasting career, she became one of the ...

Explorations

Botting was an accomplished explorer in his own right. He undertook a systematic explorations of Socotra while at university, and was part of the world's first balloon journey over Africa, the first British balloon journey across the High

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

, and the first vessel ever to voyage by inland waterways from the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

to the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

via the unexplored rain forests of the

Casiquiare The Casiquiare river () is a distributary of the upper Orinoco flowing southward into the Rio Negro, in Venezuela, South America. As such, it forms a unique natural canal between the Orinoco and Amazon river systems. It is the world's largest ...

and

Orinoco The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers , with 76.3 percent of it in Venezuela and the remainder in Colombia. It is the fourth largest river in the wor ...

Bibliography

*''Island of the Dragon's Blood'' (illustrated by A. Spark and

Janet Chandler Janet Chandler (December 31, 1911 – March 16, 1994) was a model and actress in American films. She had starring roles in several films of the 1930s. She was born Lillian Guenther in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. She began her film career as a child actr ...

);

Hodder and Stoughton Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette. History Early history The firm has its origins in the 1840s, with Matthew Hodder's employment, aged 14, with Messrs Jackson and Walford, the official publisher ...

, 1958 *''The Knights of Bornu'';

, 1961 *''One Chilly Siberian Morning'';

, 1965 *'' Humboldt and the Cosmos''; Michael Joseph, 1973 *''Shadow in the Clouds: The Story of the Airships''; Kestrel Books, 1975; *''Wilderness Europe''; Time Life Books, 1976; *''The Great Cities: Rio De Janeiro''; Time Life Books, 1977; *''The Pirates of the Spanish Main'' (illustrated by

Gareth Floyd Sir Gareth (; Old French: ''Guerehet'', ''Guerrehet'') is a Knight of the Round Table in Arthurian legend. He is the youngest son of King Lot and Queen Morgause, King Arthur's half-sister, thus making him Arthur's nephew, as well as brother to ...

); Time Life Books, 1978; *''The Second Front ''; Time Life Books, 1978; *''The Seafarers: The U-Boats''; Time Life Books, 1979; *''The Epic of Flight: The Giant Airships''; Time Life Books, 1980; *''The Aftermath: Europe''; Time Life Books, 1983; *''Nazi Gold: The Story of the World's Greatest Robbery - And Its Aftermath'' (co-author

Ian Sayer Ian K. T. Sayer (born 30 October 1945) is a British entrepreneur, World War II historian, author and investigative journalist. His Sayer Transport Group (established in 1967 and sold in 1979) became part of the British and European overnight do ...

);

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

, 1984; *''In the Ruins of The Reich: Germany 1945-1949'';

Allen and Unwin George Allen & Unwin was a British publishing company formed in 1911 when Sir Stanley Unwin purchased a controlling interest in George Allen & Co. It went on to become one of the leading publishers of the twentieth century and to establish an ...

, 1985; *''Wild Britain: A Traveller's Guide'';

Ebury Press Ebury Publishing is a division of Penguin Random House, and is a publisher of general non-fiction books in the UK. Ebury was founded in 1961 as a division of Nat Mags and was originally located on Ebury Street in London. It was sold to Century ...

, 1988 *''Wild France: A Traveller's Guide'';

, 1988 *''America's Secret Army: The Untold Story of the Counter Intelligence Corps'' (co-author

);

Grafton Books Grafton was a British paperback imprint established 1981 by Granada Publishing Ltd, a subsidiary of media company Granada Group Ltd. It was named after the publishing company's then address, 8 Grafton Street, in central London. Other paperback ...

, 1989; *''Hitler's Last General: The Case Against Wilheim Mohnke'' (co-author

);

Bantam Books Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by parent company Random House, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. ...

, 1989; *''Gavin Maxwell: A Life'';

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...

, 1993; *''Sex Appeal: The Art and Science of Sexual Attraction'' (co-author Kate Botting); Boxtree Books, 1996; *''The D-Day Invasion''; Time Life Books, 1998; *''Gerald Durrell: The Authorized Biography'';

, 1999; *''Dr.Eckener's Dream Machine: The Extraordinary Story of the Zeppelin'';

, 2001; *''Hitler and Women: The Love Life of Adolf Hitler'' (co-author

);

Constable and Robinson Constable & Robinson Ltd. is an imprint of Little, Brown which publishes fiction and non-fiction books and ebooks. Founded in Edinburgh in 1795 by Archibald Constable as Constable & Co., and by Nick Robinson as Robinson Publishing Ltd in 1983, ...

, 2004; NB: In case of country specific first editions, the edition of the author's home country (UK) is chosen.

Filmography

*''The Forgotten Island'' (

) (2-part series

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

TV) *''Festival in Kano'' (Northern

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

) (BBC TV) *''The Surf Boats of Anomabu'' (

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

) *''Beauty for Ashes'' ( Uzuakoli Leper Colony, Eastern

) (

Gateway Films Gateway Films is an independent London based production company, specialising in crime and youth films. It was officially established in 2009 by actor Terry Stone, in collaboration with Terry Byrne, Chris Howard. In 2010, the company launched ...

/Methodist Mission) *''Kenya Mountain'' (medical and missionary work in

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

) (Gateway Films) *''Balloon Safari'' (

Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...

) (4-part series BBC TV) *''Maytime in Muscovy'' (BBC TV) *''Siberia'' (BBC TV) *''

Greville Wynne Greville Maynard Wynne (19 March 1919 – 28 February 1990) was a British engineer and businessman recruited by MI6 because of his frequent travel to Eastern Europe. He acted as a courier to transport top-secret information to London from S ...

Spy Trial'' (Moscow) (BBC TV News) *''Shadow in the Clouds'' (History of Airships) (BBC TV) *''The Italia Tragedy'' (BBC TV) *''Balloon Over the Alps'' (BBC TV) *''Three Men in a Balloon'' (BBC TV) *''The Great Balloon Race'' (BBC TV) *''The Under London Expedition'' (BBC TV) *'' The Black Safari'' (BBC TV) *''The Last Great Journey on Earth'' (from the Amazon to the Caribbean by

hovercraft A hovercraft, also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is an amphibious Craft (vehicle), craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and other surfaces. Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the hull ...

on inland waterways) (BBC TV) *''50 Years of the RAF'' (BBC TV) *''Gavin Maxwell'' (BBC Scotland) *''Socotra Revisited'' (comprehensive

Hi-8 The 8mm video format refers informally to three related videocassette formats. These are the original Video8 (analog recording) format and its improved successor Hi8 (analog video and analog audio but with provision for digital audio), as well as ...

coverage of Socotra nearly 40 years after Botting's first film report on this island, Mosaic Pictures, London) *''Sex Appeal'' (TV documentary series, with Kate Botting) Other projects include: *''The Fateful Impact'' (6-part animation series on the history of environmental change and conservation around the world, with Mosaic Pictures) *''Toto the Otter'' (children's TV animation series, with Mosaic Pictures)

References

External links

Official Site
*
A book review
of the other Durrell biography, and how the two are related {{DEFAULTSORT:Botting, Douglas 1934 births 2018 deaths English explorers English male non-fiction writers English biographers King's African Rifles officers