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

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

, 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 Scottish naturalist and author, best known for his non-fiction writing and his work with otters. He became most famous for '' Ring of Bright Water'' (1960) and its sequels, which ...

and

Gerald Durrell Gerald Malcolm Durrell Order of the British Empire, OBE (7 January 1925 – 30 January 1995) was a British naturalist, writer, zookeeper, conservation movement, conservationist, and television presenter. He was born in Jamshedpur in British Ind ...

(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 channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and d ...

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'' (2nd edition), ed. Horace Newcomb, pp. 324, 620, 1363. The show was created by Da ...

''. 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 Thame ...

, as part of the

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...

nature series ''

''. He wrote numerous

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and early

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

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, colloquially known as Kingston, is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, south-west London, England. It is situated on the River Thames, south-west of Charing Cross. It is an ancient market town, notable as ...

, Surrey; he lived in and went to school in

Worcester Park Worcester Park is a suburban town in South London, England. It lies in the London boroughs of Sutton and Kingston, and partly in the Surrey borough of Epsom and Ewell. The area is southwest of Charing Cross. The suburb's population was 16,031 ...

. Having witnessed the

London Blitz London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 14.9 million. London stands on the River Tha ...

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 for the

King's African Rifles The King's African Rifles (KAR) was a British Colonial Auxiliary Forces regiment raised from Britain's East African colonies in 1902. It primarily carried out internal security duties within these colonies along with military service elsewher ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

, as part of his

National Service National service is a system of compulsory or 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 ...

. He went on to study English at

St Edmund Hall, Oxford St Edmund Hall (also known as The Hall and 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" and was the las ...

(graduating in 1954), during which time he undertook a pioneering exploration of the little-known island of

Socotra Socotra, locally known as Saqatri, is a Yemeni island in the Indian Ocean. Situated between the Guardafui Channel and the Arabian Sea, it lies near major shipping routes. Socotra is the largest of the six islands in the Socotra archipelago as ...

in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

. 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 – 4 November 1956; ), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was an attempted countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the policies caused by ...

, 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, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent. ''Crown prince ...

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

, 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 ...

Biafra Biafara Anglicisation (linguistics), anglicized as Biafra ( ), officially the Republic of Biafra, was a List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, partially recognised state in West Africa that declared independence from Nigeria ...

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

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

. However, he chose

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

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, racial injustice, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend m ...

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

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, 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 List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

s' homecoming and

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

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

Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political and physical 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. On the east side of the Iron Curtain were countries connected to the So ...

since the

Russian Revolution of 1917 The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

to travel voluntarily among the nomadic reindeer tribes of Arctic

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

and the

Gulag The Gulag was a system of Labor camp, forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies, Soviet secret police that was in charge of runnin ...

. 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 an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

, the BBC,

Time Life Time Life, Inc. (also habitually represented with a hyphen as Time-Life, Inc., even by the company itself) was an American multi-media conglomerate company formerly known as a prolific production/publishing company and direct marketeer seller ...

and the

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 Much of the focus of the discussion about Nazi gold (, "stolen gold") concerns how much of it Nazi Germany transferred to overseas banks during World War II. The Nazis looted the assets of their victims (including those in concentration camps) to ...

: 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. His former wife is the broadcaster and company director Louise Botting. They married in 1964 and the marriage was dissolved in the mid-1980s. The couple had two daughters: Kate, a writer and television producer, and news presenter

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 is the main presenter of ''Sky News at Ten'' where she presents the Monday–Thursday editions of t ...

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 () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

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

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

to the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

via the unexplored rain forests of the

Casiquiare The Casiquiare river or canal () is a natural 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 ...

and

Orinoco The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers approximately 1 million km2, with 65% of it in Venezuela and 35% in Colombia. It is the List of rivers by discharge, f ...

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 began her film career as a child actress. Biography Born Lillian Elizabeth Guenther in Pine ...

);

Hodder and Stoughton Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette.H ...

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

Hodder and Stoughton Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette.H ...

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

Hodder and Stoughton Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette.H ...

, 1965 *''

Humboldt Humboldt may refer to: People * Alexander von Humboldt, German natural scientist, brother of Wilhelm von Humboldt * Wilhelm von Humboldt, German linguist, philosopher, and diplomat, brother of Alexander von Humboldt Fictional characters * Hu ...

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); 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 d ...

);

Granada Granada ( ; ) 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 foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

, 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 became one of the leading publishers of the twentieth century and established an Australian ...

, 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 Centu ...

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

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

); Grafton Books, 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. K ...

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

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

, 1993; *''Sex Appeal: The Art and Science of Sexual Attraction'' (co-author Kate Botting);

Boxtree Ltd Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd in the United Kingdom and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC in the United States) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be on ...

, 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. History Constable & Co. was founded in 1795 by Archibald Constable, and became the publisher of works by Sir Walter Scott. In ...

, 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 The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

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

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

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

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

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

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

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

Zanzibar Zanzibar is a Tanzanian archipelago off the coast of East Africa. It is located in the Indian Ocean, and consists of many small Island, islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, referred to informally as Zanzibar) and Pemba Island. ...

) (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 Secret Intelligence Service, MI6 because of his frequent travel to Eastern Europe. He acted as a courier to transport top-secret ...

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

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 format (analog video and analog audio but with provision for digital audio), its improved variant Hi8, as well as a more recent digita ...

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
"Au Revoir Douglas Botting"
News, Sheldrake Press, 15 February 2018.
"Man of Letters"
Sheldrake Press, 15 February 2018. {{DEFAULTSORT:Botting, Douglas 1934 births 2018 deaths English explorers English male non-fiction writers English biographers King's African Rifles officers