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Offers a unique perspective on an under-examined period of Madagascar's history
Presents original research that aids our understanding of the Merina kingdom, and explains growing British interest in Madagascar
Appeals to scholars of Madagascar, African, and British Imperial history
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Table of contents (7 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
About this book
This book explores the life of Robert Lyall, surgeon, botanist, voyager, British Agent to the court of Madagascar. Born the year of the French Revolution, Lyall grew up in politically radical Paisley, Scotland, before studying medicine, in Edinburgh, Manchester, and subsequently St. Petersburg, Russia. His criticism of the Tsar and Russian aristocracy led to an abrupt departure for London where Lyall became the voice of liberalism and calls for political reform, before appointed British Resident Agent in Madagascar in 1827, representing the interests of the Tory establishment that he had hitherto so roundly castigated. However, Lyall discovered that the Malagasy crown had turned against the British alliance of 1820, his scientific pursuits alienated the local elite, and his efforts to re-establish British influence antagonized the queen, Ranavalona I, who accused Lyall of sorcery and forced him and his burgeoning family to leave for Mauritius where he died an untimely death, of malaria, in 1831.
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Authors and Affiliations
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Indian Ocean World Centre, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Gwyn Campbell
About the author
Gwyn Campbell, who was born in Madagascar, and grew up in Wales, holds degrees in economic history from the universities of Birmingham and Wales. He has taught in India, Madagascar, Britain, South Africa, Belgium, France, and Canada where he is Director of the Indian Ocean World Centre at McGill University. His publications include Africa and the Indian Ocean World from early times to 1900 (Cambridge, 2019), David Griffiths and the Missionary “History of Madagascar” (Brill, 2012), and An Economic History of Imperial Madagascar, 1750–1895 (Cambridge, 2005).
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: The Travels of Robert Lyall, 1789–1831
Book Subtitle: Scottish Surgeon, Naturalist and British Agent to the Court of Madagascar
Authors: Gwyn Campbell
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51648-2
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: History, History (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-51647-5Published: 26 January 2021
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-51650-5Published: 26 January 2022
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-51648-2Published: 25 January 2021
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XIX, 415
Number of Illustrations: 16 b/w illustrations, 33 illustrations in colour
Topics: Imperialism and Colonialism, History of Britain and Ireland, African History, History of Science