A tale of deception, corruption, courage and adventure, Beyond Madagascar: A Bold & Consequential Voyage is at once a history, a novel - and a polemical work of some force.
Set during the first half of the seventeenth century it tells the story of a long forgotten episode buried under the subsequent trauma of the English Civil War – the proposed colonisation of the island of Madagascar and what, in its failure, followed from it: the first mercantile voyage made by a British ship to China.
The author skilfully weaves the lives of a number of historical figures - ranging from Shakespeare to King Charles I - and reasserts Captain John Weddell’s place in Great British maritime history.
‘The Madagascar Project’ was an ill-starred commercial venture conceived by William D’Avenant, Shakespeare’s godson and – possibly, for so the man himself contested, his bastard. As the Project implodes Captain John Weddell turns his sights towards China.
While following Weddell on his naval adventure, Woodman addresses some of the key issues of the time - and highlights the consequences of British opening up trade with China.