In The Observer yesterday, Andrea Wulf told how George Forster, the subject of her latest biography, The Traveller (Allen Lane, £30), was a mentor to Alexander von Humboldt, whose life she chronicled in her last book, The Invention of Nature. She also set out what had drawn her to Forster:

But it was Forster’s own voice that pulled me into his story. His non-judgmental descriptions of Indigenous people and white supremacy made me wonder how someone raised in a society deeply steeped in racism was able to accept other cultures with such an unbiased mind. Forster wanted to find what connects us, rather than what sets us apart – an idea that feels particularly relevant in our current climate of discord and hatred. It also helped that his life read like a thrilling adventure story, and I have always enjoyed writing about forgotten “heroes”.