I received a free copy of Michael Palin's book "Erebus: One ship, two epic voyages and the greatest Naval mystery of all time" from LT's Early RevieweI received a free copy of Michael Palin's book "Erebus: One ship, two epic voyages and the greatest Naval mystery of all time" from LT's Early Reviewers program.
I have a dread of books where the author's name is larger on the cover than the book title because I find authors with that practice tend to insert themselves into the story and this, sadly was one of those. As Palin didn't sail on the Erebus, there really isn't need to mention himself (or the places he went to do research) in the book, yet he does.
I'm very familiar with both of the expeditions this book is focused on and they are both interesting stories.... this book really should have been a slam dunk for me. But I dislike the way Palin writes... he made a great story incredibly dry and boring....more
I first heard about the mystery surrounding the crew of the Mary Celeste when I was pretty young... it was through a television program, possibly "In I first heard about the mystery surrounding the crew of the Mary Celeste when I was pretty young... it was through a television program, possibly "In Search Of..." and it made enough of an impact that I keep going back to the story periodically. So, I had high hopes for Brian Hicks' "Ghost Ship- The Mysterious True Story of the Mary Celeste and her Missing Crew." I was not disappointed.
Hicks does a great job, not only getting at the important facts of the tale -- the ship was found derelict with no signs of its crew, or a struggle-- but the variety of explanations and hoaxes that have added to the story over the years. I've heard Hicks' explanation for what happened to the crew before -- his book was published more than a decade ago, so I don't know if I read it in some other form or if someone else has made a similar suggestion. The explanation fits all of the data really well and seems most plausible.
I found the book to be very readable and well done. ...more
Laurence Bergreen's "Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe" is yet another book that proves my theory that mLaurence Bergreen's "Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe" is yet another book that proves my theory that my childhood history books boiled great stories down into the most uninteresting nuggets of facts and figures. We certainly learned about Magellan's voyage in school, but certainly nothing about its triumphs and travails along the way.
Bergreen's book is an excellent account of the voyage, offering a fairly balanced look at Magellan's accomplishments and failings. He did not have a particularly enlightened view about the native people he encountered (and few of the early explorers did admittedly) so parts were hard to read as he mistreated many, often in the name of his religion. The book relies heavily on the account by Pigafetta, who chronicled the voyage, supplementing to add balance to Pigafetta's near hero-worship of his "captain general."
I thought it was a good book, though for some reason I can't quite put my finger on, this was not an easy read for me. It may have been something about the writing style that didn't appeal to me as I could only read it in short bursts. I'm glad I struggled through though, as I learned a lot and found much of the material interesting....more
Wow... what an amazing story! Mike Dash's "Batavia's Graveyard" tells the story of the Batavia, a ship that was dashed on a coral reef near Australia Wow... what an amazing story! Mike Dash's "Batavia's Graveyard" tells the story of the Batavia, a ship that was dashed on a coral reef near Australia in 1629. More than 200 survivors climbed onto a nearby island with limited supplies. Their leader, Jeronimus and a band of mutineers, set about systematically murdering some 115 of these survivors-- at first to keep the supplies to themselves and later to hide their crimes.
The story is absolutely fascinating and while Dash uses a great deal of conjecture to fill in the gaps between the scanty details, he does so effectively. It takes a good long while to get to the meat of the story, as he takes a lot of time talking about the history of the Dutch East India Company and conditions in Holland, yet most of the material is so interesting I really didn't mind the delay.
An utterly fascinating and well-written book....more
I really disliked Edward Leslie's book "Desparate Journeys, Abandoned Souls: True stories of castaways and other survivors." I liked some of the castaI really disliked Edward Leslie's book "Desparate Journeys, Abandoned Souls: True stories of castaways and other survivors." I liked some of the castaway stories... and I would have enjoyed the book if stuck to telling the those stories in a more straightforward manner. But Leslie launches into other random stuff -- poetry and philosophical discussions about cannibalism-- that dragged away the enjoyment the book had for me. I also found the individual stories difficult to follow... he starts to tell you about one survivor, then jumps into information about someone else, then goes back to the original person. It makes it very hard to follow the stories or keep the people straight. Sadly, this book takes an interesting topic and makes it tedious....more
Peter Nichols has put together a great little book on the 1969 Golden Globe race to be the first man to single-handedly circumnavigate the globe withoPeter Nichols has put together a great little book on the 1969 Golden Globe race to be the first man to single-handedly circumnavigate the globe without stopping in any ports along the way. "A Voyage for Madmen" gives a great overview of the race and varying personalities involved -- from professional maritime men to vagabond sailors to one contestant who didn't even learn to sail until he was on his way. Only one person completed the race.
I've read other accounts of the race (including the excellent "The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst" and Moitessier's "The Long Way") which are fantastic accounts themselves and perhaps slightly more enjoyable.
Nichols' book excels in by providing a good description of everyone in the race. He is more interested in the technical differences between the competitors' boats and their tactics for dealing with the Roaring Forties than providing particularly deep character studies. However, it's a nice overview of the race and the people involved and makes for a compelling read....more
I was surprised to find a book about a topic as interesting as Cape Horn boring. But that was the case with Dallas Murphy's "Rounding the Horn" -- it I was surprised to find a book about a topic as interesting as Cape Horn boring. But that was the case with Dallas Murphy's "Rounding the Horn" -- it was so ho hum, I didn't bothering finishing it. I honesty thought I was going to love this book (...I was excited when in the opening pages he mentions "Uttermost Part of the Earth" by Lucas Bridges, which is a book I just adore.) But every time I picked "Rounding the Horn" up, I put it down again in just a couple of pages.
The sections about other sailors (like Drake) were okay, but every other chapter was about Murphy's own sail around Cape Horn and those chapters just dragged the book down.
I guess I was just expecting more out of this book....more
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