Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: The Bounty: The True Story of the Mutiny on the Bounty by Caroline Alexander, Simon Prebble ISBN: 0-14-280030-9 Publisher: Penguin Audiobooks Pub. Date: 15 September, 2003 Format: Audio Cassette Volumes: 10 List Price(USD): $49.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.25 (36 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Enthralling and interesting
Comment: This is an informative and interesting presentation of Bligh's mission on the Bounty and the events which followed. The book lends particular focus on how the Haywood and Christian families "spun" the tale after the fact to make the mutineers seem more "noble" and Bligh more "evil".
However, it does seem to me that the book spends proportionally too much time on the court martial and Peter Haywood's family and life, and not enough on the events onboard ship or on Pitcairn Island; I suppose this reflects the amount of material available on each. Further, the author assumes an understanding of geography and nautical terms that could be explicated by a glossary and more (and better placed) maps.
Rating: 4
Summary: Enthralling, Exciting (4.2 on a scale of 1 to 5)
Comment: "The Bounty" is a well-researched piece of history that translates into an exciting and enthralling story. Alexander delves into the facts and the myths of the famous "mutiny on the bounty."
For those not familiar with the story: in the 1790's a british ship, captained by a William Bligh, was seized by its crew led by a Fletcher Christian. Bligh and some crew numbers were cast overboard in a small craft in the middle of the South Seas, basically left to die. Amazingly, they survived and made it to mainland. Christian and company returned to the paradise of Tahiti. Some crew members stayed there (and were eventually captured and brought back to England for court martial) while Christian and company (with the addition of some beautiful Tahitian women)sailed on to Pitcairn Island.
History and Hollywood have embellished the story: Bligh was pure evil, Christian pure nobility. The crew wanted to return to Tahiti where they had found true love.
Alexander debunks most myths. Bligh certainly was tough; however, no more so than most captains of his era. Christian was impetuous, likely borderline mad, and had been drinking heavily the night before the mutiny. Most interesting, Christian's family--and that of a fellow mutineer and Christian relative Peter Heywood-spent a tremendous amount of time and resources in the future decades defending their relatives' reputations and reshaping the story into the present day myth. (They were then helped by Hollywood.)
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Alexander captured the tension of the mutiny and subsequent court martials brilliantly. I feel (like other reviewers) that she had a bit of bias towards Bligh (thus the four stars) and I almost wish she had just written it from his perspective.
Still I would recommend this book to those who love historical stories, seafaring books (e.g., "Master and Commander") and just plain old good yarns.
Rating: 4
Summary: Fabulously Interesting
Comment: This was my first experience with the story of the Mutiny on the Bounty. So for that reason alone, it was an incredible story. Right up there with the story of the Donner Party in its elements of survival, betrayal, and heroism.
BUT, only four stars. Because:
1) Alexander seems to have an axe to grind. I.e., She is so dead set on defending Bligh and impugning others, particularly Peter Heywood, that her vision becomes clouded. Ms. Alexander, this man was mutinied against THREE times if we are to include the events in New South Wales to the tally. Not just two times. He has to have been a difficult person. Mutinies don't happen, after all, in a vacuum.
And yet Alexander spends little effort to understand him, merely to say that he was just like all the other captains of his day.
2) She spends too much time on Peter Heywood and his family. Probably could have cut fifty pages from the book and still made the same point about the distorting influence this man had on the Bounty saga.
3) Spends too little time on the Pitcairn part of the story. The "Lord of the Flies" aspect of Pitcairn would make for truly fascinating reading. I felt shortchanged in this regard.
Still a great read. An important work. A worthy read.
 |
Title: Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe by Laurence Bergreen ISBN: 0066211735 Publisher: William Morrow Pub. Date: 14 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $27.95 |
 |
Title: Sea of Glory: America's Voyage of Discovery, the U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842 by Nathaniel Philbrick ISBN: 067003231X Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: 10 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $27.95 |
 |
Title: Krakatoa : The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883 by Simon Winchester ISBN: 0066212855 Publisher: HarperCollins Pub. Date: 01 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
 |
Title: John Paul Jones : Sailor, Hero, Father of the American Navy by Evan Thomas ISBN: 0743205839 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 14 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
 |
Title: The Endurance : Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition by Caroline Alexander ISBN: 0375404031 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 03 November, 1998 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
