The Lost Fleet: A Yankee Whaler's Struggle Against the Confederate Navy and Arctic Disaster
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.77 (853 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0312286481 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 448 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2015-05-02 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
"What a world!" according to Matt Hamblen. Songini's new book shows a gritty world almost unimaginable by today's standards. A sea captain persuades his wife to join him in the pursuit of the world's largest animals, which are hunted and rendered before her eyes, ears and nose. She is pregnant, gives birth at sea and recuperates with her new son on an island under the care of a Christian missionary who entertains her with stories about the native cannibal. The Lost Fleet Mike D Dear Mark, Having read a previous book of yours I decided to take on the mighty Whaling Book -- I personaly do not like sailing or the ocean, or descriptive whale murders and the book was 500 pages -- of very tiny print --- several marks against you already. As I looked over the book and read the foreward and checked out the bibliography, I was impressed with the amount of work you must have put into this project. Edward S. said Excellent history but painful prose style. Very interesting and well researched history of the rise and fall of the whaling industry in America. But of the several books I've read about whaling (In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick is a good one) this author had the most odd style of prose. It just did not flow along for me. The sentence structure and odd choices of words made the read a chore at times, but th
Cohen, George . From Booklist Songini's book chronicles Thomas William Williams' four-decades-long career—from 1840 to 1880—as the captain of the whaling vessel Florida. Songini spent six years doing the research, some of it at the New Bedford Whaling Museum, which contains the most comprehensive collection of whaling documents in the world. Songini has examined a vast subject, not only the history of Captain Williams but also of the whaling trade itself, in great depth. The story includes his escape from the Confederate ship Alabama a
A family saga, a true narrative of adventure and death on the high seas and a detailed and well-researched look at the demise of Yankee whaling--Songini has crafted an historical masterpiece. The scarcity of whales, the increasing dangers of going further into the Arctic, and the roving Confederate privateers are making this already difficult profession ever riskier. Yankee whalers are contending with icebergs, storms, rogue whales, sharks, hostile natives, and disease. Not only does he go out on voyage after voyage, but he even takes on board with him his tiny wife, Eliza, and his infant son and daughter. The Lost Fleet's thrilling narrative recounts Williams' remarkable career, including a daring escape from the Confederate cruiser Alabama and a daring rescue and salvage of lost ships off Alaska's coast. Now conditions are getting even worse, and the chances become ever slimmer a whaling master and his crew will return from a voyage safe and profitable. It's the mid-19th century and the American whaling fleet, the wonder and envy of the maritime nations of the world, is struck by one hammer blow after another. . Many whalers give up the life--but some carry on the vocation. One such man is a tall captain from Wethersfield, Connecticut, Thomas William Williams