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Summary: Tommy Thompson is a real life HERO
Review: I loved this book. The many facets of Tommy Thompson's life were so interesting. The many years it took to find the ship and the fundraising needed to do it was daunting. Gary Kinder wrote a book that keeps you interested and amazed at the same time. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
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Summary: Fascinating and very visual
Review: F.Y.I. I didn't like The Perfect Storm: too technical. But for some reason, I loved this book. I am basically a novel reader, but I do like travel adventure and that's how I approached this book. I loved the part about the ship in 1857 and really could picture what Mr. Kinder described, although some illustrations and diagrams would have helped. I loved the description of Tommy as a boy. I read all the technical stuff, didn't understand it that well, but could follow it and that's due to a definite talent Mr. Kinder has for description. The only thing missing for me was some info about Tommy's adult life. He must have one, despite his monomania about the deep sea. Does he have a wife, a girlfriend? Does he have dinner with Mom and Dad on Sunday? Something to make him a bit more human.
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Summary: A real page-turner; one of the year's top books
Review: I read this book while sailing across the Atlantic, and found I had trouble putting it down until the last page was turned. Others on the boat read this book straight through in a day or two, despite its size.Kinder has woven together tightly a gripping tale of events separated by 130 years. Well-written, great details, super research. The only disappointment is the lack of photographs and drawings. Regardless -- a keeper!
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Summary: Facinating tale of history, human drama and perserverance
Review: This book reads like two dramas. The first part is the story of the ships sinking and you feel like you are reading well written historical fiction. The exciting part and the part that keeps you facinated is the fact the story is true, verified thru hundreds of accounts and interviews with survivors. The book then skips ahead more than 100 years and tells the tale of a group of people who "invented" the technology to recover the ship and its gold and the years of trials and tribulations they went through to reach for thier dream. I havent read a book this gripping in quite a while.
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Summary: A masterful interweaving of technology, history, and science
Review: Kinderer describes the events surrounding the sinking of the SS Central America carrying a fortune in gold from the California Gold Rush during a storm in 1857 and the effort to locate and recover the ship over 130 years after the ship went to the bottom of the Atlantic. The tale, based on the actual events, is exciting and compelling. Kinderer describes events vividly, from historical contexts to the science behind the recovery operation. While the story is very engrossing, Kinderer does belabor some points and the text is dense with descriptions of Tommy Thompson -- the brain behind the recovery operation. Sometimes, the Tommy Thompson description gets in the way of the story. Considering all, the story is exciting and very informative -- almost a Clive Cussler-like novel without the antique autos.
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Summary: This is a fantastically good book
Review: I thought the account of the sinking was stupendously well done, and the legal aspects of the search were fascinating. When I was finished and went and found the opinions in the case in the law library and they were well worth reading too. This was a book I thought anyone interested in ships, oceanography, law, finance and history would find absorbing. I am only interested in some of these topics. but I gladly give this book five stars
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Summary: Unique in every manner - story telling, authenticity
Review: The method of organizing true stories was unique. The details of shipwreck, Thompson's inspiration, curiosity, leadership and creativeness which are described in such detail have whetted my apetite to learn more,if more might be made available - a sequel? Who waited on the dock for Tommy? The value of the gold which was recovered? An estimate of the value of the gold not recovered? How far was Galaxy II from Galaxy and "Sidewheel" sites? The word-pictures about gold bars and gold coins and gold dust were excellent. And the coordinates served well to draw a circle of probable location of the "finding" on the blue section of a page of my map atlas. A book worth rereading then occupying a prominent place among other books on my bookshelf about other adventures at sea. Pictures would be nice!
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Summary: A must read for students young and old.
Review: After reading "Ship of Gold" I did two things I have never done before.First, I went out and bought eight copies to give to friends and the children of my friends. Second, I called the author on the phone ( unfortunately I couldn't reach him personally) to thank him for writing this book. This book should be given to ever young person before they graduate from high school. It covers so many different disciplines and shows how "out of the box" thinking can be developed in one's life to truly find the treasure inherent in intellectual development. It revives the great thrill of wonder in American ingenuity - a welcome relief in this cynical period in Americn histroy. Thompson is the Mark Magwire of American engineers and businessmen in the late twentieth century.
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Summary: A wonderfull book and a fantastic true story.
Review: I loved this book and couldn't put it down once I started reading it. It contains all the ingreadients of a thriller/adventure story and yet is true. As I read, I became aware of the determination and engineering skill Bob Thompson possed as he sought this fantastic treasure ship of gold that sank over 100 years ago. This is not just a story of one group's desire for riches but much more. The author, Gary Kinder, did us all a favor by recording this true story. I am sure it will become a classic.
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Summary: Excellent reading
Review: The book that makes you think: "where's that project some friends and I had, but never had the guts to take to the end?". Thomson et al. dared and really got something done. Their story is magnificently told by Kinder.
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