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Summary: The truth is (probably) out there
Review: I liked this book; it described a huge triumph of human ingenuity and spirit. But the complete and glaring omission of any photographs, maps or drawings makes the reader feel the author is not free to divulge all the information pertinent to the ship's recovery. The book is full of passages describing the secrecy of the project, almost bordering on paranoia, and one feels that this secrecy, for whatever reason, continues to this day. My guess is that the motive for the secrecy is a combination of future scientific and financial gain that the author feels can't be shared with his audience. As they say in the book, many people in the project were there on a "need to know" basis. It is unfortunate the the reader is also left on "need to know" basis due to the omission of photos and figures. If the author can't give this information, it probably should be stated clearly somewhere in the forward of the book. But to just leave all the photagraphs, maps and drawings out with no explanation is inexcusable. My guess is that the pictures and drawings will probably come out later as a separate "coffee table" type book (further suggesting that financial gain is at the heart of the book). If it does, it won't be on my coffee table.
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Summary: Historical, technical, and legal problem-solving nonpareil
Review: NOTHING that the ingenuity of man has permitted him to do is more unnatural than working as a diver in deep water. As a result of this, if a vessel sinks a few hundred feet beneath the surface of the sea, she becomes as inaccessible as if transported to a distant star. - Commander Edward Ellsberg, 1928, On the Bottom Kinder tells the remarkable story of the salvage of the SS Central America, sunk in 1857 by a tremendous tropical storm with enough gold from the California Gold Rush that it is thought to have contributed to the financial Panic of 1857. In his telling, Kinder combines the intrigue of early salvage stories with the best of tales of bravery, death, and survival at sea, then adds technological innovations reminiscent of Victor Appleton's original Tom Swift novels and legal maneuvering in the bizarre world of admiralty law. Much has changed in undersea work in the decades between Ellsberg's recovery ! of a sunken submarine from 132 feet of water near Block Island and the attempts of the young engineer Tommy Thompson to find and salvage the Central America in 8000 feet of water 200 miles off of Cape Hatteras, but few of these changes have improved the chances of detection and recovery of artifacts from deep water. Thompson is a remarkable character whose intellectual lineage is probably best traced to Thomas Edison. He and his team rapidly and inexpensively solve problems akin to those of work and exploration in deep space. The only disappointments in this wonderful account are the lack of photos (and we are treated to gory detail about just how many photos were taken) and, ultimately, few details on the total worth of the recovered treasures. Some photos may be seen in a recent Outside magazine
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Summary: Ship of gold and BOOK OF GOLD too. A must read! -jimmyjay
Review: BOOK OF GOLD. Amazon's review and author interview are excellent. This book may have taken 10 years to write but you can't put it down. I expect Tommy Thompson to become as famous as Columbus. It would not surprise me to find CNN reporting live using Tommy's cameras.
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Summary: Too Much Depth In The Deep Blue Sea
Review: With the weight of an anchor Gary Kinder sinks us into the depths of detail with only glimpses of the deep blue and shiney gold. Granted, Harvey Thompson probably micromanaged the prose in the same manner as he did the discovery project. Still, how many different doomed customer quotes did we need? How many Tommy Thompson phone calls did we need to know about? How many search lines did we need to navigate. If Kinder had cut the ballasts by 20%, this book would float. Sorry mates! You'll find it difficult to breath before the first search ship leaves port. While it gets exciting at that point, many readers will bobbing face down before the coins begin to jingle.
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Summary: I could not put this book down!!!
Review: In the past 5-7 years, I have read hundreds of history, technology and National Geographic accounts covering all periods of time in all of the known civilizations and epochs...This book about the 19th century contemporary times of the SS Central America and it's ultimate doom interspersed with the unbelieveable efforts by 20th century Thommy Thompson and his teams rates as the #1 book that I have ever read. The space program which rates very high in accomplishment has to ake a 2nd position relative to the scope, scale and accomplishments of the SS Central America discovery and recovery of it's gold and artifacts. What drama, excitement, anxiety, frustrations and tragedy. What heroism. And it is all 100% true!! Lawrence Graubart
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Summary: some interesting historical recreations (the ship's sinking)
Review: the business of raising money for the exploration was well handled, but the technical details on underwater searches was somewhat tedious..i also enjoyed the legal insights as to the law of deep sea salvage/sunken ships and treasure hunting (caveat, i'm a lawyer)--author creates some good tension in describing the courtroom and at sea confrontations between competing treasure hunters
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Summary: Thumbs up
Review: This is a real page-turner, and I read it right after reading Craig Furnas's THE SHAPE, that deals fictionally with sunken treasure off the Florida coast; so to read about the real thing a few states up right after in SHIP OF GOLD was a real treat.
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Summary: Gripping
Review: A fascinating story, magnificently told. From its heart-pounding account of the shipwreck of the Central America in 1857, to the struggle of Tommy Thompson to put together a salvage effort, to the tense stand-offs at sea and in court, to the amazing technological feat of recovering the ship's treasure, "Ship of Gold" is a nonstop compelling adventure. The story keeps one-upping itself. Just when you think it can't get better, or more interesting, it does. A very impressive feat of reporting and writing. I hesitate to even pick up another book, knowing full well it will be a long time before another entertains and informs me so well.
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Summary: Brass, gold and lead.
Review: A single line abstract of this book would read: They had the brass to get the gold, but their efforts were socially leaden. The story of the Central America is one of past tragedy, modern greed, and high stakes. It demonstrates that no cultural or historical resource is safe from venture capitalism, technology, and the ethically impaired. Much of this book glorifies the egos that resulted in the looting of an historic grave site for profit. Nonetheless, it is a fascinating read filled with gee whiz technology, and pot boiler romance of the sea. Lightly veneered with historical information as a means to distract the reader from the main point, looting the past for present profit, the book is entirely devoid of photographs, maps or drawings (with the exception of the period print of the wreck and one page of ship's plans). One has to wonder where the editors were. At least no one will be mistaken into thinking that this was a responsible undertaking. It is an absol! ute that any book may and should be written about any topic that an author can imagine. It is also a given that such materials should be made available in a free society. But the rest of us do not have to buy it. My recommendation on this book is: don't.
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Summary: An excellent display of true adventure
Review: This book shows what CAN happen when a person sets their mind to a project and devotes their spirit to seeing it through. Thompson and associates are the true American inventors of deep-water salvage. A must read for any future salvor
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