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Summary: Ingenuity, persistence and savvy = amazing adventure
Review: A very satisfying and inspiring read. If American businesses and organizations had a fraction of the ingenuity, persistence and savvy that Tommy Thompson exemplifies in his search for the Central America, the current stock market highs might be called merely mediocre. It's one thing to talk about American ingenuity, but it is another to really see it in action. If Thompson could find a way to bottle his mode of "thinking outside the box" and reaching fantastic goals, he might uncover a treasure even greater than the Central America. Thanks to Gary Kinder for revealing this amazing adventure so effectively.
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Summary: A true tale of midwestern ingenuity versus The Deep
Review: As a friend of Tommy Thompson and his family for 30 years, I saw his inventive genius develop, as well as his ability to raise the millions needed for the search for the Central America. Gary Kinder was approved as the teller of the tale, spent much time on board with Tommy and crew as well as time with his family and many others involved. The book tells it all. It's "completely accurate", "Tommy's Mommy" told this reviewer recently. We know of many of the family stories firsthand, and Kinder is a master in telling of the distant disaster, the precision planning and present prospects. Quotations are countless. The flavor of high adventure on the deep sea makes for attention=grabbing reading. My regret is that there is no index or list of characters. The absence of pictures will be solved when a selection has been made and published before many months, I understand.
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Summary: Where are the photos?
Review: It is difficult to imagine a subject better suited to photographic documentation than the search for, and recovery of, gold from the bottom of the sea. "Ship of Gold" is brimming with biographical information about the man who discovered the SS Central America and its cargo of gold coins, gold bars and gold dust (more biography than this reader wanted to know), and describes in detail how the search partnership was assembled and managed. Toward the end, we learn how the treasure trove was documented with hundreds of photographs, before, during and after the loot was removed.Except for a period print of the wreck and one page of ship's plans at the front of the book, "Ship of Gold" is entirely devoid of photographs, maps or drawings. We don't know where she went down. We know the discoverers took thousands of photographs, but not a single one is reproduced in the book. There are no drawings showing the debris field, the location of the gold, and the structure of the wreck. Of the recovered gold, there is not a single picture. Such an omission is inexplicable and inexcusable. Did the author attempt to obtain rights to the photos? Did the finders make any drawing of the wreck site and, if not, why not? Was the author unable to meet the discoverers' demands for royalties for the photos? We know that great secrecy attended the removal of treasure from the submersible and its handling on the recovery ship. Has the same obsession with secrecy continued now that the discovery is more than a decade old? Or is there still unrecovered treasure at the bottom of the deep blue sea? For this reader, the lack of photos and drawings spoils the book. However good the tale, the lack of images disappoints greatly.
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Summary: I can't believe it ain't fiction!!!!!
Review: I couldn't put this book down! I wish history would have been made this interesting when I was a kid. I think I might have walked down different paths. This book appealed to my soul, intellect, curiosity and sense of adventure. I couldn't wait for Tommy to gather together enough money so we (Tommy, his crew and I) could get back to the "thinking out of the box" stuff and deep blue sea. I wait with to see a pictorial essay in something like the National Geographic. I loved the mix of the history leading up to the search and how it tied into the discoveries on recovery. It was really great to read about the use of current technology to accomplish the seemingly impossible. Reading about Tommy and his committment to stay focused on his principles etc. inspite of intense pressure to do otherwise was inspiring. He (Tommy) is owed a great debt for maintaining his integrity and that of the site. I wait with bated breath to see pictures of the recovery.
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Summary: Clancey meets Krakauer
Review: A new genre: Take the best of real life action thrillers (Perfect Storm, Into Thin Air) and mix in some ocean-based, techno-thriller gizmos and you've got a book every middle aged man in America will read within the next 12 months. But Kinder goes places with this book that Krakauer and Clancey would never consider. He adds the adventure of, get this, corporate finance. He actually captures the drama of Tommy Thompson's quest for venture capital -- every bit as challenging as conquering the deep sea. And in some ways, this thread of the book proves to be as exciting as the sinking and recovery of the Central America. I couldn't put this book down. I didn't want it to end.
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Summary: The best book I have ever read.
Review: This is a book of adventure, courage, genious and tenacity. It is one of the best books I have ever read. I could not put the book down.
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Summary: A journey of personal discovery.
Review: For me, this book was a journey of personal discovery. I knew that I must read the book after reading a review that described the book positively, and remembering a story told to me by my grandmother...that I had a relative who went to California in the gold rush, found gold, and was lost at sea on a ship upon returning home. As it turns out, my relative was in fact on the SS Central America. Now, the picture I have of him and his personal Bible, given to me by my grandmother, have so much more meaning. Thank you Tommy Thompson (scientist/explorer), Gary Kinder (author), and Judy Conrad (historian) for your dedicated work. The story is gripping, the book is very well written, and there are themes that appeal to many interests. History, shipwrecks, engineering, and the quest for treasure are all well detailed. Anyone with a relative or story related to the SS Central America, please write.
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Summary: The best book I can remember reading.
Review: This is probabley the first and last book review I will ever write, however, I want to urge anyone who may read this review to heed my advice: READ THIS BOOK! This is one of the most insightful and thought provoking books I have ever read. Gary Kinder does a magnificent job recounting both the historical portion of the book as well as the recent events. If there was ever a real "McGiver" in this world, it is Tommy Thompson. My hat goes off to you as well. I can't remember ever reading a book where I litteraly was hanging on every word, every event, of every page. Thanks for the best book I can remember reading.
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Summary: Multiple engaging stories, well written
Review: This is a truly incredible book ‹ the more so for being non-fiction. I literally "couldn't put it down." A number of published reviews have complimented the author, Gary Kinder, for "weaving together" a number of story lines, and this he does. But you're really getting four books for the price of one! The title suggests that it's about an ancient ocean tragedy and a treasure hunt. Just as you get used to reading this rousing adventure story, you discover it's turned into a description of the thought processes of an inventive genius. You settle in to have your philosophic consciousness expanded and suddenly you're in the midst of a tale of piracy and conspiracies worthy of the X-Files. With quickening pulse, you race ahead ‹ and stumble over episodes of humor that INSIST on being read aloud to any one within earshot. The author writes very well, with inventive turns-of-phrases )"...Tommy liked to retreat to the point where technology branched and all thought on the matter had shuffled off down the path that led to Conventional Wisdom. He liked to travel back to the fork and take another look at the landscape. Perhaps somebody missed something.") and did a fantastic amount of research, with many direct quotes from the large cast of characters, adding to the book's three-dimensional nature. Both the tangible and intangible products of the treasure hunt, adventures, inventions and conspiracies are still unfolding, so perhaps there'll be a sequel. My only slight disappointment was the complete absence of illustrations; I kept wanting to see the many unique characters and locales "in person."
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Summary: Fantastic American Adventure
Review: At the end when all was accomplished and the boat came into the harbour at Norfolk with the band playing "Stars and Stripes", it made we weep in joy. I could here the band and see the excitement on all the investor's faces and especially Tommy and the gang. This book is about American ingenuity at its finest. It should be required reading at all business schools in the US. It shows how to cover all contingenies in any start-up business. Tommy Thompson is an American hero, and now very rich. If you like intrique, ingenuity, intelligence then this book is for you, I couldn't put it down.
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