Rating: 
Summary: One of my all-time favorites
Review: It's such a cliche to say "I couldn't put it down!" but in this case, it's 100 percent true. I picked this book up at my friend's beach house thinking I'd read it off and on over the weekend and just leave it there, possibly unfinished. Well, I spent that whole weekend with my nose in the book, and needless to say, borrowed it to take home and finish.The book is fascinating. It has a great story -- really two great stories, connected -- and is well written, too. The earlier part of the book, which deals mostly with the wreck of the U.S. Central America during the "gold rush" period, is a detailed and fascinating slice of American history as well as a breathtaking account of a terrible disaster. It features memorable characters and true human drama as the ship's passengers fight for survival for themselves and their loved ones, and even strangers -- or, in some cases, struggle only to save their precious gold. The later story, the account of engineer Tommy Thompson's efforts to retrieve the ship and the gold that went down with it, is in its way just as fascinating and suspenseful. Thompson is an amazing real-life character, a sort of "mad genius" who drags a whole cadre of smart young people with him on his quest to do things no one has ever done before. The monetary value of the gold truly becomes irrelevant as the team fights to retrieve their treasure in the face of bad weather, limited funding, incredible technological hurdles, fierce and unscrupulous competition, and, of course, the might of the ocean itself. You will not be disappointed by this book. It truly "has it all."
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Read in Every Respect
Review: "Ship of Gold" is a wonderful read. What I most appreciated was its approach to adventure and science on the same intense level. This is a book that will inspire you- not to go searching for sunken treasure, but to set your mind on a goal and do whatever it takes to reach it. Tommy Thompson had to ask himself a huge question. How can a 150 year old ship of gold be found in 8,000 feet of water, and how can its treasure possibly be salvaged safely and effectivly from that depth? The answer lies in robotics and engineering. Thompson, a trained engineer, had to pull together a team of dedicated workers and invent the technology no one had sucsessfully been able to make before. Throw in a rival treasure hunting team following them at sea looking for the same wreck, and you have a story of unparalelled adventure and wonder, every bit as exciting and page-turning as it is informative and facsinating. On top of that, Kinder has a written a fantastic account of the ships final days and moments, which he splits up and weaves in between chapters on Thompson and his growing ideas for finding the wreck. The paralel stories grow together as the book progresses, placing us inside Thompsons head to understand his desire and iron will for finding the Ship of Gold. This is a book that should not be missed- please do yourself a favor and read it.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: I'm usually not a fan of non-fiction, but this book was so engaging, I couldn't put it down.
Rating: 
Summary: I keep coming back to this book
Review: The courage and perseverance of the crew and passengers of the Central America is a story which rivals that of Shackleton and the Endurance. That tale is very neatly combined with the fascinating story of Tommy Thompson's mammoth undertaking to find the wreck. He and his partners' creativity, ingenuity, and determination are nothing short of inspiring. Gary Kinder has a knack for conveying the excitement of the hunt. I've read two books since this one, but this is the one I keep thinking about. You won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: No "X" Marked the Spot
Review: "Ship of Gold" is a detailed and fascinating account of Tommy "Harvey" Thompson's quest to locate and recover a fortune in gold aboard the 1857 wreck of the Central America. Worn-out labels like "eccentric genius" don't really begin to describe Thompson. As depicted by Kinder, there is far more method than madness in Thompson. Thompson's ultra-methodical approach eventually leads to success, despite the fact that the wreck is located in over 8,000 feet of salt water. Thompson and his team overcome the depth and a number of other technical and business challegnes to locate and recover the treasure of the Central America in a historically sensitive way. At over 500 pages, "Ship of Gold" still keeps you turning the pages to find out what happens next. The big disappointments in this book are the lack of any photos (Thompson has published a separate photo book), and the fact that for all the details of his methods, Thompson remains an enigmatic character to the end. We follow Thompson from childhood to nearly age 50, but never get a real answer to why he picked a high-tech treasure hunt as his life's main ambition. Thompson is evidently a guy who could do *anything*, so his quest for gold in some ways seems like he is squandering his potential. Perhaps his deep sea engineering breakthroughs will justify themselves in the end. While Kinder does a good job handling a wealth of detail, there are at least a few factual errors that pop out. At one point, he describes a diver stricken by "nitrogen narcosis, the bends". B'zzt, wrong answer, them's two different things. Kinder also describes Thompson's obsessive (but probably justified) concerns with security, and briefly mentions the restrictions placed on him in writing the story. Kinder apparently gave Thompson the write to review the book before publication, but says Thompson asked for only one small change to protect his interests. Despite the reservations noted, "Ship of Gold" is well worth the voyage.
Rating:
Summary: A top-notched, fact-based, technical adventure!
Review: Excellent read, this one. I thoroughly enjoyed the author's ability to juxtapose the historical account of the ship, its passengers, crew and cargo, and the modern day efforts to recover the wreckage. In spite of knowing the outcome, I found myself hoping that the efforts of the passengers and crew would prevail. Such chivalry would most likely be found politically incorrect today, but that is another story. Though I enjoyed the historical account as much, if not more than the technical developments at recovery, the author does an excellent job of describing the technology without getting lost in it.
Rating:
Summary: Dreams Can Come True
Review: Ship of Gold is a very good book for anyone that is interested in history or the ocean. This book has two main parts. The first part tells the story of the USS Central America. This ship opperated during the peak of the Gold Rush running from Panama to New York with people and gold from California. On one trip in 1857, the ship ran into a hurricane and was lost forever.
The second two thirds of the book introduces you to Tommy Thompson, an engineer that takes an interest in recovering the millions of dollars in gold lost the night the Central America went down. The book goes into great detail describing how Thompson's dream developes from an idea that most felt was impossible into a reality. The book gives a detailed time line of everything that went into this 12 million dollar quest. Kinder does a great job outlining the various steps in the recovery attempt and at giving the reader a good sense of the problems that worked against their efforts. At times I found the book a little slow because at times the expidition was a little slow. These instances are few and far between and don't cause you to lose total interest. Much of the book leaves you wondering what is going to happen next and hungry to read more.
While I did not have a problem putting this book down I did feel that it was a very good read. You can take your time going through this book savoring the achievement that it describes. I recomend it to anyone that enjoys an easy reading piece of nonfiction. Well worth the time and money.
Rating:
Summary: A great action/adventure story...
Review: Only this action/adventure is real. Ship of Gold goes back and forth between the story of the sinking of the Central America steamship and the race to find the treasure it contained. I highly recommend this book to history buffs, adventure lovers, budding engineers, and anyone interested in a story that is anything but typical.
Rating:
Summary: Great for teachers: an "out of the box" thinker.
Review: This book indicates how a person who thinks differently needs to adapt the educational system to his needs. The professors who recognized this, instituted a change in ocean exploration.
This book moves fast due to the subject matter and is a perfect source for teachers to understand those "out of the box" thinkers in classrooms from Kindergarden on.
Rating:
Summary: A fantastic book about problem solving
Review: This is the best book I've read all year (2001) and also the best book I've read in a long time. Don't be put off by its treasure-hunter motif--that is simply the backdrop. This is a book about problem solving, and salvaging a deep water shipwreck of great historical significance (and carrying great wealth) was simply the problem that Tommy Thompson chose to solve. Excellent, recommended for readers of all kinds. It's a long book but the pages fly by.
| 
