Rating: 
Summary: Truly a gold nugget...
Review: A few years ago, I visited the Museum of Gardening History on the south embankment of the Thames in London. The Museum is housed in a former church, and plant specimens from the New World as well as the remains of Tradescants, the botanists who discovered and classified many of them, are located on the grounds. The crisp October day I visited the museum, Tradescantia (blue-flowered Virgina Spiderwort) were in bloom and the leaves of the Virginia Creeper were turning a bright red. I lingered in this beautiful spot, reading the inscriptions on the tombstones, and in so doing discovered the grave of Captain William Bligh. Until that moment, I had had no idea Bligh was anything other than the dreadful character portrayed by Charles Laughton in the film "Mutiny on the Bounty." That day, I learned he was an educated man who transported a number of botanists overseas, including the Tradescants, and thereby played an important role in the collection and classification of plant life. Since then, I have made it a point to learn all I can about this amazing and much maligned man. For example, I once lived in Hawaii, and knew Captain Cook had died at Kealakekua Bay, but I did not know Bligh was on that ill-fated expedition until I saw the 1980's film "The Bounty" starring Sir Anthony Hopkins as Bligh. (A far more accurate film than the older version.) I enjoyed Toohey's book. It is an excellent history: factual, interesting, balanced. I did not know until I read Toohey's book that Bligh had distinguished himself during the Napoleonic Wars. This man was truly a hero, and deserves to be re-discovered and honored for his accomplishments.
Rating:
Summary: Truly a gold nugget...
Review: A few years ago, I visited the Museum of Gardening History on the south embankment of the Thames in London. The Museum is housed in a former church, and plant specimens from the New World as well as the remains of Tradescants, the botanists who discovered and classified many of them, are located on the grounds. The crisp October day I visited the museum, Tradescantia (blue-flowered Virgina Spiderwort) were in bloom and the leaves of the Virginia Creeper were turning a bright red. I lingered in this beautiful spot, reading the inscriptions on the tombstones, and in so doing discovered the grave of Captain William Bligh. Until that moment, I had had no idea Bligh was anything other than the dreadful character portrayed by Charles Laughton in the film "Mutiny on the Bounty." That day, I learned he was an educated man who transported a number of botanists overseas, including the Tradescants, and thereby played an important role in the collection and classification of plant life. Since then, I have made it a point to learn all I can about this amazing and much maligned man. For example, I once lived in Hawaii, and knew Captain Cook had died at Kealakekua Bay, but I did not know Bligh was on that ill-fated expedition until I saw the 1980's film "The Bounty" starring Sir Anthony Hopkins as Bligh. (A far more accurate film than the older version.) I enjoyed Toohey's book. It is an excellent history: factual, interesting, balanced. I did not know until I read Toohey's book that Bligh had distinguished himself during the Napoleonic Wars. This man was truly a hero, and deserves to be re-discovered and honored for his accomplishments.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: An old and familiar story retold from new perspectives and with fresh insights into history and character. This is a fascinating book and you will enjoy it whether you are an amateur historian or just enjoy good writing. Reminds me of Joyhn McPhee's books -- the writer is so good he can make any subject interesting.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: An old and familiar story retold from new perspectives and with fresh insights into history and character. This is a fascinating book and you will enjoy it whether you are an amateur historian or just enjoy good writing. Reminds me of Joyhn McPhee's books -- the writer is so good he can make any subject interesting.
Rating: 
Summary: Long Overdue Balance to Much Maligned Bligh
Review: Apologies to Charles Laughton, Hollywood's swaggering, autocratic 18th Century British naval officer who loses HMS Bounty to Marlon Brando's Mr. Christian. Author John Toohey's book "Captain Bligh's Portable Nightmare" lends long overdue balance to the extremely capable if troubled William Bligh. Combining history with literary license, Toohey weaves a gripping account of survival and intrigue. The book's early focus is on Bligh's experiences as ship's Master and principal cartographer during James Cook's third exploration of the Pacific. When Cook is killed in the Sandwich Islands Bligh feels blame. This guilt is compounded by disgust when, upon returning to England, Bligh finds he has been deprived credit for his work on the expedition's soon famous maps of the Pacific. These "failures" drive Bligh to seek an opportunity to reclaim just honor and recognition. It comes in 1787 when Bligh is sent on a mission of moderate importance. Like all he does, Bligh is compelled to conduct it as though the world were watching (as they had Cook ten years earlier). There is a mutiny. Bligh and eighteen men are set adrift in a 23 foot launch with a meager ration of food, water, instruments but no charts. His leadership and navigation skills are challenged by storms, starvation, exposure, and (again) growing dissention yet Bligh negotiates nearly 4,200 miles of ocean to safety in Timor -- with the loss of one man and all the while obsessively (if not dutifully) making notations and drawings of landforms along the way. It is an incomparable achievement yet, upon returning to England questions of the mutiny share headlines with the tale of brilliant navigation and survival. Though Bligh's wife's words, Toohey sums up the man best: "He has always given the impression he has been victimized, yet he seems wilfully prepared to destroy his career for an insignificant principle... His troubles consume him... He is so determined to abide by the letter of the law he can never understand how he aggravates people who know that certain situations require more imagination than he is prepared to put in. They admire him, respect him, call him a hero -- but they never warm to him... More than any man she has ever met he feels utterly alone." Toohey description of Bligh and his interrelationship with his "boat mates," -- particularly stubborn William Purcell and the conspiring John Fryer -- lend intrigue. This story evokes qualities from "Bridge On the River Kwai" and "Tweleve Angry Men". It's a good read and a balanced account that helps the reader climb into a 23 foot boat in the South Pacific and into the head of Britain's most maligned sea captain.
Rating:
Summary: Long Overdue Balance to Much Maligned Bligh
Review: Apologies to Charles Laughton, Hollywood's swaggering, autocratic 18th Century British naval officer who loses HMS Bounty to Marlon Brando's Mr. Christian. Author John Toohey's book "Captain Bligh's Portable Nightmare" lends long overdue balance to the extremely capable if troubled William Bligh. Combining history with literary license, Toohey weaves a gripping account of survival and intrigue. The book's early focus is on Bligh's experiences as ship's Master and principal cartographer during James Cook's third exploration of the Pacific. When Cook is killed in the Sandwich Islands Bligh feels blame. This guilt is compounded by disgust when, upon returning to England, Bligh finds he has been deprived credit for his work on the expedition's soon famous maps of the Pacific. These "failures" drive Bligh to seek an opportunity to reclaim just honor and recognition. It comes in 1787 when Bligh is sent on a mission of moderate importance. Like all he does, Bligh is compelled to conduct it as though the world were watching (as they had Cook ten years earlier). There is a mutiny. Bligh and eighteen men are set adrift in a 23 foot launch with a meager ration of food, water, instruments but no charts. His leadership and navigation skills are challenged by storms, starvation, exposure, and (again) growing dissention yet Bligh negotiates nearly 4,200 miles of ocean to safety in Timor -- with the loss of one man and all the while obsessively (if not dutifully) making notations and drawings of landforms along the way. It is an incomparable achievement yet, upon returning to England questions of the mutiny share headlines with the tale of brilliant navigation and survival. Though Bligh's wife's words, Toohey sums up the man best: "He has always given the impression he has been victimized, yet he seems wilfully prepared to destroy his career for an insignificant principle... His troubles consume him... He is so determined to abide by the letter of the law he can never understand how he aggravates people who know that certain situations require more imagination than he is prepared to put in. They admire him, respect him, call him a hero -- but they never warm to him... More than any man she has ever met he feels utterly alone." Toohey description of Bligh and his interrelationship with his "boat mates," -- particularly stubborn William Purcell and the conspiring John Fryer -- lend intrigue. This story evokes qualities from "Bridge On the River Kwai" and "Tweleve Angry Men". It's a good read and a balanced account that helps the reader climb into a 23 foot boat in the South Pacific and into the head of Britain's most maligned sea captain.
Rating:
Summary: Long Overdue Balance to Much Maligned Bligh
Review: Apologies to Charles Laughton, Hollywood's swaggering, autocratic 18th Century British naval officer who loses HMS Bounty to Marlon Brando's Mr. Christian. Author John Toohey's book "Captain Bligh's Portable Nightmare" lends long overdue balance to the extremely capable if troubled William Bligh. Combining history with literary license, Toohey weaves a gripping account of survival and intrigue. The book's early focus is on Bligh's experiences as ship's Master and principal cartographer during James Cook's third exploration of the Pacific. When Cook is killed in the Sandwich Islands Bligh feels blame. This guilt is compounded by disgust when, upon returning to England, Bligh finds he has been deprived credit for his work on the expedition's soon famous maps of the Pacific. These "failures" drive Bligh to seek an opportunity to reclaim just honor and recognition. It comes in 1787 when Bligh is sent on a mission of moderate importance. Like all he does, Bligh is compelled to conduct it as though the world were watching (as they had Cook ten years earlier). There is a mutiny. Bligh and eighteen men are set adrift in a 23 foot launch with a meager ration of food, water, instruments but no charts. His leadership and navigation skills are challenged by storms, starvation, exposure, and (again) growing dissention yet Bligh negotiates nearly 4,200 miles of ocean to safety in Timor -- with the loss of one man and all the while obsessively (if not dutifully) making notations and drawings of landforms along the way. It is an incomparable achievement yet, upon returning to England questions of the mutiny share headlines with the tale of brilliant navigation and survival. Though Bligh's wife's words, Toohey sums up the man best: "He has always given the impression he has been victimized, yet he seems wilfully prepared to destroy his career for an insignificant principle... His troubles consume him... He is so determined to abide by the letter of the law he can never understand how he aggravates people who know that certain situations require more imagination than he is prepared to put in. They admire him, respect him, call him a hero -- but they never warm to him... More than any man she has ever met he feels utterly alone." Toohey description of Bligh and his interrelationship with his "boat mates," -- particularly stubborn William Purcell and the conspiring John Fryer -- lend intrigue. This story evokes qualities from "Bridge On the River Kwai" and "Tweleve Angry Men". It's a good read and a balanced account that helps the reader climb into a 23 foot boat in the South Pacific and into the head of Britain's most maligned sea captain.
Rating: 
Summary: pretty good
Review: Faint praise, but I like my narrative history to be beautifully written, to tell me things that I never knew, and to open my mind to new ways of seeing the world. For my money, the five line description of Bligh's voyage that appears incidentally in Diana Muir's Bullough's Pond gives us all the essentials. Of course, Muir is in the midst of another story. For all his defense of Bligh and his undoubtedly virtuoso navigational skills, Toohey fails to convince that he was a great leader. The plain fact is that British captains almost routinely led sullen, ill-educated, ill-clad, ill-housed, ill-fed men on nearly unendurable journeys and got them home again without mutiny. Bligh's men rebelled twice. How great a captain can he have been?
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable reading
Review: I enjoyed reading this book, and found out many things which I hadn't previously known about the boat trip of some 4200 miles. One cannot help but admire Bligh after reading this account, after all it must take a very strong man indeed to motivate those 18 men who went with him to sail such a distance through starvation and thirst and to keep them motivated for 8 weeks to continue when most men would have resigned themselves to fate. My only disappointment in the book (hence 3 stars)was the lack of content. The book is basically Bligh's reflections after being thrown off the Bounty and some history of his time served under Cook and life after returning home. There is virtually no account of the events leading up to the actual mutiny. Perhaps the author's intention was to concentrate on the journey to Timor. The book itself is therefore quite a short, although enjoyable read, and just perhaps another chapter or two covering the events leading to the mutiny would have sufficed.
Rating:
Summary: Potable
Review: If you are going to write a defense of William Bligh, you are going to have to deal with what happened on "The Bounty". This book doesn't address that and this is a major problem with the book. This is not a story about a ship sunk by a storm or by a whale. It is a story about a Royal Navy captain whose crew committed mutiny and put him adrift in the Pacific. It seems to me if you are going to tell Bligh's story you just can't start at the point where he is lowered into the boat by the mutineers. Especially not when you are going to spend a lot of the book defending the man's character. I can only think that Mr. Toohey felt that people had such a cartoonish image of Bligh as some sort of sadistic beast that he needed to concentrate on Bligh's positive leadership qualities and navigational skills in bringing those loyal to him over 4,000 miles across the ocean to safety. But even here we have a problem, as some of the men who went with Bligh did not respect him and were openly rebellious. Their criticisms are made to seem petty and indeed they were. Bligh's second in command, John Fryer, clearly did not like Bligh and made false accusations that Bligh gave himself larger rations and overcharged the Royal Navy for supplies. But other men besides Fryer did not respect Bligh either. Since Toohey will go no further than to say that Bligh was not very flexible and was a stickler for regulations you really can't see what the problem was. The author asserts that Bligh was not a brute. He was a loving husband and father. He did not believe in flogging, which is rather remarkable for that period. So something is missing as the book loses its focus. Rather than being able to concentrate on the remarkable journey to safety we are always left wondering at what was behind the whole thing. In the epilogue Mr. Toohey explains that Bligh was later the victim of another mutiny when he was in command of the aptly named "Defiance" and on the "Director" his men voted to have him replaced! What was the problem with this man? The reason I am still giving this book 3 stars is that is well-written in the sense that it has a nice style and flows along smoothly. It is almost novelistic. The descriptions of Bligh's encounters with Pacific Islanders are interesting and exciting. But it is not enough to overcome the fundamental flaws of the book.
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