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.
Rating: Summary: An enjoyable read Review: It's rare that I give 5 stars for a book review but this, in my opinion, has earned it. I'm a self-confessed Bounty-phile, sucking up all the literature that she has to offer and this was no exception.William Bligh must go down as one of the most maligned persons in history. This from a man who acted as second in command to Cook in his early 20's, became governor of Australia and, as this book explains, sailed over 4000 miles from memory in a 23 foot boat losing not a single man during the voyage. Toohey starts us with the happenings at Keakekua Bay, Hawaii the day Cook was murdered. This, according to Toohey, stayed with Bligh all his years and coloured his actions thereafter. Sections of the book contain dialogue between the men in the boat; this has to be guessed at obviously but Toohey makes a decent stab at it. This wil not take you long to read but will provide some valuable information on an oft-neglected area of the whole Bounty lore.
Rating: Summary: A rehash of old material Review: This is simply a rewrite of what has already been published many times. William Bligh published a full account in 1792 with the full title, "A Voyage to the South Sea Undertaken by Command of His Majesty for the Purpose of Conveying the Bread-Fruit Tree to the West Indies in His Majesty's Ship the Bounty Commanded by Lieutenant William Bligh and an Account of the Mutiny on Board H.M.S. Bounty and the Subsequent Voyage of Part of the Crew in the Ship's Boat, from Tofoa, One of the Friendly Islands, to Timor, a Dutch Settlement in the East Indies." That book was republished in 1961 with a shortened title, "The Mutiny on Board H.M.S. Bounty." I am sure that there are copies in various libraries and private collections. Nordhoff and Hall published a fictionalized version, and that seemed to lead to a spate of books in the 1930's about the life of Vice Admiral William Bligh. The story is well known, and there is little to add. Bligh's problems came mainly from inexperience coupled with his own brash way of addressing people. He took command of the Bounty at the age of 33, and it was his first command of a Royal Navy vessel. Prior to that he had been a ship's master, with a very short period as a lieutenant. He was on his own far from the fleet. His skill as a navigator saved the crew members in the ship's boat (although many died from illness after reaching Batavia, a well known fever port).
Rating: Summary: A rehash of old material Review: This is simply a rewrite of what has already been published many times. William Bligh published a full account in 1792 with the full title, "A Voyage to the South Sea Undertaken by Command of His Majesty for the Purpose of Conveying the Bread-Fruit Tree to the West Indies in His Majesty's Ship the Bounty Commanded by Lieutenant William Bligh and an Account of the Mutiny on Board H.M.S. Bounty and the Subsequent Voyage of Part of the Crew in the Ship's Boat, from Tofoa, One of the Friendly Islands, to Timor, a Dutch Settlement in the East Indies." That book was republished in 1961 with a shortened title, "The Mutiny on Board H.M.S. Bounty." I am sure that there are copies in various libraries and private collections. Nordhoff and Hall published a fictionalized version, and that seemed to lead to a spate of books in the 1930's about the life of Vice Admiral William Bligh. The story is well known, and there is little to add. Bligh's problems came mainly from inexperience coupled with his own brash way of addressing people. He took command of the Bounty at the age of 33, and it was his first command of a Royal Navy vessel. Prior to that he had been a ship's master, with a very short period as a lieutenant. He was on his own far from the fleet. His skill as a navigator saved the crew members in the ship's boat (although many died from illness after reaching Batavia, a well known fever port).
Rating: Summary: Fiction or Non-Fiction? Review: Toohey's book belongs in what may seem an all new category. Terms like "faction" and "post-modern historical fiction" have been coined by others. If fiction and non-fiction are on a contiuum, then Bligh's Nightmare falls dead center. The historical research is impressive, and the fictional dramatization draws the reader right onto the boat. Reminiscent of The Perfect Storm, a work of non-fiction, but with all the gripping devices of fiction. Who said history has to be dry? This is a gem!
Rating: Summary: Fiction or Non-Fiction? Review: Toohey's book belongs in what may seem an all new category. Terms like "faction" and "post-modern historical fiction" have been coined by others. If fiction and non-fiction are on a contiuum, then Bligh's Nightmare falls dead center. The historical research is impressive, and the fictional dramatization draws the reader right onto the boat. Reminiscent of The Perfect Storm, a work of non-fiction, but with all the gripping devices of fiction. Who said history has to be dry? This is a gem!
Rating: Summary: Did not compare well to fictionalized 'Men Against the Sea' Review: While this book was nicely written and a quick read, I did not particularly enjoy it. While the story of Bligh and his men and their journey across the South Pacific is truly one of the most amazing stories of sea survival ever to occur, this book tooled thru so much of the journey so quickly that I never got the sense of its scope or its heroic nature. I also agree with comments of other reviewers that it did not convey Bligh's great leadership abilities well. In that regard the fcitionalized 'Men Against the Sea' (Nordhoff and Hall) did a much better job. If anything, this telling made me more understanding of the resentment of the men in the boat (as opposed to those who stayed behind after the mutiny) against Bligh, while the novel made it clear that the same qualites of control and rigor which resulted in the mutiny are also the major reasons that Bligh and his men survived the journey. I would heartily recommend the entire MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY trilogy for those who are interested in the Bounty story over this somewhat factual account.
Rating: Summary: Did not compare well to fictionalized 'Men Against the Sea' Review: While this book was nicely written and a quick read, I did not particularly enjoy it. While the story of Bligh and his men and their journey across the South Pacific is truly one of the most amazing stories of sea survival ever to occur, this book tooled thru so much of the journey so quickly that I never got the sense of its scope or its heroic nature. I also agree with comments of other reviewers that it did not convey Bligh's great leadership abilities well. In that regard the fcitionalized 'Men Against the Sea' (Nordhoff and Hall) did a much better job. If anything, this telling made me more understanding of the resentment of the men in the boat (as opposed to those who stayed behind after the mutiny) against Bligh, while the novel made it clear that the same qualites of control and rigor which resulted in the mutiny are also the major reasons that Bligh and his men survived the journey. I would heartily recommend the entire MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY trilogy for those who are interested in the Bounty story over this somewhat factual account.
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