Rating: 
Summary: A Renaissance woman in Victorian times
Review: A very informative and gripping story about sailing clipper ships "around the horn" in the 1850's. Ellen Creesy was truly a woman ahead of her time who, as navigator of the Flying Cloud, stood along side her husband, Perkins, in setting a world record of 89 days for passage from New York to San Francisco. This book gives a good idea about what life was like aboard ship, not just for the officers and crew, but also for the passengers. It took an intrepid person to embark on such a journey, willing to face unknown dangers and take enormous risk. David Shaw has done an excellent job in a compelling and well-written account of one such voyage.
Rating:
Summary: A Renaissance woman in Victorian times
Review: A very informative and gripping story about sailing clipper ships "around the horn" in the 1850's. Ellen Creesy was truly a woman ahead of her time who, as navigator of the Flying Cloud, stood along side her husband, Perkins, in setting a world record of 89 days for passage from New York to San Francisco. This book gives a good idea about what life was like aboard ship, not just for the officers and crew, but also for the passengers. It took an intrepid person to embark on such a journey, willing to face unknown dangers and take enormous risk. David Shaw has done an excellent job in a compelling and well-written account of one such voyage.
Rating:
Summary: A little literary license to make history come alive
Review: If we are to avoid repeating the mistakes of history, we need to continue our attempts at understanding how people lived; How did they feel about their surroundings? What kinds of personal conflicts or demons did they face?In this excellent chronicle of the maiden voyage of Flying Cloud, Shaw takes plenty of liberty in trying to piece together the feelings, fears and motivations of the Captain, his navigator/spouse and other characters. While many would argue that historical accuracy is sacrificed to make the story interesting or that Shaw's lengthy dialogues from the character's thoughts and perceptions are totally contrived, I would stress that these insights may allow many who do not have prior historical background to appreciate the economic impact of the clipper ship on the rapid expansion of the American economic engine of the 19th century. While this does certainly limit the credibility of this book for pure historical research, Shaw's writing style serves to bring the excitement and risk of the voyage into a more reasonable and understandable perspective than most "pure" historical accounts ever could. If the reader seeks a broader understanding of the impact of the era of the Clippers and their ultimate demise to the domination of the steamship, then this book is a welcome supplement to the bibliography.
Rating:
Summary: A little literary license to make history come alive
Review: If we are to avoid repeating the mistakes of history, we need to continue our attempts at understanding how people lived; How did they feel about their surroundings? What kinds of personal conflicts or demons did they face? In this excellent chronicle of the maiden voyage of Flying Cloud, Shaw takes plenty of liberty in trying to piece together the feelings, fears and motivations of the Captain, his navigator/spouse and other characters. While many would argue that historical accuracy is sacrificed to make the story interesting or that Shaw's lengthy dialogues from the character's thoughts and perceptions are totally contrived, I would stress that these insights may allow many who do not have prior historical background to appreciate the economic impact of the clipper ship on the rapid expansion of the American economic engine of the 19th century. While this does certainly limit the credibility of this book for pure historical research, Shaw's writing style serves to bring the excitement and risk of the voyage into a more reasonable and understandable perspective than most "pure" historical accounts ever could. If the reader seeks a broader understanding of the impact of the era of the Clippers and their ultimate demise to the domination of the steamship, then this book is a welcome supplement to the bibliography.
Rating: 
Summary: The invented bits ruined it for me.
Review: Normally I will read and enjoy just about any non-fiction concerning the age of sail, but the non-fiction in this book gets drowned out by the (painfully obviously) contrived 'inner thoughts' of many of the participants. I cannot recommend you buying this book if you are hoping for a factual account of the construction and maiden voyage of a famous clipper (even though the actual reasearch that was done is adequate, if only just) , and, honestly, I cannot recommend this book to someone looking for a romantic fictionalized version of the same thing either. The romantic fiction stuff, in addition to being such pure invention, clunks something awful.
Rating: 
Summary: A well told story
Review: Since the story is a substantial piece of history, it must have been difficult for Shaw to make the narrative move so well. I was thoroughly engaged by Captain and Mrs. Creesy's exploits, and by the time the book ended I wished for more stories about other journeys of the Flying Cloud and the clipper ship era. After about the 1/3 point of the book, I was so engaged that I stayed awake reading late in to the next two nights in order to finish the book properly. The charts and maps and graphic explanations of the sailing maneuvers were extremely helpful especially since I know nothing about sailing. I should disclose that I have only been on a sailcraft once in my life so I was not reading for authenticity, but for the story telling, which I found excellent. I have read other works by Shaw (Daring the Sea) and feel that he is just starting to kick his creative powers in to high gear. IF you want a fast paced story and are interested in the dramatic side of history read this book.
Rating:
Summary: A well told story
Review: Since the story is a substantial piece of history, it must have been difficult for Shaw to make the narrative move so well. I was thoroughly engaged by Captain and Mrs. Creesy's exploits, and by the time the book ended I wished for more stories about other journeys of the Flying Cloud and the clipper ship era. After about the 1/3 point of the book, I was so engaged that I stayed awake reading late in to the next two nights in order to finish the book properly. The charts and maps and graphic explanations of the sailing maneuvers were extremely helpful especially since I know nothing about sailing. I should disclose that I have only been on a sailcraft once in my life so I was not reading for authenticity, but for the story telling, which I found excellent. I have read other works by Shaw (Daring the Sea) and feel that he is just starting to kick his creative powers in to high gear. IF you want a fast paced story and are interested in the dramatic side of history read this book.
Rating:
Summary: A must for Clipper Enthousiasts
Review: Sitting in my reading chair with my 3 feet Flying Cloud model (which took about 18 months to build) beside me, the story of the record breaking journey to San Fransisco became really alive. With the detailed descriptions of all things happening on board it seemed as if my scale model came to life. I really enjoyed reading it!
Rating:
Summary: A must for Clipper Enthousiasts
Review: Sitting in my reading chair with my 3 feet Flying Cloud model (which took about 18 months to build) beside me, the story of the record breaking journey to San Fransisco became really alive. With the detailed descriptions of all things happening on board it seemed as if my scale model came to life. I really enjoyed reading it!
Rating:
Summary: History lite
Review: Smooth but not very satisfying. This may please some looking for light reading, but it brings so little to the table, especially when compared to substantial works like Howard Chapelle's The Search for Speed Under Sail. Chapelle (out of print, but in the library) has it all, the understanding of sail and of how the clippers developed, for smuggling, of course. Smuggling opium into China and slaves out of Africa. Which explains why the Baltimore gave birth to the clipper. Baltimore was our greatest slaving port in the days after the trade became illegal, and the British Navy dedicated ships to intercepting slave traders. Nor does Shaw give us an idea of the economics of the clipper, the extremely high number of sailors needed to spread all of that canvas at the same time the size of the hold was reduced to streamline the ship for speed. Clippers could only be profitable when carrying extremely high-value cargo for extremely long distances in cases where time mattered. That,of course, is why the greatest clipper races were not to California but to London. The premium paid by the London market for the first of the year's tea crop made clipper ships pay, few other runs did. Nor does Shaw go into the question of why the greatest clippers were built in East Boston and not Baltimore or London, a question prababy best answered by Samuel E. Morison, our great sailor historian, or by Diana Muir in her dazzling new history of New England, Bullough's Pond.
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