Rating: 
Summary: Tragic Tale
Review: A ground-breaking ship that wrecks with a horrible loss of life? If it's the Titanic you're talking about, you've got oodles of books, papers, first-hand accounts, and photographs to go on. If it's the Arctic, however, you've got very little. I was impressed by Shaw's ability to craft a book out of such limited resources. Unlike Walter Lord, he did not have a roster of survivors to interview. Certainly by this point even the great-grandchildren of the survivors have passed away! The limited information does lead to some thin parts in the book. However, the gripping tale of survival makes up for the occasional slow spot. For the passengers and crew of the Arctic, surviving the sinking was only half the challenge. Rescue was days away, and Shaw captures the hopes and despairs of the stranded with expert ability. A great read about the time when ships still hurled themselves over the horizon into the wide-open sea, left for to fend for themselves as surely as if they had been placed on the moon.
Rating:
Summary: Tragic Tale
Review: A ground-breaking ship that wrecks with a horrible loss of life? If it's the Titanic you're talking about, you've got oodles of books, papers, first-hand accounts, and photographs to go on. If it's the Arctic, however, you've got very little. I was impressed by Shaw's ability to craft a book out of such limited resources. Unlike Walter Lord, he did not have a roster of survivors to interview. Certainly by this point even the great-grandchildren of the survivors have passed away! The limited information does lead to some thin parts in the book. However, the gripping tale of survival makes up for the occasional slow spot. For the passengers and crew of the Arctic, surviving the sinking was only half the challenge. Rescue was days away, and Shaw captures the hopes and despairs of the stranded with expert ability. A great read about the time when ships still hurled themselves over the horizon into the wide-open sea, left for to fend for themselves as surely as if they had been placed on the moon.
Rating:
Summary: Women and children last.
Review: A sad story about a ship's crew deserting their quarters to save themselves rather than the passengers they were carrying across the Atlantic. For those interested in disasters and the maritime trade across the Atlantic, this is a great story. I have read one other of Shaw's books (Daring the Sea) and this is by far a superior story. Shaw recreates much of the 1850s trade with Great Britain, and the subsequent disaster, that this is enticing reading. The hero is Captain Luce who is willing to sacrifice the life of himself and his young son for the passengers. Ultimately he is one of the survivors through a fluke of fate. His son dies. Another hero is the crewman who continued the distress signal until he died. These people deserved to live, not the rabble who took the life boats.
Walter Lord endorsed this book before he passed away. Since most of Lord's books are great reads, the reader should get a hold of a copy of this book and read this exciting tale.
Rating: 
Summary: Verbiage is not Detail
Review: Author David Shaw does himself a grave disservice when, in his introduction, he compares himself to the late Walter Lord who wrote "A Night to Remember," one of the great nonfiction works of the 20th century. Shaw very clumsily tells us that his book won't be as good as Lord's retelling of the Titanic disaster because he didn't have any living eyewitnesses to interview. Well, neither did Lord when he wrote "The Dawn's Early Light," his 1972 account of the War of 1812 that has all the breathless immediacy of on-the-scene reporting. The simple fact is that Walter Lord was a brilliant writer with an eye for illuminating detail and telling quotes. David Shaw has, I'm afraid, the merest shadow of Mr. Lord's talent. Over and over again the considerable suspense generated by the steamship Arctic's predicament is spoiled by Shaw saying things like (paraphrase), "Little did they know that every woman and child would soon be dead and only 24 male passengers would survive to tell the tale" -- and this as the main action of the story is just getting underway. Talk about ruining your own punchline! Furthermore, he seems to mistake verbiage for detail, loading his sentences down with long lists of adjectives in what seems to be an attempt to make his short book longer. And speaking of detail, one wonders where it is, until the appendix, where Shaw casually reveals interesting tidbits about such subjects as the final moments of some of the key players. This stuff and more of it needed to be in the main text, not tossed in the back like a discarded beer can. The story of the Arctic is one of high drama, whose bare facts make for good reading. But this drama was not well served by David Shaw. For a harrowing tale, see "Women and Children Last," written on the same subject some 40 years earlier. And for brilliant nonfiction writing, read anything by Walter Lord.
Rating: 
Summary: Be embraced by "The Sea Shall Embrace Them"
Review: Be prepared to be embraced by "The Sea Shall Embrace them",a riveting story about the sinking of the steamship Arctic in 1854. Mr. Shaw has researched first hand accounts of the survivors, and brought them back to life to tell the story of heroism and cowardice. Anyone who has spent any amount of time on the water will be sucked into the extraordinary details covering the tragedy. Beyond the horrible events that caused the sinking, the book wrestles with the sociological implications of the era and the maritime ethic of women and children first. Standby for heavy rolls!
Rating:
Summary: written with broad knowledge of the sea and the era
Review: David W. Shaw has given us a gripping account of the steamship Arctic, which sank in September 1854 while making a crossing from Liverpool. The book is informed by his wide knowledge as a seaman, and his grasp of the economic competition between U.S. ship company owner Collins and his British rival, Cunard. The steamship was traveling as quickly as its boilers could take it, even in inpenetrable fog, when it collided with a smaller vessel, the French steamship, Vesta. Ironically at first, it looked as it the Vesta was fatally damaged, and Captain Luce of the Arctic had to make one of the toughest decisions a mariner must face: He had to try to save his own passengers and crew and leave the people on the Vesta to their fates. But it soon became apparent that the Arctic was sinking quickly, without nearly enough lifeboats for all the people on board. In the chaos that followed, all the women and children passengers were lost. Only the strongest and most agile survived, most of them crew members. As for the Vesta, although many suffered loss of life, the ship was able to limp into Newfoundland days later. Shaw writes well, although occasionally his foreshadowing is heavily overdone. This can be partially excused, since we know the tragic outcome of the tale, but it gives his work an amateurish quality. Overall, this harrowingly sad sea yarn will hold your attention throughout.
Rating:
Summary: written with broad knowledge of the sea and the era
Review: David W. Shaw has given us a gripping account of the steamship Arctic, which sank in September 1854 while making a crossing from Liverpool. The book is informed by his wide knowledge as a seaman, and his grasp of the economic competition between U.S. ship company owner Collins and his British rival, Cunard. The steamship was traveling as quickly as its boilers could take it, even in inpenetrable fog, when it collided with a smaller vessel, the French steamship, Vesta. Ironically at first, it looked as it the Vesta was fatally damaged, and Captain Luce of the Arctic had to make one of the toughest decisions a mariner must face: He had to try to save his own passengers and crew and leave the people on the Vesta to their fates. But it soon became apparent that the Arctic was sinking quickly, without nearly enough lifeboats for all the people on board. In the chaos that followed, all the women and children passengers were lost. Only the strongest and most agile survived, most of them crew members. As for the Vesta, although many suffered loss of life, the ship was able to limp into Newfoundland days later. Shaw writes well, although occasionally his foreshadowing is heavily overdone. This can be partially excused, since we know the tragic outcome of the tale, but it gives his work an amateurish quality. Overall, this harrowingly sad sea yarn will hold your attention throughout.
Rating:
Summary: Heroism, Cowardice, and Tragedy on the Grand Banks
Review: Everyone has heard of the British Cunard line; few have heard of the American Collins line. Yet in the mid-19th century the American trans-Atlantic lines dominated. The end of that dominance has much to do with the tragedy of the Arctic. The Arctic was hit bow-on by an iron-clad vessel as it sped recklessly through the foggy and heavily-travelled Grand Banks. But there were no musicians playing on the deck, as on the Titanic. Instead, there was a vicious fight for survival in which not one woman or child survived, and 400 passengers and crew died. The captain took his son to the wheelhouse and prepared to go down with the ship. A series of incredible events followed which I won't divulge here, and the captain survived. The scandal that broke out when he returned to New York and incriminated the crew kept the headlines buzzing for a month. This is an excellently written book, which not only tells a compelling story but also gives a vivid feeling for life in the maritime trades in 19th century America, as the nation was coming into its own and sail was giving way to steam.
Rating:
Summary: Engrossing tale
Review: I found this book to be a well written account of a tragic maritime accident. Captain Luce, the captain of the SS Arctic, comes alive on the pages. His love for his disabled son comes across strongly and makes Luce human across the distance of 150 years. The book introduces us to a time when the American shipping industry (taking advantage of the British being occupied with the Crimean War) led the world in transatlantic shipping. The author shows us how the competitive nature of the time to always be the fastest led to the disaster. When the tragedy strikes and the ship is damaged, the author brings the disaster to life as we see the crew abandoning women and children (not a single woman or child survived the sinking) as they steal the few lifeboats the ship carried. It is in discussing the events after the sinking where the book fails in my opinion. Nothing was done to punish the crew and the author doesn't really explain why the maritime courts never sought out the crew for punishment. Overall, however, the book is well written and informative.
Rating:
Summary: A Spellbinding Tale of the Sea
Review: I have to disagree with some of the book's reviewers, in that I found Mr. Shaw's tale fascinating and well-articulated. It is a story that is largely unknown, yet deserving of the telling, since it greatly impacted future, transatlantic travel. Much of the reference material is from a more florid era of writing, which to a modern reader may be somewhat tiresome; but Shaw handles it well, blending sections taken directly from reports of the time with modern insight and logical assumptions. (If he says the ship's captain gazed out across the sea, can anyone doubt that in truth, Capt. Luce did exactly that?...even though he didn't write anyone a letter stating such?) Without some input on Shaw's part, the book would become a simple recitation of newspaper articles. In the earlier portion of the book, Shaw gives an extremely interesting view of what it was like to travel the North Atlantic, in 1854...especially, aboard the largest and most luxurious ship of the time, the Arctic. Insight is provided into Collins' philosophy of "paying for the best" employees, and the level of clientele to whom he catered. You are introduced to various, illustrious passengers, including members of Collins' own family, and to the battle that Collins was fighting, with Congress and with Cunard, to become the preeminent steamship company on the New York to Liverpool run. Finally, of course, what you have been waiting for arrives...the foggy morning of September 27th, when the two ships collide and, instantaneously, the numerous decisions which Capt. Luce must make to minimize the damage and loss of life. Tragically, you watch his efforts repeatedly defeated by a terrified crew, the blinding fog, the fatal damage to the ship, an insufficient number of lifeboats, loss of his first mate, and the frigid waters of the Grand Banks forty nautical miles from Cape Race, Newfoundland. I would recommend the book heartily to anyone who enjoys his history mixed with drama and suspense. Paradoxically, each time I went back to the book I found myself hoping the Arctic wouldn't really sink.
|
