Pride Of The Sea: Courage, Disaster, And A Fight For Survival (Thorndike Press Large Print Adventure)

Rating:
Summary: A great read
Review: Having grown up on the Atlantic Ocean, this story was captivating to me. It is almost unbelieveable how dangerous the ocean can become in a matter of minutes; the author, Tom Waldron, did a great job of describing the fury of the ocean at it's most violent.

Waldron put the story together in a logical, readable format. He included a lot of interesting information about how the ship was built, the history of sailing ships, especially clipper ships, and even included numerous pictures, so one is able to attach faces with names in the narrative.

Interesting to me was the description of the life on board the Pride -- lack of space below, lack of showers, etc. A very primitive existance. The vivid descriptions of the storms were captivating -- made the book hard to put down.

Finally, the section about the aftermath was most compelling. Waldron described in detail the suffering and emotional roller coaster the survivors went through until their rescue. I recommend this book highly.

Rating:
Summary: Sad Memory, Wonderful Tribute
Review: Having lived in Maryland until just a couple of years ago, I clearly remember the Pride and when she sank. I was at Martin's Airport with a friend the day the survivors returned, and it was a moving experience. I cried seeing these people, whom I had never met, yet knowing what they'd been through and seeing the sadness on their faces. It's one of those moments in time that you know you'll always remember, but life goes on and it fades into the background. But seeing this book at our local book store brought it all back to me in vivid color. I shared the experience with my husband, told him about this beautiful beloved ship that we were all so proud of and the pain every Marylander felt when we heard the news that she was lost, and that some of its crew were lost with her. This book is a moving, loving tribute to our beloved Pride and her crew and I would recommend it to anyone who appreciates the sea.

Rating:
Summary: A true life adventure rivaling fictional sea stories
Review: This book is a page turner. Very well written, with both historical information regarding this type of ship, and this ship in particular. Those parts of the book discussing the sailing characteristics of the Pride were highly interesting from a technical standpoint, and when applied to the storm situations described, made pretty exciting reading.
I found the backround information on the ship's crew, the story of how the ship was built, and the aftermath of the sinking, added greatly to the books interest. The story of the crews stuggle to survive after the Pride sank rates with any survival-at-sea saga that I have ever read. The details provided are just amazing, and make you feel like you were right in the raft.
This book is as good a read as you will find in current literature.