ping in 1951 , and the personal memoir of the author, who served as a seamanquartermaster aboard Haida in World W ar II . Because the author had access to the ship 's log, to hi s own wartime correspondence and to hi s own remarkable memory, the book is bl essed-or burdened-with almost limitless minuti ae of the daily operations of a Coast Guard cutter as an escort vessel and weather ship in voyages between ports of Alaska and the Aleuti an Islands, whi ch, as the author concedes, was not a major theater of maritime action in WW II. LCDR HAROLD J. McCORMICK, US NR (RETIRED) Author of Two Years Behind the Mast. Thunder Below: the USS Barb Revolutionizes Submarine Warfare in World War II, Adm . Eugene B. Fluckey (Uni versity of Illinois Press, Chicago IL, 1992, 444pp, maps photos, appendices, index; $29.95hb) In thi s hi story of fo ur war patrols of the USS Barb, Fluckey provides a personal acco unt of the subm arine campaign aga in st Japan 's navy a nd me rchant marine. Recipient of four Navy Crosses and the Congressional Medal of Honor, he sank the greatest tonnage of any American submariner in World War II. Both American and Japanese historical sources together with personal accounts fro m various crewmen are used to give a balanced view of thi s ocean- wide struggle. The perspecti ve diffe rs depending on various situations, giving the reader a view " up close and personal." Yet thi s presentation is hampered by the book's patrol log fo rmat giving dates and times of events. Continuity is sacrificed to realism. Additionally, the preface states that " reconstructed conversations abound to breathe life into the story" and that they have a fac tual bas is due to the sources of the author. While these conversations do indeed add the human element to the story, they are of questionable value from an hi storical perspective. Readers seeking comparable personal acco unts of World War II submarine campaigns will also want to read Paul R. Schratz 'sSubmarine Commander: A Story of Wor ld Wa r Two and Korea (Uni versity Press o f Kentucky, 1988) and the recently reprinted Erich Topp Odyssey ofa U-Boa t Commander: Recollections of Erich Topp (Greenwood , 1992). HAROLD N. BOYER Broomall , Penn ys lvani a SEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-93
The Whale and His Captors ; or, the Whaleman ' s Adventures, and the Whale Biography, as Gathered on the Homeward Cruise of the Commodore Preble, by Rev. Henry T. Cheever (Ye Galleon Press, Fairfi eld WA , orig. 1850, repr. 1991 , 3 14pp, illus, notes; $ 19.95hb) The Cruise of the Gipsy: The Journal of John Wilson, Surgeon, on a Whaling Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, 18391843, edited by Honore Forster (Ye Galleon Press, Fairfie ld W A, 199 1, 404pp, illus, biblio, index; $32.50) The Pacific whaling voyages of the British Dr. John Wil son ( 1839-43) and the American Rev. Henry Cheever ( 184344) cover a peri od when the British whale fi shery in that area was dec lining and the American was rapidl y ex pandi ng. It is perhaps appropri ate, then, th at Cheever 's narrati ve, based on hi s journals and the stories of hi s shipboard compani ons, is full of lively anecdotes of the whalin g trade (an acti ve partic ipant in several chases , the author, himself, was th row n overboard by thras hing whales more than once), a detailed hi story of the industry and the ' natural hi story' of the whale. By contrast, Dr. Wil so n's jo urn al onl y occas iona ll y to uches on the ques t for wha les (a lth ough the voyage was a successful one) , foc usin g, in stead , on the islands and ports the Gipsy visited , in cl uding descri pti ons of the inh abitants, geography and fl ora of the strange, tropica l lands. Both auth ors we re educated men and the ir writin g is both luc id and e nte rta ining. JM A
Marine Insurance Policy, Wa shington Insurance Co. , Providen ce, 1806, car go to foreign port $50, to US port $40 . Ea rly ship bills of lading, 1800s $25 . E. Moore Box 243 W ynn ewood P A 19096
Dockland Life: A Pictorial History of London's Docks, 1860-1970, by Chris Ellmers and Alex Werner (Museum of London, di st. by Trafa lgar Square, North Pomfret VT 05053 , 199 1, 205 pp, illus; $39.95 hb). If you delight in historic waterways, old brick, hard-working men and the coming and going of an incredible variety of shipping-get this book ! PS
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Pearl Harbor: Final Judgment, by Henry Clauson and Bruce Lee (Crown Publishers, New York, 1992, 485pp, illus, append, index; $25hb ). Thi s careful , full and authoritati ve report is not go ing to be popul ar with conspiracy enthusiasts; in a fasc inating search the author (armed with high governmenta l authority) found nothing but sloth and care lessness behind the di saster that befe ll the US Pac ific Fleet in the Japanese attac k of December 7, 194 1, which prec ipitated US entry into World War II. PS
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