Severin is at his best describing exotic locales and hardscrabble fishermen like Max Valeroso in Pamilacan , Samson Cook of Tonga, or Bernardus on Lamalera. Max was a jumper, capturing whale shark, manta and Brydes whale by diving down to the beast and hooking it. In seeking the elusive white whale, Severin's documentary helps men and women tell, and thus preserve, stories of their past. Severin handles Herman Me lvill e roughly, calling him a liar, plagiarist and more. But after all, it was this scoundrel who penned what some deem to be the great American novel and also inspired Severin to embark upon an adventure resulting in a unique narrative of peoples and their ancient relationships to the sea and a very special creature inhabiting the deep. P ETER SORENSEN
Mystic, Connecticut The Ship and the Storm: Hurricane Mitch and the Loss of the Fantome, by Jim Carrier (McGraw-Hill/International Marine, Camde n ME, 2001, 265pp, illus, ISBN 0-07-135526-X; $24.95hc) If you have never been to sea, you may decide it just isn't for you after reading this superb work by Jim Carrier. If you have been to sea, yo u will most likely feel the same rush of adrenaline, the same deep horror, and the same awe that I experienced while reading about Hurricane Mitch and the tragic loss of the four-masted schooner Fantome with all hands off Honduras in the fall of 1998. Carrier is a sai lor; he did his homework and h e left nothing to co nj ecture. His research is impeccable, and unless he could verify it with at least two people, he didn 't trust a piece of information. He visited sites and spoke with inhabitants of the Bay Islands-where M itch sat for nearly 40 hours devastating the landscape with 150knot winds. Through his skill at interviewing and then imparting the knowledge gained in clear, nontechnical language, the reader will penetrate the eye of the hurricane and feel the almost unbelievable power of this monster storm. Yo u will get to know the mates and the crew of the vessel, and her captain, Guyan March, will become a friend. While Carrier never sailed on the ship nor met the crew who rook h er to sea that last time, he spent countless hours with members of the ship 's company who
SEA HISTORY 96, SPRING 2001
PC Patrol Craft of World War II A History of the Ships and Their Crews Wm. J. (B ill) Veigele, PhD, USNR, Ret. >-----~---
Every PC is li sted. Learn how they built PCs. See detail s of thei r design. Read aboutthe ir exploi ts. Find out what happened to them after WW II. Th is 400-page cloth book has more than 150 photos and draw ings and 33 tables about the ships' design, construction , battles , losses, and other informat ion. Send $39.95 + $4.75 shippi ng. (Acid $ 1.75 for each add itiona l book mai led to the sa me address.) CA orders add $3. lO tax. Astral Publishing Co., Dept. H, PO Box 3955, Santa Barbara CA 93130-3955 www .astra Ipub Ii sh i ng .com
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