Sea History 108 - Autumn 2004

Page 48

REVIEWS entering the harbor with a full panoply of fireboats, spectator boats and airplanes, change is recorded with nary a shred of nostalgia. Verities remain: hard-working immigrants, clogged traffic, glorious architecture and a boisterous populace crowded onto a small island. The waterfront hasn't vanished bur morphed into ano ther something rich and strange, waiting its turn of history. ARDEN SCOTT Greenport, New York

best of the best in maritime phorographs. They record the raw power and motion of the classic sailing yachts in their element. The sails! One cannot avoid the beaury in print after print of fine sail shapes. Each outlined in light and shadow, the collection is photographic testimony to the qualiry and artistry of sailmakers at the top of the trade in the age of Egyptian cotton

Castaway: Remarkable Stories of Survival, by Douglas R. G. Sellick (Fremant!e Ans Centre Press, 2003) 272pp, illus, notes, biblio, gloss, appen, ISBN 1-92073184-9, $22.50pb) This volume is a collection of firsthand acco unts written by survivors of four shipwrecks in seldom-traveled waters deep in the Indian Ocean. Two occurred in Le Crozet Isles (Princess of W'ales, 1821 and Strathmore, 1875) about 1,600 miles southeast of the Cape of Good Hope. The others were on Amsterdam Island (Lady Munro, 1833 and Meridian, 1854), some 2,800 miles east-southeast of the Cape. The periods for which the castaways endured in vile weather on rocky islets with virtually no resources ranged from rwo weeks on Amsterdam to 22 months in Le Crozets. Written in a contemporary midnineteenth century sryle, these reports reflect the tenaciry of human struggles in a hostile environment and shed a rare light on the life of the seal-hunters who found and rescued the victims. CAPTA1N HAROLD]. SUTPHEN Kilmarnock, Virginia

Sleek: Classic Images from The Rosenfeld Collection, text by John Rousmaniere (Mystic Seaport, Mystic CT, 2003, l 22pp, photos, biblio, isbn 0-939510-901; $50hc) Rare is the time when one can see into the past. As the camera records only a split second of time, only through the selective eyes of the artist is that truly possible. To capture the motion, the grace, and the glint of light reflecting off a sailing yacht is not an easy proposition. The Rosenfeld collection photographs in Sleek are the

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C LA SS I C IMA GES FROM TH E R OSEN F EL D COL L EC TIO N

sails. The Rosenfeld collection is a detailed photographic record of the design and sryle of this era's sailing yachts. Vessels such as Saraband, Reliance, Typhoon, New York 50s, and many others all captured on their best point of sail-each wanting ro sail off the page and into the next age. Overall this book is a delight to the eyes, and through its pages, invites one back to the glorious moments captured in rare images of crews and passengers working and enjoying some of the world's finest sailing craft. Enjoy Sleek and take yourself back to great age of classic vessels captured as they were in tended to be sailed. NATHANIEL S. WILSON East Boothbay, Maine

Naval Forces Under the Sea: A Look Back, a Look Ahead, Office of Naval Research, US Navy (Best Publishing, Co., Flagstaff AZ, 2003, 295pp, notes, ISBN 193053-604-6, $58pb) The book is a transcript of a conference that was held at the US Naval Acad-

emy in April 2001. The participants were a "who's who" in the field of submarine rescue, deep submersible vehicles and undersea diving. Most of the presenters are naval officers, a few from Great Britain, several enlisted- all courageous, innovative men, leaders in what is a fascinating field. The reader will learn about submarine disasters and great rescues, read about deepsea submersible vehicles, the underwater swimmers who served in the amphibious operations in World War II, Korean War and Vietnam. The information here will be intriguing ro readers who are interested in hearing from the men who were at the forefront of undersea warfare. Rescues, such as that of the Squalus are described by the men who were there. The reader will learn why the attempted rescue of the Kursk ended in disaster. Because the text consists of proceedings of a conference, the reader will have to be tolerant of long biographical introductions of presenters, and much understandable mutual congratulatory rhetoric, but the substance is there nonetheless-fascinating stuff for the interested reader. It would seem that there was no major editing of the transcript. Acronyms are used frequently, and while the conference audience may have been familiar with them, the reader may not know what all of them mean. Nevertheless, the book is chock full of information. Persons interested in the undersea domain will find their time well spent in reading it. ARTHUR KELLNER Roseland, New Jersey

Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe, by Laurence Bergreen (William Morrow, an Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, New York, 2003, 480pp, illus, biblio, index, ISBN 0-06-621173-5; $27.95hc) When asked to review Laurence Bergreen's Over the Edge ofthe World: Ma-

gellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe I had my suspicions-about the author, not the topic. Magellan's epic voyage was, to be sure, the stuff of ripping yarns. Too many tales, perhaps, for one author to SEA HISTORY 108, AUTUMN 2004


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