Worthy of the Sea: K. Aage Nielson and His Legacy of Yacht Design by Maynard Bray and Tom Jackson (Tilbury House Publishers, Gardiner, ME, and Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA, 2006, 320pp, photographs, drawings, index, ISBN-13 978-0-88448-281-9; $59.95hc) Ocher rhan Olin Srephens's All 7his and Sailing, Too, chis is rhe best book I know concerning a yachr designer. Unlike some books in chis genre, ir is no exercise in hagiography. Maynard Bray and Tom Jackson usually refrain from crying to gild an already brighr lily. Aage Nielsen's occasional abrasiveness comes across clearly, for insrance. Besides celling who Nielsen was and whar his disrincrive, able boars are like, chis beaurifully published book, wirh hundreds of plans, is a rerrific resource in rhe history of yachting. Nielsen scarred our his career wirh John Alden, bur broke off because he was wary of being entangled in a law suir. He lacer developed a close working relarionship wirh Sparkman & Srephens, which produced rhe Pilot. The boars for which he is deservedly besr-known were entirely his own, painsraking work. Afrer opening wirh a summary biography char serves as an overview, and srresses rhe importance of Nielsen's Scandinavian heritage, rhe aurhors break his career into topics defined by rhe style of boar. Chaprer Two is abour Northern Crown, Holger Danske, and ocher well-known doubleenders, while Chaprer Three is abour small boars. Anyone interesred in good boars and srrong characrers should rake a look ar chis magnificent book. JoHN RousMANIERE New York City
The Camera's Coast: Historic Images of Ship and Shore in New England by W. H. Bunting (Tilbury House, Gardiner, ME, 2006, 144pp, nores, biblio, ISBN- 13 978-0-88448-287-1; $29 .95pb) "The Camera's Coasr" was a rraveling exhibir creared in 2003 by Historic New England under rhe guidance of guesr curator William H . Bunting. In rhe new book of rhe same name, photographs and ephemera from rhe exhibirion are presented in a high-quality paperback book. Theimages range from rhe mundane to rhe more 48
spectacular examples of 19rh- and early 20rh-century grandeur. Bunting's caprions are wrirren in a lively yer aurhorirarive manner. The presentarion of rhe photo of the steam yacht Turtle on page 54 typifies rhe complereness of rhe entries rhroughour rhe book. Images of rhe yachr's plans and pages from rhe engineer's norebook, rhe handwriring clearly legible, are printed on rhe facing page. In rhe caprion, Bunring wrires, "Sream yachrs came in all sizes and styles. The creme de la creme were rhe big, exquisirely modeled, engineered, and consrrucred "English" (mosr were Scorrish) yachrs. Some ochers, including miniarure ram-bowed warship designs and rare paddlers like Turtle, reflecred the unusual
rasres of owners. Turtle was builr ar Lynn, Massachuserrs, in 1889. Boston dry goods merchant Arrhur Armory, resident of rhe Back Bay, was her longrime owner. Originally sixty-six feer long, Turtle had grown to ninety-rwo feer on deck by 1903. Powered by an inclined compound engine, her wheels were of modern feathering design, wirh "floats" whose angle was adjusred mechanically for efficiency. Her engineer's norebook and consrrucrion blueprints provide a window into her mechanics, operation, and upkeep." In an eighrh of a page, we ger a concise, informative inrroduction to sream yachrs of char period. Ocher entries include images of rickers, ads, posrers, pose cards and rhe like printed alongside photos of rhe ships wirh which rhey were associared.
Some books creared afrer exhibirions are worrh buying only if you saw rhe exhibirs in person. This book srands alone very well. Visually, rhe caliber of rhe printing makes it as worrhy as some of rhe more expensive coffee-cable type books, bur rhe publishers succeeded in keeping rhe cosr in check wirhour losing any quality wharsoever. DEIRDRE E. O 'REGAN Cape Cod, Massachuserrs
In Pursuit of Glory by William H. Whire (Tiller Publishing, Sr. Michaels, MD, 2006, 352pp, illus, aurhor's nores, ISBN-139781-888671-16-2; $29 .95hc) Bill Whire's laresr lirerary effort works ar rwo levels. Foremosr, ir is a dramatic sea story ser in rhe Age of Sail. At chis first level, we are raken inside rhe early naval career of a fictional characrer named Oliver Baldwin. The reader follows Baldwin's maruration from 1807 to 1812, a period when he progresses from an awkward midshipman ro a combar-experienced lieurenant. During chose five years of service in rhe frigares USS Chesapeake and USS United States, we see snapshors of rhe ups and downs of an American naval officer's life in rhe early 1800s. Ar rhe same rime, Whire gives us an insighrful look into rhe difficulries our forefarhers encountered creating rhe blueprints of an effecrive navy. Because Baldwin's ficrional p ersonal experiences are woven into acrual historic events, we simulraneously have a window on rhe second beginning of rhe United Stares Navy. Not everyone realizes that there were rwo distinct phases of our navy's early hisrory. Initially, there was the Continental Navy, lasting from 1775 to 1785, when Alliance-the last Continental Navy ship of the American Revolution-was sold. For the next nine years, we had no US Navy. Eventually, in 1794 Congress authorized the construction of six frigates . At that point, whar today is considered the world's mosr powerful navy was reborn. In this srory, White's fifth novel, the author delivers a rale well told that will trigger a lot of "I never thought of that" insights along the way. The experience is nourished by the illusrrations of noted marine artist Paul Garnett. JOSEPH F. CALLO New York City SEA HISTORY 118, SPRING 2007