(it was a school for Royal Naval cadets) to his post-retirem ent reflections on his lo ng service in the Royal Navy. Between Gregory-Smith's lucid writing and Symons' skillful editing, a good story is transformed into an excellent one in the telling. The pace is fas t and unnecessary sentences rare. In his writing, G regorySmith effectively communicates the excitement and anxiety of enemy attacks on HMS Eridge, an escort destroyer and his first command, and his crew's response to threats from the air, surface, and the depths with carefull y co nt ro lled sentences and emotion . His acco unts of action against bombers, fighters, surface ships, and submarines are so vividly expressed that they can exhaust the reader. "We seemed to be isolated in some dark corner of H ades where a huge giant was tossing us back and forth like a shuttlecock. We were imagin ary persons, utterly remote from the civilised world, against who m was co ncentrated all the fury and hate of the nether regions" (170). The autho r does not portray himself as a hero, but rather as a commander keenly aware of his responsibility to pursue the war with zeal, while trying to avo id unnecessarily endangering the m en under his command. Som e, perhaps most, commanders might bask in the authority that comes with rank, while some of the best, like G regory-Smith, struggle with respo nsibili ty. The decline of empire is the underlying theme of Red Tobruk. When Gregory-Smi th began his naval studies as a cadet in 1922, Great Britain was a naval power in co ntro l of a global empire. At his retirem ent in 1960, this empire was a mere shadow of what it h ad been in his childhood, and the Britannia no longer ruled the waves. D AVJD
The Annotated Sailing Alone Around the World by Capt. Joshua Slocum, anno tated by Rod Scher (Sheridan H ouse, Inc., D obbs Ferry, NY, 2009, 224pp, illus, maps, no tes, ISB N 978-1 -57409-275-2; $ 19.95 pb) As an avid sailo r and autho r, I have read Slocum's book several times, most notably as I was preparing to help crew a 39-ft. Valiant from Honolulu to San Francisco.
them. I co uld not have been more right and more wro ng at the same time. This is a cool b ook, but it is no child's boo k-at least n o t in my ho use. I let my kids look at it fro m the other side of the room and no closer!
Sailing Alone Around the World. From the very fi rst page I was transfixed. Rod Scher has transform ed the m aterial with info rmation about oceanography, geography, sailing explanations, and history so that a reader is transported back to that era. He provides thorough foundation for better understanding exactly what it mean t to sail around the world in the late 1800s. H e has given the reader both co ntext and depth that greatly enhances one's enjoym ent of the material and makes Slo-
ANNOTATED
SAILING ALONE ~~
CAPTAIN JOSHUA SLOCUM cum's story accessible to a larger audi ence. Who is this book fo r? Sailo rs, histo rians, students, teachers, and anyo ne who revels in curio us facts and fasc ina ting no tations will find this gripping tale even m ore entertaining and compelling. PAT RI CIA Woon H onolulu, H awaii
0 . W HITTEN
Auburn, Alabam a
54
I'd been anxious to test my mettle on a passage of that length, but full y realized it was only a d ro p in the bucket compared to Slocum's achievem en t. I was privileged to be re-introduced to th e wo nder of Slocum's accomplishments when I read Rod Scher's brillian tly annotated version of
The Pop-Up Book of Ships by Dr. Eric Kentley and D avid H ancock (Uni verse Publishing, New York, 2009, 12pp, illus, ISBN 978-0-7893- 1862-6; $40) When yo u read a book review that describes the ship sailing "right o ut of the page," usually it is m eant only fi guratively. In this case, it is a literal translation . I have two sons in elem entary school, boys who have had ships and maritime stories shoved down their throats since birth. I tho ught this would be a great book for
' "" 10' '" ........
.............
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Let m e explain. The ships that popup in this book were created by D avid Hawcock, a paper engineer (I didn't even know there was such a thing!), and D r. Eric Kentley, a British anthropologist who wo rked for sixteen years in various capacities at the National M aritime M useum, including posts as head of ship technology and h ead of exhibitions. The teaming up of these talented and knowledgeable men has produced a book, which is both exciting to look at and play with as it is to read. The m ost famo us of ships th roughout m aritime h istory are represented here, from the Golden Hind to USS North Carolina, the latter of which is recreated in a detailed and spectacular paper ship, nearly three feet long once the book's spine is fully opened. The lines and details on the paper models are accurately represented , not an easy feat which is why other "pop-up" books are so overly simplified . In addition to the pop-ups, the autho rs have explained th e context of each vessel within its tim e period concisely and intelligently. Yes, kids will love this book, but so will the grown-ups in their lives .. .perhaps even more so. D EIRDRE O'REGAN Cape Cod, Massachusetts CORRECTION: In Sea History 125 (Winter 2008-09) we mistakenly credited T ilbury House Publishers for the beautiful design and production of Kenneth R. Martin's Patriarch of Maine Shipbuilding:
The Life and Ships of Gardiner G. Deering. That fine wo rk was done by M ichael Sterere of H o pe, Maine. T ilbury H ouse is dismibuting th e book for Jackso n A. Parker. ((ISBN 978-0-88448-3 07-6)
SSEA HI STORY 127, SUMMER 2009