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"The book's title , In Bristol Fashion , is the seaman's universal expression of the highest mark for a job done in true sea-manly fashion . (The book) is a well-earned tribute to the people from varied walks of life who saved an abandoned treasure , to a spirit that shines through this book." -Peter Stanford , NMHS President Emeritus
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with hindering their ability to achieve the personal goals to which they strived: status, promotion, quest fo r perso nal glo ry, etc. Norton's study is a welcom e reminder chat history is made by real men and women . Ships don't win battles-people do. Social historians work hard to inves tigate the lives and contributions of regular people, ass uming that the notable heroes of yesteryear are al ready well known . Dr. No rto n shows us that the heroes we think we already kn ow had a lot m ore to them than battle statistics can tell us. H e does this in an engaging manner, one any reader will be interested in and enjoy, whether professio nal histo rian, history buff, or som eone simply looki ng for a good read . D EIRDRE O' REGAN Edito r, Sea History Cape Cod, Massachusetts
The Sea King: The Life of fames Iredell Waddell by Ga ry McKay (Birlinn, Ltd., Edinburgh, U K, 2009, 297pp, illus, appen, biblio, index, ISBN 978- 1-8434 1-046- 1; $ 16 .50pb) The Sea King is the sixth book in the las t fi ve years to examine the commerce raider CSS Shenandoah. M ost of the previous historical wo rks focus on the ship and her career, but Gary McKay endeavors to also examine the life of her commanding offi cer, Lieutenant James Iredell Waddell . Waddell, a m ember of a distinguished No rth Carolina fa m ily, served in the US Navy fo r twenty years before he resigned to join the Confederacy. His early career in the Confederate Navy was rather ordinary until he was given command of the raider. Built fo r speed to carry tea from C hina, the British merchant vessel Sea King was purchased, outfitted, and commissioned as CSS Shenandoah. Sailing into the N orth Pacific, Waddell and his crew devastated the American whaling fleet. They destroyed thirty-two vessels and released another six o n bo nd, carrying o ut mos t of the destruction after the war ended . Receiving word, in August 1865, that thewarwasover, Waddell had the ship disarmed and he sailed her back to England to surre nder, completing an around-the-world voyage and a trip of 58, 000 miles. Waddell's postwar career is less exciting. Readers will find th e author's coverage
of Waddell's prewar and postwar career in only abo ut fifty pages . Waddell remained in exile, not returning ro the U nited States until 1875. Upon repatriati ng, he served as the captain of the Pacific M ail Steamship Company's City o/San Franciscoand later was in charge of the State of M aryland's oyster regulation fo rce. H e did receive recognition fo r his exploits by having a destroyer nam ed fo r him , USS waddell (DDG-24) , a century afte r the Shenandoah's depredatio ns. While it is an entertaining read, M cKay provides no notes and claim s to have used new sources that are not evident in the bib li ography. Furthermore, q ues tionable ass umptio ns and mistakes mar the text. For example, the Shenandoah's abili ty to disti ll wa ter was not innovative, and a hermaph rodite rig is not a mechanical device to pump a ship's bilge. H e refers ro the US Steamboat Inspection Service as the US Steamboat Service and contends that the Shenandoah might have captured the m oni to r Camanche had the raider steamed into San Franci sco H arbor. D espite these problem s, The Sea King will serve as a good starting place fo r informatio n on Waddell and the cru ise of the Shenandoah. ROBERT BROWNING US Coast Guard Historian's Office Dumfries, Virginia
The Lost Fleet: a Yankee Whaler's Struggle against the Confederate Navy and Arctic Disaster by M arc Songini (St. M artin's Press, New Yo rk, 2007, maps, illus, bibli o, index, ISBN 978-0-3 12-28648-1 ; $25.9 5) Th e subtitle of M arc Songini's The Lost
Fleet: a Yankee Whaler's Struggle against the Confederate Navy and Arctic Disaster o nly begins to capture the hardships and adve ntures of the l 9'h century American whaling industry about which he writes. Songini has provided a readable popular history backed by primary docum ents, which captures the imagination of its readers th rough stories of fo ul wea ther, rogue wildlife, and shipwreck. The Lost Fleet is the story of Thomas W illiam W illiams and his extraordinary career as a captain in dne Yankee whaling industry. The book begins w ith a descriptio n of the industry, life aboard a whale ship, and Wi ll iams's rise to the position of captain . It also introduces a twist on the general history of the male-oriented professio nSEA HISTORY 13 1, SUMMER 2010