in wo rds the weather, the food, the scene above deck and below, make his journal someth ing Thiesen just had to share. In 1860, Philip Hichborn was offered a job as a shipwright at the M are Naval Shipyard near San Francisco. To get there, he secured passage on rhe clipper ship Dashing W'tive in exchange for carpentry wo rk during the voyage. Like many effective sea narrators before him, Hichbo rn shares his new experiences and observations as a green hand (a la Richard H enry D an a ] r. ), whi ch allows readers to learn about rhe way of the ship along with him . Green hand, perh aps, bur he certainly picked it up quickl y, and it helps if readers are already familiar with sailing ship terminology. Ir helps to know what the truss of a yard is or be able to grasp what caulking leaking seams might be like, bur if you don't, Thiesen has provided simple diagrams and a glossary of "naurical and slang terms" as appendices . The Dashing W'tive, a 180-foo r fu llrigged clipper ship, was considered a fi ne seaworthy sailing vessel, bur Hichbo rn m akes it clear rhar only constant repairs to the deck and hatch es, hull planking, seams, and most especially the pumps allowed them to stay aflo at during the stormy passage around the H o rn . She was no r an especially fast sailer, and her caprain was n't exactly a "driver." They heaved-to a good part of the way, even when co ntrary winds turned fa ir, much to th e chagrin of Hichbo rn and the rest of the crew. Hich born was no fan of Dashing W'tive's Cap tain Lecraw, and his personality and rhar of the mates, his bunkmates, the sailmaker and cook, and even the two stowaways are described in enough derail to give readers a very good impress io n of th e dynamic of the ship's company. Hi chbo rn was well-educa ted before he signed o n board, and his writing is cl ear and easy to read. His abili ry to describe the fo rce of a huge green wave raking the deck and clearing our everything in its path- so mething rhar happened repeatedly du ring this voyage-is impress ive and pulls yo u right in to the scene. H e co uld also skillfully convey the less ta ngible scenes-the profo und grieffelt fo re and aft after a shipmate fell from aloft and died, fo r exa mple. Na rratives abo ut an individual's experi ence at sea can dispel precon ceived ideas about rheAge ofSail and temper some of the SEA HISTORY 133, WINTER2010-ll
romance, while instilling a huge amount of respect for those whose wo rk carried them across the oceans. For Hi chborn , there was no romance in the experience, bur he clearly had respect for the sea and fo r some of his fellow crewmembers. Readers will come away with a better understanding of what it mean s to be a good shipmate, o r, in some cases, a bad one.
For his part, Willi am Thi esen does what a good edito r sho uld. H e introduces the a uthor, the ship, and the captain and then lets Hichbo rn tell his story. At the end, Thiesen fills us in o n what happened to Philip H ichbo rn and to Dashing W'tive after reaching their des tination. And, what a treat to see so m any photographs of the actual ship and even daguerreorypes of Hichborn himself and Dashing W'tive's Captain Lecraw. Cruise of the D as hing Wave-the book, that is- is a relatively short and enjoyable read fo r anyo ne: experien ced sailors and armchair sailors alike, and even perhaps som e landlubbers lookin g fo r a good read. Thanks, Dr. Thiesen , fo r sharin g. D EIRDRE
O 'REGAN
Editor, Sea History
The Slave Ship: A Human History by M arcus Redike r, (Penguin Books, N ew York , 2 007, 434pp, illus, notes, index, ISBN 978-0-1 4-3 11 425-3; $ 16pb) M arcus Rediker's The Slave Ship is an impo rtant powerful book, but a difficult read- difficult because it graphically deals w ith human violence, violence on many levels. It is a tale of m aritime history but
also a rale of human brurali ry and exploitation . 111e autho r describes the slave ship as a means of transportation, bur also as a metaphor fo r slave trade as an enterprise. Rediker skillfully weaves together primary source material, ship logs, written m aterials from captains, the crews, slaves and abolitio nists who resided on both sides of the Atlanti c, ro p roduce a stunning narrative covering the va ri ous vantage points of this ugly enterprise. From 1700 to 1808 Great Britain and the U nited States engaged in selecting, transporting, and selling human slaves as commodities. Slavery was a business fo r the Bri tish, a lucrative commercial enterprise to supply labor to its colo nies. In contras t, Americans used their slave labor fo rce domestically to produce marketable agricultural goods for transAtlantic trade. This multi-award-winning book is well written and, by addressing m any details abo ut the slave trade o n three continents, its traders and the slave captives, it is uniquely insightful. African, mostly Muslim, m erchants captured the slaves by way of armies of raiders, kidnappers, and canoe-men. They sold their human "commodities" to Christian slave ship captains waiting on ships anchored in African harbors until they accumulated a potentially profitable requisite number of healthy slaves for shipment to markers across the Atlantic. W hen the captives arrived, this was the fi rs t rime most of the natives had encountered white men, men who communicated aurhori ry through terror via the cat-o' -nine-tails, thumbscrews, cutlasses, pistols, swivel guns, and the threat of being fed alive to ever-present sharks The slave rs' business occurred on what the unsophisticated natives saw as a huge floating house that could move with the wind , serving as both a shelter and prison ; a place of incredible overcrowding and a house of torture, mutilations, and occasional gruesome public murders designed to intimidate. This scholarl y work certainly raises ques tions about m ankind's relationships with his fellow humans beings. Problems of current race relationships are shown from an uncomfortably disturbing perspective. The Slave Ship is highly recommended as a book to be read and to serve as the basis for discuss io n am o ng histo ri a ns-and especially with their students. L O UIS ART H UR NORTON
West Sim sbury, Connecticut 55