Atlantic: Great Sea Battles, H eroic Discoveries, Titanic Storms, and a vast Ocean of a M illion Stories by Simo n Winchester (H arper Collins, New York, 2010, 495pp, illus maps, gloss, biblio , index; ISBN 9780-06-170258-7; $27.99hc) In his earli er works, best-selling author Simon Winchester has tackled vo lcano es in Krakatoa (2003) , earthquakes in A Crack in the Edge ofthe World (2005) , and carto graphy in The Map that Changed the World (2 001 ). He is a former geo logist, which m akes these topics right up his alley. In this latest book he bit off, perhaps , more than he co uld chew. A million sto ries? How does one cover a million stories, or even a hundred tales, in one book? I have always been in awe of historians who pull off in a single volume coherent histories of entire civilizations or parts of the world across centuries of time. How do they decide wh at to include and what to leave out? As pleasant as it mi ght be to read Winchester's prose, it's hard ro find any meaningful structure in this latest book. He did it to himself by not only choosing an exceedingly broad topic, but also not even narrowing the fi eld through which he examined it. H istory, geology, oceanograp h y, folklore , literature, weather. ... No discipline is excluded . It is about everything, so , in a way, it is about nothing--o r at least nothing I do n't have other books o n already. This is a light book abo ut a topic in which most readers of Sea History naturally have an interest. H arper Collins is no sm all company, and th ey wisely released the book last fall , just in time for holiday shopping. I am a voracious reader of maritime fiction and non-fiction, not to m ention I spent a fair am o unt of my life sailing along the west side of the Atlantic-so guess what I got from my mo ther-in-law fo r C hristmas? I also got a copy from my co-worker, not to mention the book sent to me for a pre-arranged review in Sea History. H ad I not received three free copies this wi nter ro read by the fire through all these snowstorms, would I have sh elled out the $28 to buy it myself? Absolutely. I can't help myself If yo u are looking for a history book that fo llows a particular hypoth esis and draws a concl usion at the end, then this is not the book for you. If yo u ap preciate a SEA HISTORY 134, SPRING 2011
book yo u can pick up and put down again, witho ut having to remember where you last lefr off; if yo u have a collection of books on yo ur shelves covering a wide range of maritime topics- including anthologies; if yo ur birthday is coming up and yo ur spouse can't think of what to get for yo u, then this is a great choice. It isn't all it could be, but it certainly can provide a pleasant distraction next time they forecast another "storm of the century." MATTHEW
J. DAWSON
Scotch Plains, New Jersey
Steam Coffin: Captain Moses Rogers and The Steamship Savannah Break the Barrier by John Laurence Busch (Hodos Hisroria LLC, New Canaan, CT, 20 10, 726pp, illus, maps, notes, appen, biblio, index, ISBN 978- 1-893616-00-4; $35hc) Steam Coffin details early effons to expand the application of steam power from coastal and river routes to transocean ic travel. Because author John Laurence Busch omits nothing remotely connected to the creation and operation of the steam ship Savannah (73 pages of notes!) , Steam Coffin is a social, political, financial, econom ic, technological, and diplomatic history of the early American National period. Moses Rogers, a remarkable individ ual, saw in steam power the capacity to supplem ent wind power and make oceanic travel reliable and predictable. In the years
afte r the War of 1812, shippers experimented with scheduled departures, but nature still determined arrivals. Steamboats became an alternative to sailing vessels in the coastal and river trade, but their reputation of stoppages and explosions suppo rted doubters who predicted a dim future fo r steam power on water. Rogers antici pated technological improvements in engine design, construction, installation, and operation that wo uld, in rime, enable ships to cross oceans without wind power. But until those developments, steam power coupled with wind power could improve the efficiency and speed of crossings. Rogers's goal in 1819 was simply to prove he was right. Ro gers invested his own m o ney, expertise, and reputation in rhe project to construct a transoceanic steam ship. Once the Savannah was launched and tested, Rogers commanded her through good seas and bad from Savannah , Georgia, to St. Petersburg, Russia, and back. Rogers and Savannah broke the barrier and showed the wo rld that a steam-powered vessel could traverse the Atlantic. Busch sets out the odyssey with the support of beautiful maps and illustrations of many of the people and places Savannah encountered on its adventure. The book, manufactured to high standards, is wo rth the purchase price and the time to read it. DR. DAVID
0.
WHITTEN
Auburn, Alabama
BACK IN PRINT! In a New Revised and Expanded Edition.
17th & 18th CENTURY SHIP MODELS
FROM THE KRIEGSTEIN COLLECTION By A rnold a nd H e nry Kriegste in We are very glad to bring this classic back fo r sale in a new edition. The photos have been re-edited, the tex t revised, and 5 new chapters of models have been added. A very high resolution process is being used for printing this book, and the results are outstanding. Reviews for the first edi tion include the Nautical Research )011mal, "The book is a first ra te production in eve ry respect .. . " Wooden Boat5 said, "It is certainly the best such book ever produced. " A nd now there is eve n more.
123/, " x lOv.'', 256 pages, hundreds of high quali ty color photos . Priced at the original edition! $85 plus S/H. $9 US, $18 Canada, $25 all other loca tions. SEAW ATCHBOOKS LLC
19 Sea Watch Place, Florence, O R 97439 Tel: 541 997 4439 Fax: 541 997 1282 email: seawatchbooks@gmail.com www.seawatchbooks.com
PAYMENT:
Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and checks in US$ (nwde 0 11t ro Sea Wa tch Books LLC) accetned. Also place orders by phone or on our sec1.ire web sire.
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