Reviews The Sea: A Cultural History by John Mack Navigation is only one example of (Reaktion Books, London, 2011, 277pp, the deep themes addressed in this wideillus, biblio, index, notes, ISBN 978-0-86189- ranging book. The nature of the sea, ofships, beaches, and the interactions between land 809-8; $35 hc) The Sea: A Cultural History does not fall and sea are all addressed-albei t with mixed into easy categories. John Mack, professor levels of success. The final two chapters, of world art studies at the Univers ity "Beaches" and "The Sea on the Land," of East Anglia, draws although thought-provoking, are not at the level of the first on an eclectic range of sources and bodies of half of the book. The extensive discussions of cultural context of scholarship in pursuit of r1ieSEA "a fundamental rethink sh ip models and grave vessels in of the ways in whi ch the final chapter are interesting, maritime cul tu res are but do not culminate in a clear conclusion to the book, and the configured by scholars." reader is left waiting anxiously for Many of Mack's cultural touchstones are unusual a concluding chapter. cho ices, for examp le, Despite its uneven aspects, John Mack's The Sea: A Cultural the emphasis placed on buried ships such as at History should be a staple in any graduate seminar in history, Sutton Hoo and the cultural contours of the Vezo people of Engli sh, anth ropo logy, or geography Madagascar. He also draws heavily from addressing maritime culture. The book is the well-worked classic maritime literature truly intelligent and international in its of Dana, Hugo, and Conrad. Copious scope and a thorough engagement with references and an excellent bibliography it would benefit any serious scholar of the document Mack's vibrant engagement with maritime world. history, anthropology, geography, an his] OHN ODIN JENSEN, PHD tory, literature, and architecture. Woods Hole, Massachusetts This truly interdisciplinary and crosscu!tural approach yields both rewards and Seated by the Sea: The Maritime History pitfalls. As a serious intellectual endeavor of Portland, Maine, and Its Irish by a non-maritime specialist, the book Longshoremen by Michael C. Connolly succeeds spectacularly where it embraces (University Press of Florida, Gainesville, larger questions about the intrinsic cultural 20 10, xxiii+ 280pp, photos, index, notes, influence and nature of the sea. Mack argues appen, biblio, ISBN 978-0-8130-3469-0; that the nature of experiencing the sea is $65hc) established in response to local contexts Michael Connelly's Seated by the Sea and techno logies with place-specific is an interesting and informative look at an knowledge, geographies, and intentions oft-neglected segment of maritime history. creating unique cultu ral constructs or While many treatises and comes have been footpr ints. The maritime peoples of the penned about sh ips and the men who wo rld experience the sea in highly complex sailed them, comparatively few deal with and diverse ways-and the nature of th eir maritime workers along the shore. Those experience is dependent on technologies that do, moreover, rarely pay heed to New and fu ndamental attitudes toward the England ports. Connelly's work-based on environment. Mack's extensive discussions exhaustive use of records left by the Portland of navigation and the use or non-use of the Longshoreman's Benevolent Society and compass is especially lucid. He argues that numero us interviews-is an important European voyaging and western navigation corrective that tells us much about the city systems mark a homogenization of the of Portland and the men who worked its experience of seafaring and of the seas docks. The book focuses mainly on the perthemselves. Technology, he suggests, creates layers of abstraction that separate sailors iod from 1860 to 1960, but offers insight and perspective from pre-colonial times to from the experience of the sea. SEA HISTORY 136, AUTUMN 2011
the present. At times, the far-ranging nature of the text is overdone; too much attention is spent on the background history of Portland, for example, and the author tends to repeat himself more than a few times. But these are minor quibbles. In the span of six chapters, Connolly is able to analyze the interplay between the Irish longshoremen and their black and Iralian counterparts, the interactions between this community and the Catholic Church, the struggles of Portland and its maritime workforce in responding to challenges posed by other ports and by modern technology, and the ways in which local longshoremen reacted to changes in union organizing and labor activity. Any one of these topics is worthy of book-length treatment in irs own right, and to find them
Historic, antique U.S. Coast Survey maps from the 1800s Original lithographs. most American seaport s and shores. Reprint s, too. Unique framed, great gifts. Catalog, $1 .00. Specify area.
THE GLENCANNON PRESS
iiMmr~""i NEW! DarkPassages, Vanishing ships of the Pacific Ocean ... The Freighters From A to Z ... Hardluck Coast, west coast shipwrecks ... Grave Passage, a Henry Grave Mystery ... An Act ofPiracy, the SS Mayaguez... The Tankers from A to Z. The Victory Ships from A to Z. ... more. FREE CATALOG 1-800-711-8985 Online catalog at www.glencannon.com 51