l \\ :\ l; L :--
of America
GALVESTON'S THE ELISSA Tm TALL S1 rrr OF TEXAS by Kurt D. Voss All proceeds from this pictorial history benefit the ELISSA preservation fand.
Published by Arcadia Publishing and Galveston Historical Foundation $21.99. 128 pages, 200 photographs Autographed copies avai lable at (409) 763-1877, or online at:
www.tsm-elissa . org
The
Privateering Stroke SalemS
Privateers in the WarefI8I2
Salem's Privateers in the War of 1812 The most comprehensive study of American privateering since Garitee. Order for $19.95 www.createspace.com/3 715190 Or visit SchoonerFame.com 52
In the Eye ofAll Trade: Bermuda, Bermudians, and the Maritime Atlantic World, 1680-1783 by Michael J . Jarvis (Univ. of
ever-changing Atlantic scene well beyo nd the rocky shores of Bermuda. This wellwritten and thoughtful history guides the reader on a voyage that traverses the Atlantic, colonial, and maritime historical worlds, simultaneously making this a captivatingly broad, yet focused , vol um e.
North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 2012, 704pp, illus, maps, notes, rab ies, index, ISB N 978-0-8078-7284-0; $35pb) While exhaustive, descriptive, and deCATHY GREEN tailed would be the most obvious descriptors to describe Michael Jarvis's book, In the Alpena, Michigan Eye ofAll Trade: Bermuda, Bermudians, and the Maritime Atlantic World, 1680- 1783, The Social History of English Seamen: they would paint a perhaps deceptive picture 1485-1649, edited by Cheryl A. Fury (The of a dense and scholarly tome. Nothing can Boydell Press, Suffolk, UK, 2012, 350pp, be further from the truth. Jarvis has written illus, biblio, notes, index, ISBN 978- 1-843 a bri lliant interdisciplinary study ofAtlantic 83-689-6; $ 115hc) history, describing th e pivotal role the island lhe Social History of English Seamen of Bermuda played in the development of 1485-1649 is a book featuring seven cothat world. With clear prose buoyed by aurhorswith Cheryl Fury as editor and major extensive notat!on , Jarvis elucidates the contributor. Fury masterfully assembled unique nature of the island, placed at the essays focused upon the social history of epicenter of British, colonial American , and the sailors who made up Britain's earliest Caribbean maritime pursuits. Exceptional navy. This monumental work contains ten opportunity was presented to the island and well-written chapters covering a fascinating its inhabi tan ts, as was extraordinary adversity period of maritime history. The scholarship in these essays is and change. By looking at the evolution of Bermuda from the viewpoint of the island's excellent, but some of the essays stand out individual, yet intertwining industries and in this reviewer's mind. For example, the institutions, the author illustrates the truth to reader learns about the men who crewed his assertion that "the decisions, innovations, Mary Rose through the use of clever adaptations, and self-organ ized enterprises developmental anatomy and forensic anof largely anonym ous individuals shaped thropologic and pathologic studies of the colonial expansion and Atlantic history as remains of their bones and teeth; abo ut the much as imperial bureaucracies, state navies, religious shipboard culture among sailors chartered trading companies, and metro- contrasted with those ashore; and about the politan merchants."(459) Nonetheless, what health and healthcare of these men under allows this volume to truly stand apart is its arduous conditions at sea. While much has been studied and abi lity to bring into focus a specific time and written about battle tactics and naval stratplace in history. Ir is much more than a bound it- egy, Professor Fury explains how historians eration of the author's dissertation; Jarvis cannot overlook the mundane scenarios of has transformed his in-depth and careful life at sea in the Royal Navy in the Age of academic research into a vibrant portrait of Sail. The shipsof l 485- 1649 required large the Atlantic World in the century leading crews because of exce;sive attrition through up to American independence. Indeed, it injury, death, and dtSe rtion- but what of is the comprehensive nature of the research their life on board? Ths image is colored with that informs this stunningly clear vision of passages describing "tie frequent misery and a strikingly small island. The reader gets an constant rigours of s:afaring: long periods exceptionally rich view of colonial America spent in the closest proximity to fellow from the sea boots of Bermudian mariners mortals; indifferent fo od; illicit indulgence that plied various trades throughout the late in drink; short tempers induced by fatigue seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. From and digestive disorders; the lengthy absence shipwreck survivors and company inves- from authori tyo ther than ship's officers." (44) tors to a network of colonial entrepreneurs Fury explains: ''Although sixteenth-century and audacious privateers, this study draws seamen faced a myriad of hazards, disease a picture that illustrates the dynamic and was the most lethal foe" (225), rather than
SEA HISTORY 141 , WINTER 2012- 13