Reviews Legends in Sail by OlafT. Engvig (Themo Publishing, Los Angeles, CA, 2013, 256pp, illus, biblio, index, ISBN 978-0578-11756-0; $49 .95hc) Ship historian Olaf Engvig is well known in maritime circles, and, like his research, his books are solid, classic, and prized. His latest, Legends in Sail, adds to his growing bibliography with yet another book done extraordinarily well. Based on his earlier Norwegian-published Legendariske Skuter, Legends in Sail is a rewritten and redesigned version of the earlier work. Even if you have the earlier version, this is an essential purchase to add to your maritime library. Engvig tells the story of nine Norwegian vessels, a careful selection of the thousands of ships from that seafaring nation. In these examples, Engvig seeks to familiarize a non-Norwegian audience with how ships like these made Norway a leading shipping nation and how many Norwegian-built and -operated vessels captured international headlines in their day. Another aspect of this book that makes it an essential read is how Engvig has ably captured the international nature of ships and shipping in these vessel biographies, filling in the details before and after the change of flags. A brief introduction to Norway's maritime history sets the stage, spanning thousands of years and illustrated by vessels such as the Gokstad Viking ship and the 2002 The World, the first condominium ship ever built. The chapters that follow are dedicated to nine individual ships, some likely already known to historians and aficionados of sail, exploration, and maritime history-Gjoa, Statsraad Erichsen, Christiana, Transatlantic, Christian Radich, Lancing, Lingard, Fram, and Maud. Whether the reader is already familiar with some of these individual ships or not, this book offers a focused, flowing narrative supported by rich graphics. Impressive graphics does not make this a coffee-table book, however, but rather a beautifully designed and ably illustrated work in which the carefully selected images enhance the narrative. In the case of Gjoa, the inclusion of the Nils Hagerup mural of Gj@a in the Northwest Passage, painted on a
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wall in the former San Francisco Stock Exchange building, drives home the point that this small former fishing sloop had become world famous, especially in San Francisco where she resided for sixty-nine years following Roald Amundsen's conquest of the Northwest Passage (1903-06). On the succeeding pages, photos and a reproduced postcard depict Gjoa's deliberate beaching and preservation at the. foot
As a one-time polar venturer, I was particularly pleased not only with the inclusion of the legendary ice ships Fram and Maud, but also with Engvig's exceptional handling of each vessel's history, accomplishments, and character. As the archaeologist who led the team that documented the wreck of Maud in the Arctic in 1997, I was struck by how brilliantly Engvig encapsulated that work. I recommend Legends in Sail to all who love ships and the sea, and especially to those who set out to write the biographies of ships. ]AMES
P.
DELGADO
Silver Spring, Maryland
The Coast and the Sea: Marine and Maritime Art in America by Linda S. of San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. The chapter also includes images of Gjoa's restoration, how the ship looks today, and the monument to it in San Francisco. The 1858 naval brig Statsraad Erichsen occupies the next chapter, and its 104-year career is well told. During her career, Statsraad Erichsen was the world's oldest sail training ship and served eighty years of unbroken service in that capacity. Engvig then takes a look at the training ship Christiana, which for years was mistakenly thought to be the Donald McKaybuilt clipper ship Star of Empire of 1853. The barque, then named Lady Gray, had been sold to Norwegian owners in 1877 and converted to a sail training ship. At that time, investigations into the ship's history revealed that she had been previously named Star of Empire, and most assumed she was the famous clipper ship of the same name. What Engvig reveals is that it actually was another 1853-built Star ofEmpire, launched from the Donald Babcock shipyard in Robbinston, Maine. The history of the ship is masterfully intertwined with Engvig's detective work to discern its true origins. These examples are not solitary, nor rare. Engvig's book is indeed a treasure. Each chapter merges scholarship, a solid understanding of ships and shipping, wellwritten text, and an excellent selection of images to bring each of the vessels to life.
Ferber (New York Historical Society in association with D. Giles Ltd., London, 2014, 104pp, illus, notes, biblio, index, ISBN 978-1-907804-31-1; $29.95hc) The Coast and the Sea chronicles the development of New York City, as can be
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