New from Unicorn Press
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MAKING WAVE§
ALEX MARTIN
With n Foreword by HRH Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh
Maine Island MamJe<S and the &g Sleam Yachts
Erik Larson is a magnificent storyteller. He puts rhe story of rhe Lusitania into a political and historical context that makes it clear why what happened to the ship was important-then and now-and why rhe tragic drama of rhar day captured the attention of the wo rld. Larson weaves into his tale the personal histories of the people whose lives were direcrly impacted by rhe event-those who sailed aboard rhe ocean liner, and the German captain who fired rhe torpedo rhar brought her down. We meet also rhe political and military leaders in Washington, London, and Berlin whose decisions set the stage eleven miles off Ireland 's Old Head of Kinsale for the carnage of7 May 1915. The death of more than a thousand civilians-including 128 Americans-was a crucial turning point in rhe history of the twentieth century. Although the U nited Stares did nor join rhe armies fighting Germany for nearly two more years, it was the sinking of rhe Lusitania that was seen as the event rhar broke the back of A merican neutrality. Thanks to La rson's compelling narrative, we have a window that brings that lon g-gone wo rld back to life. Ir deserves to rake a place of honor on rhar groaning library shelf. Or, better ye t, on the bedside table of any reader whose eyes light up at rhe thought of a well-told history. RICHARD O ' REGAN
Toronto, Ontario
With Sails Whitening Every Sea: Mariners and the Making of an American Maritime Empire by Brian Rouleau (Cor-
L avishl y illustrated, this book looks at the reasons why D eer Isle, Maine, men developed such high reputations as mariners. Furnishing officers and crews for the luxury steam yachts of the rich and powerful financiers and industrialists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. $33.95
Penobscot Books penbaypress. me books@ b .me 207-374-2341 60
nell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 20 14 , notes, illus, maps, index, ISBN 978-0-80145233-8xi+ 268pp, $45hc) In With Sails Whitening Every Sea: Mariners and the Making of an American Maritime Empire, historian and auth or Brian Rouleau adds a compelling twist to rhe narrative of the Early Republic. As rhe newly created United Stares grew and searched the globe for trading parrners, American seafarers-merchant mariners, navy personnel, whalemen, and orherswere often the first citizens of the new nation to encounter foreign peoples. As such, they served as both representatives of American ideals and as correspondents, transmitting to their countrymen back
home their impressions of rhe places they had visited, sires they had seen, and people whom they encountered. Paradoxically, the American mariner-long seen as a marginalized member of society, ill-suited to the nuances of diplomacy and international relations-was ac tually rhe most cosmopolitan of h is rime; exposed to foreign cult ures, h e was more likely than landed Americans to travel to such far-flung places as As ia, the South Pacific, and the Middle Ease. Additionally, Rouleau posits rhar America's imerest in esrablishi ng itself as a global force-cu ltu ral, eco nomi c, moral, military and otherwise-can be traced to these early interactions. As representatives of ea rly American society, mariners were in an interesting position. Their dalliances with locals left a searing impression in the minds of foreigners as to what constituted "this new man, rhe American." Frequent visits to bars, brothels, and jails left an indelible impression that Americans were licentious and libertine: decadent, dangerous, and drunk. Economic interactions left an equally strong mark: Americans were seen as shrewd businessmen, hell-bent on competition and profit, with little rega rd for the rights of indigenous persons or the environmen t. Similarly, reports that A merican m ariners made to loved ones back in the Stares were formative in that they guided notio ns of what one could expect to encounter in foreign lands. Stereotypes oflibidinous South Sea maidens, of gullible indigenous traders, and of eco nomic opportunities seeded an insatiable interest in all things foreign and exotic. In the wake of trade, missionaries and the military followed: one to save natives from themselves, the other to protect the fledgling economic interests that American mariners had created. Thus, it was the mariner who played a role in foreign affairs and diplomatic relations far our of proportion to his class and status, and of lasting importance. Brian Rouleau's book is an important addition to the growing field of li terature ¡ and scho larship rhar seeks to more completely assess the role of American mariners in the Ea rly Republic. W here these men had previously been regarded as of lirde importance, we are now seeing a more robusr and n uanced role for non-stare actors such as these . American mariners were SEAHIS:TORY 153, WINTER20 15- 16