pivo tal in establishing contact with fore ign peoples, with creating cultural and eco nomic connections with far-flung societies, and with imparting their perspective to landed countrymen back home. As such , they deserve to be recognized as acoly tes of A merica n imperialism , as individuals who laid the groundwork for future actions, and as important contributo rs to crosscultu ral interactions between A merica and "the other." With Sails Whitening Every Sea paints a vivid and accurate portrait of the role that A merican mariners played in the Early Republic, and on a global sca le. It will fi nd a place on many reading lists, and w ill rewa rd both the serious scholar and the casual reader. T I MOT H Y G. L YNCH Ridgefield, Connecticut
Sea Fever: The True Adventures that Inspired our Greatest Maritime Authors, from Conrad to Masefield, Melville and Hemingway by Sam Jefferson (Adlard Coles, Bloomsbury, London, 2015, 336pp, illus, ISBN 978-1-4729-0-8810 ; $27hc) In his introduction to Sea Fever, Sam Jefferson w rites, "to chart every reference to sea voyages in literature would have made fo r a ve ry lengthy book indeed . But I h ad a di ffe rent idea; I wanted to take the o pposite view and look at how the sea itself had shaped some of our greatest w riters and set them on a course that led to literary success." H e then chronicles eleven celebrated male American and British maritime w riters, starting from the premise that their particular maritime adventures "were the revelations and stories that needed to be told ." Jefferson is up front about the fac t th at Sea Fever is not an exh austive biographical resource, nor does it present new research . Jefferson does nor provide a ny notes or citations, and while he seem s to wo rk to get his stories straight, he does n ot tro uble himself (or the reader) with accountin g fo r each moment of these authors' lives. H e is an entertaining sto ryteller in hi s own right, which directs the book 's scope towa rds a continuation of the tradition of "spinning yarns" that he adm ires in his subj ects. It is as if he as ks the read er, "did yo u know?" at the beginning of each chapter. For example, after an encounter on a rumored opium smuggler, Jack London "joined up with Oakland's desperate band
SEA HISTORY 153, WINTER 2015- 16
of oyster pirates ... The penalty for getting caught was often a bullet in the back of the head or a lengthy stretch in San Quentin Prison." Jefferson suggests how these incidents shaped each literary career, and, in turn, the evolu tion of British and American sea literature. Jefferson selects writers whose stories are too incredible to make up, and he lets the authors speak fo r themselves in long passages taken fro m their fiction, letters, journals, or acco unts fro m fa mily and friends. Jefferson makes thought-provoking connections between the writers, pointing
out sh ared cruise tracks, encounters between authors, and literary passages that ech o quotation s in the book. W ere the ch apters ordered chronologically or thematically instead of alphabetically, these pattern s and connections would be more apparent to readers who do not have a ready wo rking knowled ge of each author and their historical and cultural time periods. For the most part, the chapters are well paced and invigorating, especially his telling of Ernest H emingway's raucous exploits in C uba, fi shing and entertaining on his boat Pilar, which preceded his w riting Old
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SHIPWRECKED IN PARADISE Cleopatra's Barge in Hawai'i Paul F. Johnston The first oceangoing yacht ever built in America, Cleopatra's Barge endured many incarnation s over her eighty-year life, before becoming the personal yacht of Hawa iian King Kamehameha II (Liholiho). John ston t ell s the story of the ship's life, as well as its di scovery and excavation, including artifacts that represent the on ly known mat erial cu ltu re from the king's reig n.
8Y2xl l . 256 pp. 210 color, 4 b&w photos. 3 maps. 27 line drawings. Bib. Index. $39.95 hardcover
CONFEDERATE SABOTEURS Building the Hunley and Other Secret Weapons of the Civil War Mark K. Ragan Submarine expert and nautical hi storian Ragan presents th e untold story of the Singer Secret Service Corps, which developed and deployed submarines, underwater weaponry, and explosive devices again st the Union.
398 pp. 51 b&w photos. Bib. Index. $35.00 cloth
Af1 I TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY PRESS 800.826.8911 Fax: 888.617.2421
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