Reviews McAllister Towing: 150 Years ofFamily Business by Stephanie Hollyman (Carpe Diem Books, Portland, OR, 2015, 246pp, illus, notes, index, ISBN 978-0-98971046-6; $50hc) Celebrating the survival of the McAllister family towing business-and the family itself- is the obvious intent of this large coffee-table-style book, and to that end it is well accomplished yet with a journalistic eye toward factual reporting, avoiding the pitfalls typical of vanity publications. The arresting collection of photographs, newspaper clippings, advertisements, and ephemera put the McAllister maritime activities in context with maritime history from 1864 to the present, making it a worthwhile read for those beyond the McAllister family and friends. It is a remarkable tome. The book is a treasure trove for tugboat enthusiasts and history buffs and a must for any collector of port and ship photography. It could also be read as a fam ily saga, ready-made for a TV series: penniless Irish lad James McAllister is shipwrecked off Newfoundland, makes
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his way to the big city of New York, and thrives, buying into a lighterage business that becomes the foundation of a fivegeneration dynasty. Perils to his efforrs came from all sides: Irish were marginalized, competition was cut-throat-some things never changebut New York Harbor was changing rapidly with nineteenth-century industrial developments and the clannish Irish would ultimately claim the waterfront. McAllister brothers Daniel, William, and Charles soon joined James Jr. , and established a dynamic for future generations: invest and expand with the newest technologies as they emerge. As the twentieth century unfolds, the future looks endlessly promising, but perils still lurk at every turn. Family dynamics shift and get squirrelly regarding business decisions and succession; the author handles this delicate subject with discretion-the drama is apparent between the lines . The larger context includes disastrous fires, the Great Depression, the World Wars, and multiple collapses and rebuilds. Throw in labor troubles and marvel at their survival.
NEW FROM NAVAL INSTITUTE PRESS GREAT AMERICAN NAVAL BATTLES
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ISBN: 978-1-91086-018-2 Hardcover: $22.95
ISBN: 978-1-59114-636-0 Hardcover: $36.00
ISBN: 978-1-59114-634-6 Paperback ~: $34.95
Originally published months before the Battle ofJutland, this small, but interesting manual provides a unique and revealing insight into life aboard ship.
Disguise and disruption in war and art, Dazzle features a stunning World War I camouflage technique.
''A work of extensive original research, it is also first rate reading." -Proceedings
L:r7Fffftt \ The book is well suppl ied with photographs that go from black-and-white to color, tugboats from steam to diesel, ships from ocean liners to aircraft carriers. McAllister men no longer sport patriarchal beards, and McAllister women are more than the namesakes of boats. Author and chronicler Stephanie Hollyman deftly keeps the family saga intertwined with the contemporary story, hence it serves as a timeline of New York Harbor maritime history as it moved from regional ro global connections. Survival depends on skill and innovation. Hollyman concludes: "Despite the amazing technology of Z-dr ives, Kort nozzles, and computer-aided navigation, roday the company is back ro its core business of comings and goings, of carrying people and goods, a story that is the most fundamental to human civilization. And so it goes for generations into the future." ARDEN SCOTT
Greenport, New York
Revolution on the Hudson: New York City and the Hudson River Valley in the War of American Independence by George C. Daughan (W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 2016, 416pp, illus, maps, biblio, notes, index, ISBN 978- 0-39324572-1; $28 .95hc) George Daughan's latest book recounts the Revolurionary War through many of its battles and serves as a literary tour of hi stori c mountaintops related to the British scheme of ending the rebel uprising by taking control of the Hudson River Valley, Lakes George and Champlain , and the Canadian St. Lawrence strongholds. The British sought to isolate rebellious northern colonies from the colonies to the south operating under the ass umption that, because the southern colonies were more sparsely settled and more dependent upon a slave-based economy, with a few pockets of exceptions, they were more likely to be loyal to the crown. 1lue A mericans had no trained army and harrdly any formidable weapons. They could ffield a militia of farmers and shopkeeperss, but h ad few officers with military leaderslhip experience. The tiny ContinenSEA HIISTORY 15 7, WINTER 2016-17