BOOK REVIEWS

Walter L. Friedrich (translated by Alexander equally correct. At times I found the presenta- R. McBirney). Fire in the Sea. The Santorini tion of some of the basic data to be rather dry, Volcano: Natural History and the Legend of but just as such thoughts would occur to me, Atlantis. Cambridge: Cambridge University the author switched to a more engaging synthe- Press, 2000. xiv + 256 pp., colour illustrations, sis of what it all meant. photographs, maps, figures, tables, appendices, I found myself rather envious of the bibliography, index. US $34.95, cloth; ISBN 0- author's ability to discuss and explain detailed 521-65290-1. data without being boring. Some of this may be due to the excellent translation of the 1994 Fire in the Sea by Walter L. Friedrich is the German edition by Alexander R. McBirney. natural history of the Santorini Volcano in the Often translations are a little stilted. Not being Mediterranean Sea. It includes discussion of able to read German I cannot compare the Atlantis legend, which has been linked by McBirney's translation to the original, but it many scholars to Santorini, and the historical does read very well, eliciting interest and and archaeological evidence that has been used excitement. to connect the two. But the author's main focus As the volume was originally published in is not only to present the natural history of the 1994 the references are not absolutely current. volcano but also to show how that history was But the text is so well referenced that anyone reconstructed. In general, it will appeal to those wishing to delve more deeply into any of the interested in maritime environmental recon- disciplines involved will have no problem in so structions and their use to predict future doing. For anyone wishing to understand the changes, as well as to those interested more changes in the maritime environment of the specifically in the eastern Mediterranean and eastern Mediterranean, Friedrich's work is an one of its most publicized mysteries. excellent starting point. References to the As an archaeologist with a long-time (but maritime history of the region is not as exten- very casual) interest in the issue of Santorini sive as they might have been, but they do form and the Atlantis legend, I was at first a little a reasonable start for a non-specialist. disappointed that there was not more discus- Enhancing the text are 166 colour illustra- sion of the archaeology of the Bronze Age. tions. These range from diagrams and com- Despite this, I was quickly drawn into the puter reconstructions of the changes to the natural history of the island and the environ- island of Santorini over time to photographs of mental reconstruction, which I found to be geological formations, fossils, archaeological every bit as fascinating as the possible connec- materials and landscapes. There are ample time tion to the Atlantis legend. lines based on various data and reproductions Friedrich's discussion of topics used to of historical drawings. All of these highlight establish the natural history, such as plate the spectacular maritime setting. Given the tectonics, stratigraphy and plant remains, usual high cost of colour illustrations I am a sometimes becomes quite technical. Inset little surprised at the moderate price of the boxes are included to explain the tools used for book. the reconstruction. If, for instance, you under- There are three appendices included in the stand the techniques to establish chronologies, volume. The first is a translation of Plato's you can continue reading without distraction. I dialogues: Timaeus and Critias. The context of found the technical explanations of the tools the Atlantis legend would be clearer if the with which I am most familiar to be very well excerpts from Plato started slightly sooner. done, which gives me confidence that the This is particularly true of the Timaeus seg- explanations with which I am less familiar are ment. Starting Timaeus earlier would make it

61 62 The Northern Mariner more apparent that Plato is describing a " The book begins with a brief discourse on homework" assignment and plans to make a the break-up of the super-continent, some early presentation of the resulting story in a contest. philosophy about the nature of the world, and For a quick review of this issue see Kenneth early cartographic plotting of the extent of the Feder' s Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries: Science known world and terra incognita, or the un- and Pseudoscience in Archaeology (Mountain known southern land presumed to balance the View, CA, 1990). The second and third appen- northern hemisphere. Thereafter, the book is dices list animal and plant remains recovered logically divided into roughly chronological from Santorini. These are of particular interest sections that detail the attempts of the Portu- to those with research interests that involve guese, Spanish, Dutch, French and British to understanding the changes in the eastern Medi- expand their trading empires. It is during the terranean. long voyages around Africa to the Indies that Other than a few errors, such as mis-tran- accidental discoveries began, partly as a result scribed directions on page 19 and missing of incomplete knowledge of the means of colours in figure 13.9, I found little to criticize measuring longitude. Each chapter explains the and much to commend. This is a detailed but differing reasons for the nations' involvement readable example of the detective work re- in the Pacific and Indian oceans and is well quired to reconstruct maritime environments supported by endnotes that, together with the and to comprehend how changes have copious bibliography, attest to the author's impacted humanity in the past and how scholarly approach. they likely will in the future. The struggle between Portugal and Spain during their attempts to extend the boundaries Richard Callaghan of the known world is well described as the Calgary, Alberta gradual growth of belief in a terra australis. Accounts of the gradual and piecemeal chart- ing of the coastline of the land that was to Miriam Estensen. Discovery: The Quest for the become Australia are well written in simple, Great South Land. New York: St. Martin's easily understood layman's language, with Press, 2000. x + 286 pp., illustrations, notes, nautical, geographic and archaic terms clearly bibliography, index. US $24.95, paperback; explained. The author's vision is never partial ISBN 0-312-21756-0. or personalised, maintaining a careful objectiv- ity, though without ever losing the sense of Let it be stated at the outset that Miriam excitement in the urge to discover new lands. Estensen has produced a thoroughly absorbing The attractive illustrations of medieval ships and entertaining book. The author's intention add to the enjoyment of the book, though it is is to trace the complex series of accidental a pity that the small maps [7 and 132] were not discoveries and deliberately-funded expedi- augmented by others that showed the progress tions that eventually led to a complete charting of discovery against the known map of Austra- of the Australia's coastline, the "great south lia today, which would aid the understanding land" of the title. It is a fascinating tale that of the general reader. Apart from a very small reads at times like a carefully-crafted detective misprint of "east" for "west" [223], the only novel. There are elements of scientific theory other criticism that can be made is the rather and religious debate, mercantilist politics, abrupt ending; the book ends without conclud- dynastic rivalries, personal greed, betrayal and ing the story of discoveries of the east coast of intrigue, all of which are interwoven with a Australia by James Cook. patchwork of tragic shipwrecks and tales of Overall, this is a fascinating and thor- extraordinary endurance and bravery. The oughly enjoyable account of the endeavours of thread that runs through the narrative of these brave and driven men who extended knowl- voyages of discovery is the desire to extend edge and trade at a high cost in human life and human knowledge, which is an eternal quest. dynastic treasure. This book should be enjoyed Book Reviews 63 by specialist and general reader alike and is widely circulated. In that volume, Landström thoroughly recommended. included representations in miniature of the key historical representations that inspired his Stuart Thomson efforts to represent early sailing ships. Watchfield, UK Wheatley does not do this, although he does create very precise, colorful images of ships. Of the ninety-one plates, twenty-six are of Joseph Wheatley (plates) and Stephen Howarth ( specific vessels. The balance are representa- text). Historic Sail: The Glory of the Sailing tions of a type, reconstructed from a variety of Ship from the 13th to the 19th Century. Lon- visual images. Examples include "A Cinque don: Greenhill Books, 2000. 206 pp., 91 plates, Ports cog of 1300; an Iberian nao, 1530-1590; glossary, bibliography. £40, cloth; ISBN 1- a mercantile brig, 1850; and a Scottish tea 85367-399-4. clipper, 1869. Representations from archaeo- logical evidence include the Bremen cog, Mary The covers of this oversized volume measure a Rose and Wasa, while those based on models bit over one square foot and encompass include the Mataró votive carrack of 1450; São illustrations and text on selected historic ship Felipe of 1586; a Venetian naval galley, 1570; types from the thirteenth to the nineteenth and Naseby/Royal Charles, 1655-1667. centuries. The size is necessary for such a task. Readers will appreciate Howarth's com- The illustrations are beautifully executed, and panion text to each illustration by Stephen the interpretation of ship types offered will Howarth which identifies the inspiration for challenge the reader. each of Wheatley's images and also provides There is insufficient space here to discuss some pithy comments. Of the Wasa's interior ( each of the ninety-one plates drawn by Joseph plate 63), he asks of builder Hendrik Wheatley and the accompanying text by Hybertsson, "Did he know he was building a Stephen Howarth. Beginning with a represen- death-trap? Worse, did the sailors in that first tation of a Danish cog of the thirteen century, and last voyage know?" The Prince Royal of Historic Sail challenges the eye. A veteran of 1610 is summed up as: "Highly expensive, but the British Fire Service turned ship artist, rotten within eleven years, she was rebuilt, saw Joseph Wheatley has done a remarkable job of two kings and a conqueror come and go, had using historic representations and documenta- three names and was destroyed the first time tion to flesh out a vessel. In many cases there she went to war (plate 61)." are no material remains to guide him. In their Howarth's comments suggest that author place he blends together manuscript illustra- and artist worked quite independently. For tions, wall paintings, models and other sources example, Howarth observes of plate 12, a to create the historic reconstructions. This is caravela latina from 1480, that it "possibly" dangerous work. It is easy to incorporate resembles "Columbus's favorite Nina, before elements of a vessel into a reconstruction that she was re-rigged with square sails for his will be rejected by scholars who have analyzed voyage of 1492. Note the forestay, an unusual the sail plans, rigging, hulls, armament and feature in a lateen-rigged vessel. With such myriad other elements that went into the sail- vessels, the usual manner of going about was ing ship. Students of nautical history will be to swing the entire yard vertical and haul it challenged to agree or disagree with each around the front of the mast. For that reason, representation/reconstruction. Routinely, the they normally had forward-raked masts with scholar will turn back to the sources that in- no forestay (see plates 3, 4 and 6), and the top spired the image. These are identified in the was usually a frame or basket positioned only succinct text by Stephen Howarth that faces aft of the mast. However, examples of lateen- each plate. If a sense of deja vu creeps in, it is rigged vessel with forestays may be found in likely that the reader is recalling Bjorn models of other Iberian vessels such as the Landström's The Ship, published in 1961 and felucca (another type of small trading or fish- 64 The Northern Mariner ing craft) and the naval caravel (plate 27) Smuggler Jane. From the Caspian Sea in 529 displayed in the Science Museum, London." BC to the Arctic belt in the 1930s, we are led For each ship the reader will find an artist's on a colourful adventure through the world's interpretation and one by a naval historian. maritime centres, from tiny fishing villages to Historical Sail is a beautifully executed major trading hubs. We are regaled with stories and thoughtful volume. Observant readers will of the richness and sordidness of the world's raise the cry to clear the decks for action as nautical regions, of seafarers and their ships. they debate the veracity of each ship represen- Life was harsh for most ,with no quarter given tation presented in this challenging volume. and, it seems, none expected. The haughty, dark-featured, gray-eyed Irish woman Grania Timothy J. Runyan Ny Maille assumed notoriety as Grace O'Mal- Greenville, North Carolina ley. She was also called Granuaile (the bald Grania) because she sported short hair. She built a reputation in the mid-1550s as a reso- Joan Druett. She Captains: Heroines and lute and reckless admiral who commanded Hellions of the Sea. New York: Simon and three galleys and 200 fighting men. Even when Schuster, 2000. 304 pp., illustrations, photo- her fortunes worsened, she was bold enough to graphs, notes, bibliography, index. US $26.00; exchange correspondence with Queen Eliza- Cdn $37.50, cloth; ISBN 0-684-85690-5. beth I, requesting a pension for the remainder of her life in return for no longer divesting the History in the wrong hands can be a dreary Queen of spoils. Queen Elizabeth was im- business. Historical writing can also be a pressed enough to grant Grace an audience selective rendering of the past. Thankfully and, on the promise that Grace would, "turn neither generalization characterizes Joan Druett her sword and influence against the enemies of or her latest book, She Captains: Heroines and the English Queen," awarded her the pension. Hellions of the Sea. The social context of the subject matter is Druett makes early mention of the selec- also enriched by the everyday characters who tive quality of maritime history, particularly may not have achieved central casting. We are the seemingly universal interpretation which introduced to all types of women, from moth- ignores the lives and exploits of women seafar- ers to tavern owners to prostitutes. From con- ers. "Hero" within much of the genre has been vict women to the wives of seamen who gave exclusively masculine. This is true at least birth onboard men-of-war as the cannons since Victorian times. "It was not until the rumbled in battle, life was hardest for women. Victorians rewrote the old legends that women Druett elevates the characters who were became pictured as weak and frail," writes also women to their rightful places, but not by Druett, yet women were also "distinguished for repeating the sins of many other maritime bold enterprise." The twenty-two-year-old historians and not at the expense of the charac- Grace Dowling was such a hero. It was Grace ters who were the other sex. The text is full of who with her father rowed a boat into the fury the exploits of "Blackbeard" and Calico Jack of the storm which had cast the steam packet Rackham. This was an era when pirates swag- Forfarshire onto the rocks off Northumber- gered through English ports with so much land to rescue passengers and crew. impunity that they took shipowners who were Surgically but entertainingly She Captains unable to pay on demand to court. Within the debunks the traditional version by replacing pages better known characters such as Napo- misplaced characters. We discover the venge- leon and Nelson nib shoulders with the lesser ful Queen Tomyris, who sank the head of known like Mary Lacy, the nineteen- year-old Cyrus the Great in a bag of blood; Queen nursemaid who in 1759 ran away and joined Artemisia of Halikarnassos and the engage- the British Navy and served for twelve years as ment of her fleet against the Athenians; the William Chandler. We are introduced to strong and daring Danish pirate, Alwilda; and Viking female raider Sela, who held a corn- Book Reviews 65 mand in the fleet of her brother Koll, the King fourth-century Roman writer, who became the of Norway. When Koll was slain by his adver- supreme military authority on warfare in the sary Horwendil, Sela wielded her sword in West for a millennium. The next four articles hand-to-hand combat with Horwendil, but in deal with aspects of naval tactics that remained the end she too was struck down. all the rage during the nineteenth century, This well-documented book should be when steam power, iron hulls and new weap- welcomed by professional historians who ons appeared to transform naval warfare. accept shortcomings in their own knowledge. Michel Depeyre's essay on the ram in French It will appeal to that audience obsessed with naval thought is a case in point. While new the pursuit for all things nautical. But its easy- technologies forced naval thinkers to consider to-read and lively style should attract a much new tactics, lack of battle experience and a wider audience. This is also a timely book general rejection of history in favour of posi- given that many modern navies are increas- tivist science allowed theory to flourish. The ingly becoming dependent on professional historical school of naval thought grew only seafarers who just happen to be women. slowly until it culminated in the ideas of A.T. Mahan. Etienne Taillemite and Jean-Jacques Kathryn Spurling Langendorff each make a good case for con- Canberra, Australia sidering the ideas of admirals who today are largely forgotten. All three under consideration were precursors to Mahan in that they used Hervé Coutou-Bégarie (ed.). L 'Evolution de la historical experience to criticize some of the Pensée Navale VII. Paris: Institut de Stratégie more bizarre tactical ideas that arose in the Comparée, Ecole pratique des Hautes Etudes, wake of the great technological changes that 1999. 256 pp., notes, diagrams. FF 200, paper; took place during the century. Jean-Marie Ruiz ISBN 2-7178-3972-0. explores Mahan's idea of naval mastery as the key to international relations in an interesting This is the seventh and penultimate volume way by arguing that concepts of class and race arising from Professor Coutou-Begarie's derived from notions of social Darwinist strug- project to provide a venue for the debate and gle, and that "will to power" shaped his dissemination of ideas concerning the evolu- geopolitical ideas about American imperialism. tion of naval thought in as broadly conceived Ioannis Loucas' excellent article on Greek and all encompassing a manner as may be naval doctrine from independence (1831) to found anywhere. It would be churlish to de- the Second World War provides a nice transi- mand thematic coherence of this particular tion to the later essays on the modern period. volume where none was intended; far better to His synthesis of national doctrine covering identify the topics and leave it to readers to more than a century is the longest article in the explore the contents of these well-written collection. Greece is an interesting example of essays. In addition to the editor's introduction, a small naval power where the lack of means readers will find nine essays that deal with constantly clashed with economic needs, topics ranging from naval thought in the medi- cultural aspirations (i.e., Hellenism) and politi- eval West to the post-1945 period. Like the cal realities arising from nation's location and contents of earlier volumes that have been attachment to the sea. Ezio Ferrante and Lars reviewed in The Northern Mariner/Le Marin Wedin take up the same general theme – the du nord, the essays are organized about theory, naval problems facing small powers – by history and doctrine. They also maintain the discussing respectively the challenges facing same high writing standard. the Italian and Swedish navies during the years Philippe Richardot's inquiry into the after 1945. While Italy faced the difficult existence of naval thought in the Middle Ages context of revival after recent defeat and re- boils down to an examination of a single au- storing naval power in the wake of dubious thor, Vegetius (Flavius Vegetius Renatus), a conduct, the Swedish navy faced entirely 66 The Northern Mariner different challenges, as air power became the and naval, from the first millennium BC to the preferred means to defend the state's neutral- end of the nineteenth century AD. It concen- ity. The debates over naval doctrine were trates heavily on the economic aspects of especially vigorous under such stimuli and are building, maintaining and operating a merchant well worth reading about. In Italy a general fleet. The steps and activities needed before disinterest in military affairs was the most bringing a fleet into being are reviewed at serious problem facing naval planners during length, and similar attention is given to the the cold war and the state's growing integra- goods involved in the export and import trades tion into NATO. Today, peacekeeping in the over time. The involvement of the Chinese Mediterranean has changed the naval parame- imperial authorities in managing trade is dis- ters yet again. Sweden's geopolitical position cussed. There is a chapter devoted specifically in international affairs abruptly changed after to naval activities. The book opens with a short World War II. The navy, previously the guar- section on the design, structure and size of antor of Sweden's neutrality, was replaced by Chinese ships, but for readers interested in this air power and the army as the cold war and the particular field the author's previous work ( increased threat of atomic attack affected the Chinese Maritime Activities and Socioeco- Nordic region. Recent submarine incursion nomic Development c. 2000 B.C.- 199 A.D. [ into Swedish waters in the 1980s led to a Westport, CT, 1997]) is more informative. revival of the naval power, but the rapidly The first chapter discusses a concept the changing world continues to be a dangerous author calls "backward linkages," a term used place. Finally, David Cumin examines the in developmental economics which stresses the contribution of Carl Schmitt to maritime activities and facilities up to the point that a geopolitical thought. This essay is based on the vessel is manned, provisioned and ready to author's doctoral thesis on the ideas of the start trading. Among these linkages are vessel German jurist and political philosopher who design, means of propulsion, yards and slip- died in 1985. Long held in disrepute for his ways needed for construction and the equivocating position with the Nazis, Schmitt's specialized skills required. Inputs at this stage perceptive analyses of the impact of earlier are the timber, ironwork, cordage and other struggles between maritime imperial powers on materials needed to build the ship. This section Germany are given full treatment. Cumin of the book has some useful information on the favours the strategical theorist while ignoring number of working days and workmen used to the moral compromiser. Whether one ought to build ships of various sizes. Other work on the separate the two so clearly must be salted to backward linkages includes the provision of taste. Like the other essays in this collection, ports and harbour facilities, connections to the this one contains interesting ideas that may interior of the country by roads and inland encourage some to reconsider their own. waterways for the movement of exports and imports to the shipping points, and the indus- James Pritchard tries and costs required for this permanent Kingston, Ontario infrastructure. Agriculture is also involved in providing food for both the ship and infrastruc- ture builders, and for the sailors manning the Gang Deng. Maritime Sector, Institutions, and vessels. The fishing industry as a training Sea Power ofPremodern China. Westport, CT: ground for seamen is also considered to be part Greenwood Press, 1999. xix + 289 pp., tables, of the backward linkage. figures, illustrations, maps, appendices, bibli- The second chapter looks at "forward ography, index. US $69.50, cloth; ISBN 0-313- linkages," the activities needed to establish a 30712-1. maritime trading system. Manufactured goods for export include metal goods, ceramics, and This monograph is concerned principally with finished silk and cotton materials. Over thirty China's maritime activities, both mercantile miscellaneous exports are listed from agate to Book Reviews 67 umbrellas and zithers. Some of the export analysed a mass of information not normally goods come from state enterprises and some available to western scholars. The emphasis in from private suppliers. Raw materials and the book is on the economic aspects of mari- foodstuffs were also exported, notably tea and time affairs, but where appropriate sufficient sugar. Packaging materials for the exports is detail is provided on ship technology, naviga- also a critical part of the forward linkages. tion and the supporting infrastructure required Imports included exotic medical materials for for maritime trade. There is the occasional traditional Chinese medicines, metals (particu- point or observation which might be disputed, larly copper for coinage), and from the eigh- but this is normal in any serious work baded teenth century relatively low-value semifin- upon incomplete or partial data from antiquity. ished materials, such as cotton yarn from India. With the detail it contains, the book would be There was also a large human component in of most interest to scholars and graduate stu- the form of Chinese merchants and traders dents working in this field. The lucid and living permanently overseas throughout Asia. orderly presentation of the data could also be In the third chapter Deng reviews both the of interest to the serious avocational student of governmental and informal institutions con- Chinese maritime affairs. I would unhesitat- cerned with maritime affairs. In general, most ingly recommend the book to those interested Chinese imperial dynasties supported and in the subject, and it should certainly be ac- promoted overseas trade, although they fre- quired by university and college libraries, and quently attempted to impose strict controls. the larger public libraries. Regulation of trade was always imperfect, in that smuggling and piracy were often endemic, R.J.O. Millar particularly when governments banned or Vancouver, BC severely restricted overseas trade. China's naval power and activities are discussed in a short chapter, which makes the Robert de la Croix. Histoire de la Piraterie. point that China was the dominant sea power Saint-Mâlo: Editions L'Ancre de Marine, in East Asia until the arrival of the Europeans. 1995. 388 pp., illustrations, bibliography. FF Even then China remained a significant force, 165, paper; ISBN 2-905970-99-5. defeating Dutch fleets as late as the 1620s. The major collapse of Chinese naval power did not Robert de la Croix's Histoire de la Piraterie, occur until the Opium Wars of the early nine- first published in 1974, has been translated into teenth century. A final chapter considers the English and Spanish. Ancre de Marine, a current situation, especially the rapid expan- French specialist publisher in maritime affairs sion of the Chinese economy. and history, reissued it in 1995. The monograph is liberally supplied with Histoire de la Piraterie, a work that spans tables which provide a large amount of supple- many centuries, is written in a style highly mentary and detailed information on the tex- typical of popular French histories. It is neither tual material. There is a good index and an a scholarly analysis nor a scientific document. extensive bibliography with over 400 entries. The book contains twenty-two chapters that While the latter contains a large number of divide piracy chronologically, geographically publications in Chinese, the author has and topically into short snippets. It also in- thoughtfully provided English translations of cludes twelve black-and-white illustrations of both the article and journal titles. engravings and a table of contents, but there is Overall this is a most useful addition to the no index. Each chapter is written as a short literature on Chinese maritime affairs from story and makes for interesting, and sometimes proto-historic times up to the effective collapse amusing, reading. But one should not treat this of the Manchu dynasty at the end of the nine- work as a definite treatise or as a groundbreak- teenth century. With his access to, and knowl- ing study. Indeed, the bibliography includes edge of, the Chinese sources, the author has few primary sources and no archival materials. 68 The Northern Mariner

Instead, de la Croix has put together a concise emphasis on understanding their historical and synthesis of tales and stories based on a large cultural context. The work is definitely not a number of similar books going back as far as narrative of piratical events but a review of the the early 1700s. development of the above terms in the Graeco- The value of this book lies in its lengthy Roman world from about 800 BC to 700 AD. time span. The birth of piracy in the Mediterra- The terms piracy and pirate are normally nean is dealt with in the first chapter, but the used negatively. Pirates are usually defined as " bulk of the book concentrates on the legendary armed robbers whose activities involve the use pirates of the Atlantic and Caribbean: Teach, of ships." Consequently, the term is not used to Morgan, De Graff, Rackam, Avery, Kidd and connote criminal activities on land, except for Lafitte. Each chapter is essentially a biographi- coastal raids. Acts of murder, pillage and cal sketch. The book also relates the history of kidnap were frequent and well known to the women pirates, such as Ann Bonney, Mary inhabitants of the Mediterranean and Aegean Read, Julienne David, Louise Antonini, Ching shores, as is demonstrated by the surviving and Lai Cho San. Asian and Pacific pirates are historical and literary records. The word also acknowledged in separate chapters. The peirotes first appeared in the third century BC last chapter discusses the politicization and and by the end of that century was in common demise of piracy in the twentieth century, and usage. In the beginning there seems to have the author claims that this way of life disap- been no difference between piracy and warfare. peared because of the rise of modern commu- In the Homeric Age the aims and methods of nications and technology. both were indistinguishable. During the Despite the sometimes Romanesque nature Classical period the term pirate was widely of the prose, Robert de la Croix's book is an used to refer to almost anyone who attacked easy introduction to the subject of piracy and other people by or at sea. As time went on, some aspects of maritime history; it is also an the concept was refined to apply solely to exciting and entertaining read. But beyond the those whose main objective was to obtain descriptive, little attempt is made to explain the booty. At times the difference between nature or the motivation behind piracy other legitimate warfare and piracy was a matter of than the obvious: greed, shifting allegiances opinion. This is why the author places such and a desire for adventure. emphasis on understanding the shifting meanings, as well as how the various states Marc Cormier and rulers dealt with the suppression of piracy. Toronto, Ontario The book is divided into eight chapters. The first and last are the introduction and conclusion, while the others are structured Philip de Souza. Piracy in the Graeco-Roman broadly chronologically. These start with the World. Cambridge: Cambridge University origin of piracy in the Archaic period of Greek Press, 1999. x + 276 pp., maps, plates, bibliog- history, while the second examines the Hel- raphy, index of sources, general index. US lenic era. These two chapters are followed by $59.95, cloth; ISBN 0-521-48137-6. an examination of piracy and its suppression during the Roman Republic. Then the author This book is a fine example of a scholarly assesses the extent of Pompey's campaigns and work, and it should be, since it is based on the success and the nature of piracy in the Roman author's PhD dissertation. Among other things, Principate. The final main chapters deals with it is a thorough review of both the contempo- piracy during Late Antiquity, ending with the rary and scholarly literature. This review is arrival of the Muslims in the seventh century. supported by a detailed index. It is interesting that notwithstanding the The author's purpose is to present an prominence of pirates and piracy in classical interpretation of the use of the labels "pirate" literature, no one until now has undertaken a and "piracy" in Graeco-Roman texts, with careful analysis of the portrayal of piracy by Book Reviews 69 contemporary writers. While the book is not activity from the 1770s to the 1860s. Much is relaxing reading, it is essential for anyone revealed, for example, about the practice of dealing with these periods of history. ransoming vessels through an examination of the case of Eliza Swan, a Scottish whaler Wilfredo A. Geigel captured by US S President in 1813. Prohibited St. Croix, US Virgin Islands by the British in 1782, due to the opportunities for extortion, collusion and deception that it presented, ransoming was still permitted by the Donald A. Petrie. The Prize Game: Lawful United States and other powers down to 1815, Looting on the High Seas in the Days of Fight- even though it did not always yield prize ing Sail. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, money, as all the President's men were soon to 1999. xiii + 217 pp., illustrations, maps, appen- discover. Also disappointed were the officers dix, notes, bibliography, index. US$25.95, and crew of the American commerce-raider cloth; ISBN 1-55750-669-8. Canadian distribu- Argus, whose cruise in 1813 resulted in the tor, Vanwell Publishing, St Catherines, ON. sinking of twenty-three British vessels. Alas, this was followed by a decision in the Amer- The Prize Game gets off to an inauspicious ican Admiralty Court to the effect that the state start: writ large on the dust jacket is the phrase " was not obliged to reward the crew for inflict- lawful looting," one of those tiresome terms ing such damage on the enemy. that imply a yarn about maritime mayhem, While the Argus case sheds light on the misbehaviour and mishap. Then, on the con- nature of prizes, issues relating to the access of tents page we learn that two of the five chap- foreigners to national prize courts, and the ters are devoted to Eliza Swan and Luke Ryan, practice of blockade, are explored via two the subjects of recent articles by Donald A. further micro-studies. Luke Ryan's predatory Petrie. A perusal of the "bibliography of acces- career is likewise used by Petrie to assess sible sources" adds to a growing sense of broader questions, such as the issue of nation- foreboding, for it is stated that the records of ality in the conduct of commerce-raiding and the English High Court of Admiralty are to be the sometimes fine line that distinguished found in the Chancery Lane branch of the privateering from piracy. Here, both analysis Public Record Office, whereas they have, in and narrative are sharp and interesting, though fact, reposed at Kew for more than a decade. the assertion that the predatory efforts of Worse still, cited in a very short list of second- privateers were "directed solely against the ary works [207], is Francis R. Stark's Abolition enemies of the sovereign whose commissions of Privateering (1897), an outdated book that they held" [69] requires qualification. In the has misinformed and misled many an Amer- American Revolutionary War, for instance, the ican scholar examining the nature and signifi- British government did not issue letters of cance of European, especially British, priva- marque against the colonists because this teering, as Janice Thomson's Mercenaries, would have altered the status of the Americans Sovereigns and Pirates (Princeton, 1996) from rebels to citizens of an independent demonstrates. sovereign state; in other words, it would have Having gained this unfavourable impres- been tantamount to recognising the independ- sion, a collection of vaguely familiar, poorly ence of the colonies. Hence, in April 1777, substantiated tales of derring-do and perfidious after nearly two years of deliberations, the Albion seemingly beckons. To Petrie's great British issued commissions (not letters of credit, however, such a prospect does not marque) to those subjects of His Majesty materialise. Instead, we are treated to five well wanting to make prizes of the vessels and chosen, thoroughly researched and admirably cargoes belonging to the colonists "now in presented case studies, each of which illumi- rebellion" who were contravening the 1775 nates a dimly-lit facet of the legal and adminis- Prohibition of Trade Act. While this was a trative provisions that regulated prize-taking singular arrangement, it was echoed in the 70 The Northern Mariner issue of letters of marque and reprisal prior to These two impressive volumes will help schol- the declarations of war against Spain in 1739 ars navigate the immense shipping records of and the United Provinces in 1780. the East India Company, now part of the Brit- The Prize Game concludes with a useful ish Library. appendix in which the rules of the game are The Catalogue treats some 1577 ships outlined. There is also an epilogue, where the alphabetically, sketching what is known of questions of why the prize business worked for their dimensions, builders, and principal own- so long prior to the 1850s, and why it came to ers. Between 1614 and 1656 the EIC built its an end thereafter, are addressed. Simple an- own ships at its Blackwall dockyard; thereafter swers are posited: it worked because it was in ships were hired from principal owners who the interests of both states and individuals to had built and officered ships according to make it work; and it ceased when these public agreed specifications. Ships were hired for a and private interests began to conflict. Under- maximum of four voyages before being rele- lying these basic propositions, of course, is a gated to other trades; after the introduction of complex of political, economic, technological, copper sheathing and teak construction, eight maritime and legal issues. In focussing on the voyages per ship became common. Under each latter theme, Mr. Petrie provides an important ship's listing, Farrington compiles the India and highly readable insight into the murky, Office Record numbers for the surviving logs, difficult waters of maritime law. In so doing, journals, ledgers, and pay books for each he adds accuracy and detail to the analyses of voyage, 4563 in all, its oriental destination and Janice Thomson and others who view the long the arrival and departure dates at key ports demise of the prize game as a function of the along the way. An extremely helpful appendix state's growing ability and desire to monopo- lists the voyages chronologically, showing that lize violence. Perhaps also, the appearance of at least one EIC ship, and as many as fifty, left The Prize Game, hard on the heels of Richard England each autumn/winter throughout the Hill's The Prizes of War (Stroud, 1998), will entire 233 years that the EIC was a trading persuade future researchers to treat Francis R. company, except in 1656/1657. Appendices on Stark's 1897 treatise as a piece of dubious vessels built by particular builders and on primary evidence rather than an authoritative those managed by specific owners will help secondary source. specialists. The companion Biographical Index of David J. Starkey some 12,000 captains, mates, surgeons, and Hull, UK pursers in the EIC is equally impressive. Farrington has gathered what is known of the lives of these men, including their service in Anthony Farrington. Catalogue of East India the Royal Navy and merchant ships. For in- Company Ships' Journals and Logs, stance, Edward Maxwell Daniell rose from 1600-1834. London: British Library, 1999. 789 midshipman, through the ranks from sixth to pp., introduction, catalogue, appendices. first mate on the amply-officered EIC ships, to £85.00, cloth; ISBN 0-7123-4646-5. become Captain of Duchess of Athol; more surprisingly, he married and fathered six chil- Anthony Farrington. A Biographical Index of dren born over an eight-year period during the East India Maritime Service Officers, which he also captained four of that ship's 1600-1834. London: British Library, 1999. 886 voyages to China. pp., introduction. £85.00, cloth; ISBN 0-7123- Those devoted to the history of northern 4647-3. navigation can let envy turn them as green as the handsome covers of these volumes, or let Anthony Farrington has been contributing to their curiosity take them beyond. There are the history of the first centuries of the East men described here whose maritime careers India Company (EIC) for nearly three decades. included service in the Royal Navy, the Eng- Book Reviews 71 lish coasting trade (Gregory Jackson), the West was heavily involved in trade with Asia. From Indies trade (Edward Barlow), the Hudson Bay the beginning, he opposed the VOC's trade (Thomas Bradley Leigh),and the Baltic monopoly. This resulted, in 1614, in the trade (Edward Harriman). Naturally, those founding of the Australische of Zuid described here tended to climax their careers Compagnie and in 1615 in his privately-fi- with the EIC, though there were surgeons who nanced expedition with the ships Eendracht became professors of medicine (Sir Bussick and Hoorn. By going via Cape Horn he tried Harwood) or MPs and translators of Dante's not to infringe on the monopoly of the VOC, Inferno (Joseph Hume). which used the route around the Cape of Good There is so much information crammed Hope. He proved to be wrong. into these volumes that one wishes it was on a After an adventurous voyage, during CD-ROM in a statistical database, searchable which Willem Cornelisz. Schouten (c. 1567- and ready for the analysis that Farrington 1625) and Jacob Le Maire (d. 1616), a son of himself could do best; unfortunately these Isaac, had pioneered a new sea route to the volumes have only the briefest of introduc- Dutch East Indies by discovering a strait at the tions. Those of us who enjoy maritime history, tip of South America which still bears his enjoy the history of the East India Company, or family name. Eendracht (Hoorn was lost enjoy lists, will find pleasure in time spent with earlier in a fire) reached the Moluccan island a library copy of these valuable, and expensive, of Ternate on 17 September 1616. Jan Pietersz. reference tools for scholars. Coen (1597-1629), President of the Council of the Dutch Indies, refused to believe that Le Ian K. Steele Maire and Schouten had found a new passage London, Ontario to the Pacific and promptly seized Eendracht and its cargo and papers. The crew was given the choice of either joining the service of the Jacob Le Maire (intro. Edward Duyker). Mir- VOC or being repatriated to Holland. Le Maire ror of the Australian Navigation. Sydney, and Schouten had to go home, but Le Maire NSW: Horden House, 2000. 196 pp., illustra- would return. In a petition to the government, tions (b&w, colour), bibliographic note. AUS Isaac Le Maire would later declare that his $248, hand-bound in quarter alum-tawed goat son's death was "caused by the affront and skin with marble paper sides; ISBN 1-875567- harshness put upon him." After several years 25-9. of litigation, Isaac would vindicate his son and gain full compensation, with interest, for his In their quest for riches, the Dutch ventured all lost properties. over the world. In 1688 Thomas Lynch, gover- This volume starts with a short introduc- nor of Jamaica, noted about the Dutch: "Jesus tion by Edward Duyker, which is mainly based Christ was good but trade was better." And this on J.A.J. Villas (ed. and trans.), The East and is certainly true for the amazing voyage around the West Indian Mirror, Being an Account of the world of Jacob le Maire and Willem Joris van Spilbergen's Voyage Round the Cornelisz. Schouten in 1615-1616. World (1614-1617) and the Australian In 1602 the Dutch East India Company ( Navigations of Jacob Le Maire (London, 1906) VOC) was founded. In return for their high- and W.A. Engelbracht and P.J. Herwerden risk investments (the Dutch Republic was still (eds.), De ontdekkingsreis van Jacob Le Maire at war with the King of Spain and Portugal, en William Cornelisz. Schouten in de jaren whose subjects had a virtual monopoly on the 1615-1617, Journalen, Documenten en Andere trade between Asia and Europe) the Company Bescheiden (2 vols., The Hague, 1945). gained a monopoly of all Dutch trade with the The main body of the book consists of East Indies. At the time one of its biggest facsimiles of two rare original printings. The shareholders was Isaac le Maire. In the years first text is of the edition of the Spieghel der preceding the foundation of the VOC Le Maire Australische Navigatie, which was published 72 The Northern Mariner by Michiel Colijn in Amsterdam in 1622. It culties and individual solutions for making the was the first true publication of the journal of transition from wood to iron, or anything else the Le Maire-Schouten expedition. Latin and the reader might hope to learn about naval French editions appeared in the same year shipbuilders. Instead, the book contains listings using similar engravings. The second text is of hundreds of ships built by these yards. taken from Alexander Dalrymple's An Histori- These lists are of necessity incomplete, and the cal Collection of the Several Voyages and ships have been better covered elsewhere. Discoveries in the South Pacific Ocean (Lon- A very welcome feature of the book is the don, 1770-1771). Dalrymple was the leading large number of area maps, showing the loca- English hydrographer of his time. One of the tion of the individual yards relative to their documents, central to his argument about the neighbourhoods, from a map of Africa down to possible existence of a southern continent, was Merseyside with a single shipyard shown. The the journal of the Le Maire and Schouten plot plans of individual yards are valuable only expedition. An asset to this publication are the when they are dated, since every shipyard is wonderful colour maps and plates. subject to constant changes in detail. This limited edition of 950 copies has been The dust jacket does not mention that the lovingly compiled down to the last detail. The author restricted himself to major shipyards, printing is excellent, the paper expensive and and he nowhere mentions his criteria for the book lavishly hand-bound. But I wonder achieving this distinction. The reader cannot who will pay US $145 for a book which con- discover this on his own, especially once he tains ninety-six pages printed in old Dutch in a discovers that four small, and four very small, barely readable gothic font? warships were built in Redbridge between 1694 and 1798 at a yard which can hardly be Victor Enthoven termed "major." While I am not really familiar Leiden, The Netherlands with many of the shipyards treated in the book, I do know that a number of important present- day German naval builders, such as Fr. Robert J. Winklareth. Naval Shipbuilders of Lürssen, are not even mentioned, Bremer the World: From the Age of Sail to the Present Vulkan was closed a few years ago [264], and Day. London: Chatham Publishing, 2000. 384 AG "Weser" was also completely dismantled pp., photographs, diagrams, maps, tables, after 1945 and rebuilt later [262]. glossary, bibliography, index. £30, cloth; ISBN The book makes uneasy reading. The long 1-861760121-X. ship lists are repeatedly disappointing because they are incomplete. The general outlines of The title of this book may suggest that it pres- the technical development of various warship ents all the world's shipyards which ever built types, and the commercial development of warships. This impression is partly correct, but local areas, are interesting add-ons, but the the volume is restricted mainly to their corpo- author is wrong to state that the last large rate histories. The author has collected an sailing ship was Cutty Sark (built 1869, one immense body of information and has ex- fifth the size of Preussen, built in 1902 [23]), pended considerable effort to include similar that RMS Titanic was built for Cunard and not information on naval bases and many private White Star [122], or that the largest Danish shipyards. As a result, every establishment's shipyard, Burmeister and Wain of Copenha- history from its opening to closure (or the gen, was located in Sweden and not in Den- present) is provided, including occasional data mark [332]. on its facilities and workforce. The book is sometimes burdened by an The book is silent, however, about the often cavalier approach to foreign names. The organisation of shipyards, their workings, general disclaimer for tongues with non-Latin layouts (and attendant space problems), com- alphabets is fully appreciated, but the Dutch mercial importance, role as employers, diffi Koninkliche should be Koninklijke [312], and Book Reviews 73 in Swedish it is Mekaniska, not Mekanska nor other publications, is incorporated. Mekansiska [330]. The book would have In spite of the extensive bibliography, the benefited from a good proofreader, since there revised book is largely a synthesis of Bruijn's are more than 150 typographical or grammati- own publications and research over the last cal errors. It is also frustrating to read twice on thirty years. As a student he wrote about the same page [148] that the Norfolk Navy Michiel Adriaanszoon de Ruyter (1609-1676), Yard employed about 32,000 people in 1945, the most outstanding admiral in Dutch history. and it is not easy to accept a floating drydock As a researcher, lecturer and professor of or a steam turbine engine. maritime history, Bruijn has written about Tighter editing would have strengthened many different maritime subjects. But the the book and provided the reader with a mean- Dutch navy has always been one of his ingful interpretation of the fruits of the author's favourites. Several of his naval books and efforts. The countless repetition of the fact that articles were seminal. Many of his PhD stu- between 1800 and 1900 warship construction dents adopted Bruijn's special interest in the changed from wood to steel is superfluous, and human side of maritime history, including it is a pity that the index lists only some ships. investigations into the backgrounds of com- The fifteen swastikas on the dust jacket, cele- mon seamen and officers. brating the launching of Bismarck, place a In Varend Verleden Bruijn describes a dubious emphasis on the historical importance period of about 200 years, starting in the 1590s of Nazi capital ships. when the Dutch Republic became a European power of some importance. In 1597, the Seven Wolfgang Walter Provinces that formed the Republic decided to Bremen, Germany create five separate admiralties. This decentral- ized naval administration remained unchanged until the end of the Republic in 1795, when the Jaap R. Bruijn. Varend Verleden. De French revolutionary armies conquered the Nederlandse oorlogsvloot in de zeventiende en Netherlands. Bruijn has divided the two centu- achttiende eeuw. Meppel: Uitgeverij Balans, ries into three parts, with the years 1652 and 1998. 304 pp., maps, photographs, bibliogra- 1713 as watersheds. Before 1652 naval policy phy, index. ISBN 90-5018-407-3. was based on ad hoc solutions. Sea battles were fought with hired merchantmen of all The golden age of the Netherlands has always shapes and sizes. Halfway through the seven- been a fascinating subject for research. With teenth century a new era began for the Dutch the help of a strong navy to protect Dutch Republic. Its main enemy was no longer Spain interests all over the world, the United Prov- but England, an opponent with a strong profes- inces became a leading maritime nation in the sional navy. The First Anglo-Dutch War ( seventeenth century. In spite of this undisputed 1652-1654) convinced leading Dutch civil importance, there are hardly any general histor- military authorities, like the grand pensionary ical surveys of the Dutch navy of that era, and of Holland, John de Witt (1625-1672), that a those that exist are outdated, since they were navy comprised mainly of hired merchantmen all written before the middle of the twentieth was no longer sufficient but had to be century and focus mainly on sea battles and superceded by a strong standing naval force of admirals. A modern, more analytical survey newly-built men-of-war. Two expensive build- was not available until 1993, when The Dutch ing programmes in 1653, and the stipulation of Navy of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth the States General in 1654 that the five admi- Centuries by the Dutch historian Jaap R. ralties not sell these new ships after the war, Bruijn was published in the United States. Five lead to the creation of a permanent fighting years later a revised edition appeared in Dutch force of sixty men-of-war. With the birth of with the same structure but substantially this "new" navy, the Dutch took a decisive step enlarged. The latest data, taken from recent to deal with the English threat and become a dissertations and 74 The Northern Mariner military power. In the second half of the seven- ical articles) for nearly forty years. From his teenth century, the Dutch navy reached its initial assignment as keeper of manuscripts at heyday. Yet this period of dominance did not Mystic Seaport's G.W. Blunt White Library to last long. After the War of the Spanish Succes- his current duties as the Irene B. Hoadley sion (1702-1713), the Netherlands was finan- Professor of Academic Librarianship at Texas cially exhausted and could no longer be con- A&M University, Dr. Schultz has diligently sidered a major European power. In the eigh- pursued the subject of gold-rush voyages with teenth century, the "new" navy became a admirably thorough archival research. In second-rate, and sometimes a third-rate, force. remarkable detail, he now has synthesized and Bruijn's partition of the history of the presented in full book form the experience of navy of the Dutch Republic into three episodes those intrepid gold seekers who, unlike many is clear and logical. For each period he de- who went overland to California or travelled scribes the naval activities, administration and by steamships with the tortuous passage across personnel. Interesting long-term developments, the Panama isthmus, chose the all-water route like the "aristocratisation" of the officers corps from the east coast to the California gold and the increasingly foreign content of the fields. The decision to take an 18,000-20,000 crew, are clearly explained and illustrated with mile trip that took anywhere from four and appropriate examples, which are supported by one-half to eight and one-half months involved tables with quantitative data. Bruijn correctly the frequently tempestuous and always unpre- emphasizes the importance of men like De dictable journey around Cape Horn in a sailing Ruyter and De Witt who were the driving vessel. However large or small this might have forces behind the most successful navy the been for oceanic travel, it produced an experi- Dutch ever had. Unfortunately, the develop- ence that was so novel and daunting that very ment of rival navies, like the English and the few of the adventurers were adequately pre- French, is outside the scope of Bruijn's study. pared, physically or psychologically. Bruijn has given us a well-written, stimu- From an impressive assortment of pub- lating book that provides a good view of the lished and unpublished sources, including way the Dutch navy functioned and was struc- some 100 manuscript diaries, the author has tured. Varend Verleden is already the standard fashioned a composite account that takes the work on the subject. Thanks to Bruijn's thor- gold seeker from initial voyage preparations ough study, the history of the Dutch navy in through the months at sea to the final arrival at the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries need San Francisco. At times hilarious, at times no longer be dominated by heroic deeds and dreary, at times frightening, this journey tested smoking cannons. Perhaps some will find this the mettle of even the most bold, ambitious, regrettable. I do not. and hardy voyager. While most passengers were men, a few dauntless women struggled Marc A. Van Alphen through this seagoing experience. The Hague, The Netherlands The bulk of Schultz's account properly belongs to the voyage. Studded with abundant and often evocative quotations from the Charles R. Schultz. Forty-Niners 'Round the sources, separate chapters consider food and Horn. Columbia: University of South Carolina drink; amusement and entertainment; Sundays, Press, 1999. xiv + 352 pp., illustrations, tables, holidays, and special days; duties and responsi- notes, bibliography, index. US $45, cloth; bilities; weather problems; and the whole host ISBN 1-57003-329-3. of aggravations subsumed under "people problems" and "miscellaneous problems." This award-winning contribution to American On balance, it appears that these maritime history is a noteworthy distillation of California-bound passengers were misled, if the author's researches (and a consequent array not exploited, from the initial time of prepara- of conference papers, monographs, and period- tion to the very end of the voyage. Soon Book Reviews 75 enough they complained, protested, and even when as a junior naval officer studying at the threatened captains and organizational repre- Royal Naval College he availed himself of the sentatives as petty inconveniences grew into impressive collection of maritime art housed serious deprivation. Of course, among these over the road at the National Maritime Mu- travellers there was more than enough gullibil- seum. This began a lifelong interest in mari- ity to go around, yet the experience (however time painting, which grew and deepened dur- bitter) could be rationalized by concentrating ing a forty-three year career in the Royal Navy. on the anticipated rewards awaiting those who Joel points out in his introduction that made it to the gold fields. In any event, getting Brooking has often been neglected in the there was decidedly not half the fun. history of British maritime painters, something Well-illustrated, with useful captions, this this book goes a long way to rectifying. Born volume presents two useful statistical tables in 1723, Brooking spent his early years in East assembled from a number of sources. One Greenwich adjacent to the Thames and border- analyzes passengers by age and clearly demon- ing the busy dockyards of Deptford and Wool- strates their predominant youth, with over wich. He was apprenticed to his father, a sixty-three percent in their twenties; the other painter and decorator, and his earliest known table itemizes the cost of food and building work, A Two-decker on Fire at Night off a materials in relation to wage rates in San Fran- Fort, was done at seventeen. Over the next cisco, where a common labourer could make nineteen years, until his premature death at the four to six dollars a day and pay as much as age of thirty-six, Brooking produced 228 seven dollars for a dozen eggs or up to one recorded paintings, all but eight on canvas. hundred dollars for a pair of boots. Those who British marine painting developed at the weathered this fiscal storm seldom struck it end of the seventeenth century in response to rich, although even then the lures of California Britain's mercantile and imperial expansion. As apparently resulted in many deciding to stay residents of an island nation, the British have rather than return to their eastern homes. an emotional attachment to the sea, and marine The text is well supported by thirty pages of painting, based on Dutch models, developed notes (mostly citations to primary sources) and earlier in Britain than, for instance, landscape a forty-eight page, fully-annotated bibliography painting. By the 1740s it reflected Britain's of the unpublished and published materials he rapidly-growing naval and mercantile power. has so effectively mined. This exemplary One of the most characteristic features of foray into maritime social history is a eighteenth-century British art was the intensive testimony to a lifetime of scholarship. development of specialist schools, including marine, animal and topographical painting. Edward W. Sloan Among these, marine painting reached a very Madison, Connecticut high level, largely because it modelled itself on sophisticated Dutch sea painting. Brooking himself undoubtedly learned much in his early David Joel. Charles Brooking 1723-1759 and years from copying these Dutch masters. 18th Century British Marine Painters. Wood- British sea painters, however, tended towards bridge, UK: Antique Collectors' Club, 2000. greater realism and it is no surprise to learn 208 pp., prints, appendices, bibliography, that Brooking had been much at sea. The index. £35.00, cloth; ISBN 1-85149-277-1. details of his ships and rigging are always correct and his rendering of sea and clouds This is a book clearly inspired by the author's never fanciful. Where most marine painters love of his subject. David Joel has written a used brown under paint, Brooking painted on comprehensive and detailed study of Charles a light ground, which makes his pictures par- Brooking as a man and artist, as well as his ticularly luminous and atmospheric. legacy to British maritime painting. Joel's Unlike many of his contemporaries, he passion for his subject began in the late 1940s, preferred generalised depictions of different 76 The Northern Mariner ship types rather than documentary representa- broad and diverse cohort of participants. Under tions of places or events. Many of his composi- these circumstances, it is striking (at times tions may thus be imagined rather than actual. ironic) that fish-related issues often enlist the Still, his work reflects his obvious knowledge energies of so many stakeholders, a seemingly of sailing in different weather conditions, and unbounded group that counts among its mem- of the details of ships, sails and rigging. bership academics, bureaucrats, fishers, and His style shows that he belonged to the citizens at-large. If, as these facts reveal, fish new generation of painters to whom the vary- are such a bellwether of the human condition, ing moods of nature, translucent atmosphere perhaps these stakeholders need jointly to and changing play of light were as important as consider the history and culture that is their the ships themselves. As David Joel points out, common cause. Fishing Places, Fishing Peo- "Brooking was the first British marine artist of ple is an interdisciplinary collection that admi- note to treat ships and the sea as works of art. rably charts this much-needed course. Pre- His predominant interest was in conveying the sented against the backdrop of Canada's con- varied moods and beautiful atmospheric effects temporary fishing problems, the book's unify- of marine subjects...He was ahead of his time ing theme unambiguously challenges future and should be rightly credited for elevating management schemes by asking the question: British marine painting to new heights." [54] how do historical, cultural, geographic, and This is a marvellously produced book that ecological factors inextricably vest local peo- will appeal to both the art historian and the ple in local places in their local fisheries? maritime enthusiast. It is profusely illustrated, The common thread of the essays in Fish- in colour and black and white, and for these ing Places, Fishing People is not merely their images alone it is worth its price. It contains a "small-scale" scope but also their cumulative full catalogue of Brooking's known paintings, logic. These essays address the frustrated spirit chapters on his artistic style, listings of con- of fisheries researchers who have long been temporaries and a wealth of appendices that uneasy with perfunctory "tragedy of the would add to anyone's understanding of the commons" interpretations of fishing crisis or period, covering everything from flags, rigging the far-removed redemptive presumption and and ship types to London in the eighteenth guise (economic, cultural, and biological) of century. Though on occasion the text can be certain government imposed-policy plans. As somewhat dry, the publishers have managed to counterpoint, but hardly minimizing the overall capture the richness of Brooking's work in the structural effect of capitalism's consumptive quality of the reproduced images. march or the dynamics of intercultural contact, these revisionist essays evaluate fishing lega- Jon Robb-Webb cies and fishing futures through local partici- Shrivenham, UK pants in their most immediate contexts. Deciphering the specific cultural and ecological meanings of a local/regional fishery Dianne Newell and Rosemary E. Ommer is a detailed and subtle affair. Mindful of such (eds.). Fishing Places, Fishing People: Tradi- an investigatory matrix, the editors bridge tions and Issues in Canadian Small-Scale disciplines by a thematic arrangement that Fisheries. Toronto and Buffalo: University of takes readers from history and cultural research Toronto Press, 1999. ix + 374 pp., figures, to the co-existence of institutional and custom- maps, photographs, tables, illustrations. CDN ary knowledge and ethnographic and $60, £45, cloth; ISBN 0-8020-4116-7; CDN community-based policy decisions. Fortu- $24.95, £16.50, paper; ISBN 0-8020-7959-8. nately, each essay's issues resonate beyond these confines to show how fisheries history, The compelling nature of fisheries research – fisheries anthropology, and fisheries science indeed, the often-controversial shroud it as- analytically synchronize. sumes in public debate – is attributable to its A consistently pervasive theme in Fishing Book Reviews 77

Places, Fishing People is the profound role and children while husbands were away. of historical perspective in a wide range of Since historically the fishery has involved fisheries deliberations. This is true of past- multiple, diverse claimants – in contemporary use patterns that pushed policy makers parlance, "stakeholders" – it is no wonder that frantically into conference rooms or its activities have been consistently veiled in ethnohistorical versions that were, and contested relations. Although not the express continue to be, the essence of everyday life on theme of Fishing Places, Fishing People, the the water. The assertion of cultural identity complex patrimonies that fuel fishing debates and treaty rights fishing by Native Americans are presented and interpreted throughout this (referred to as "First Nations" in Canada) has work. J. Michael Thorns' essay reveals that significantly influenced historical studies of Ojibwa fishers, sport fishers, and the Ontario their fishing pasts. Arthur Ray chronicles the government were disputing the use of the legitimacy of Northern Ontario Cree and Nipigon River's fish resources in the late Ojibwa treaty fishing claims by documenting nineteenth century, but Patricia Gallaugher and on-going commercial fishing by these groups Kelly Vodden's essay shows that such debates throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth are even more intense today. Gallaugher and centuries. Other essays show that Cree and Vodden examine co-management strategies Ojibwa sturgeon fishers of Manitoba faced a and diverse stakeholder claims along the Brit- more problematic fate when overcapitalization ish Columbia coast in a scene that is playing marginalized their participation, while Indians itself out in numerous locales throughout the in British Columbia have maintained their globe. Bonnie McCay's essay on the New- historically-charged spawnon-kelp fishery foundland crab fishery shows how the eco- within the context of modern technological nomic logic of individual transferable quotas change and conservation concerns. The flies in the face of social accountability and fishery's function as historical and cultural territoriality (a process she refers to as " benchmark is highlighted in all these essays, embeddedness") in a fishing community: the particularly when ever-present international idea that fishing claims are based on occupa- economic forces threaten the depletion of the tional and ecological endurance, not unaffili- resource. ated monetary investment from non-residents. It is arguable that few collections of essays Sean Cadigan's appraisal of failed man- so soundly clarify, or provide the range of, agement plans in nineteenth-century New- women's roles in fishing communities. Barbara foundland situate the historian's enduring craft Neis skilfully deconstructs Newfoundland and its check on faulty present-minded think- fishing policy and culture to reveal the neces- ing, while interdisciplinary scientific studies by sary, yet highly vulnerable, position of women Villagarcia, et al. and Hutchings show that fish fish workers in a shifting system from "familial stocks need to be evaluated within the more to social patriarchy." Other essays, by simply complex context of the ecosystem. From other providing the often overlooked details of perspectives, the bold path of this volume is women's participation in fisheries – Indian embodied in Usher and Tough's attempt to women producing isinglass from sturgeon reconstruct sturgeon harvests and Neis, et al.'s bladders or wiping and drying herring eggs – methodological challenge to take fishers' will give future researchers greater insight experiences (TEK , or "traditional ecological through which to account for shared, different knowledge") seriously in future planning or fluctuating gender roles. In this regard, the initiatives. When Daniel Pauly, in one of the articles on Native and Euro-Canadian women concluding essays, states that fisheries man- offer important comparative scope. While pre- agement "must take into account the places of industrial custom often makes Native women people in its logic" [360], time is seemingly more visible as fishers, Manore and Van collapsed. We are reminded of the late nine- West's essay shows women in Euro-Canadian teenth century US Fish Commission reports pound-net fisheries processing fish, managing and their ethnographic attention to fishing and inheriting the operation, and tending farm 78 The Northern Mariner communities. But more importantly, we are Services AS. reminded of naturalist John Hay's meditations All the papers, however, are characterized that suffuse this collection: people fishing in by thorough research, and in particular by the countless places is a collective legacy whose conscious use of sources. Mette Guldberg's survival requires collective solutions. article on "Nordby i 1700-tallets slutning" ( Nordby at the Turn of the Eighteenth Century) Michael J. Chiarappa and Poul Holm's "Hvordan det danske Kalamazoo, Michigan havfiskeri ble til 1770-1914" (The Rise of the Danish Sea Fisheries 1770-1914) investigate earlier periods where access to sources has Morten Hahn-Perdersen ( ed.). Sjcek'len 1999: been relatively more scarce and the process has Årbog for Fiskeri -og Sofartsmuseet been more challenging. The way they deal with Saltvandsakavariet i Esbjerg. Esbjerg: Fiskeri this potential problem is impressive. -og Sjøfartsmuseet, 2000. 187 pp., photo- The book also offers papers on contempo- graphs, maps, plates, tables, figures. DKR 198, rary issues. Soren Byskov 's article focuses on cloth; ISBN 87-87453-99-1. how a small, local coastal community, Blâvand, has adapted to economic change in Sjoek'len is the yearbook from the Fisheries and the long run. This represents a highly interest- Maritime Museum and Aquarium in Esbjerg, ing analysis of the structural changes of Denmark. The book covers current academic Blåvand and the transition from primary pro- work by the network group of the Centre for duction to the service industries of today. Maritime and Regional History (CMRH), a Likewise, the paper by Thyge Jensen "Jagt pa collaboration between the Museum and the saeler" (Seal hunting) combines history with University of Southern Denmark. current controversies in a brilliant way. Sjcek'len offers a broad approach to Dan- The yearbook stands out as a strong, ish maritime history, as it deals with a great valuable contribution to Danish maritime variety of topics covering the period from the history. Unfortunately, the amount of detail eighteenth to the twentieth century. The overall demands insights into Danish history that can focus is local, regional and business history. not be expected from an international reader- The yearbook includes papers on fishing and ship. Though each of the papers contain Eng- seal hunting, shipping, the petroleum industry lish summaries, the synopses are very brief and and ethnological and social aspects of eco- leave out the best parts of the analyses. Still, nomic activities along the coastline. Sjcek len contains outstanding research and The yearbook is ambitious in its approach. deserves to be read by scholars not familiar Moreover, it is largely successful. As for the with the Danish language. thematic aspect, this seems to be maritime history interpreted in the broadest sense. The Camilla Brautaset analytic framework is rich, utilizing economic, Bergen, Norway historical, sociological and ethnological meth- ods. This cross-institutional approach is per- Gilles Proulx. Fighting at Restigouche: The haps the strongest point of the CMRH. Men and Vessels of 1760 in Chaleur Bay. The article by Rene Taudal Poulsen on the Ottawa: Parks Canada, 1999. viii + 139 pp., shipping company Dania deserves particular maps, photographs, appendices, glossary, acclaim as an outstanding piece of work that index of vessels, suggested reading. CDN promises much for future research. Poulsen $11.95, paper, ISBN-660-17723-4. presents a delicate combination of qualitative and quantitative research and thereby broadens For most Canadians, and even for students of the scope of the book. The same can be said of the Seven Years' War, the Battle of the Morten Hahn-Pedersen's study of the business Restigouche is a little known event. A six-ship history of Henning Kruse and Esbjerg Oilfield French relief force meant for Quebec in 1760 Book Reviews 79 took shelter in Chaleur Bay, New Brunswick, from the twelve-pounders of Repulse and upon discovery than the Royal Navy had Scarborough caused Giraudais to decide to already entered the St. Lawrence River. The blow up his ship rather than face needless relief force lead by Francois Chénard de la casualties or risk capture. The French also Giraudais of the twenty-six-gun privateer blew up Bienfaisant, but Marquis-de-Malause frigate Machault, and the merchantmen Soliel, was fired by the British after they released Aurore, Fidélité, Bienfaisant, and Marquis-de- some captured British mariners. The British Malause left Bordeaux on 10 April 1760. also burned all other Acadian schooners and The Royal Navy quickly challenged the bateaux, a total of twenty-two or twenty-three woefully small relief force, forcing the squad- vessels. The British withdrew with all their ron to break up. The blockading force captured vessels to Louisbourg, save the shattered Soliel and Aurore. Fidélité bore south and sank Repulse, which was sent to Halifax for repairs. off the Azores. The remaining vessels, the The French and Acadians managed to survive frigates Machault, Bienfaisant, and Marquis- and even captured a few more British vessels de-Malause made a five-week crossing, reach- before capitulating on 29 October and depart- ing the Gulf of St. Lawrence in mid-May. ing for France on 5 November. Since the Royal Navy already had a small Marchault lay in the mud of the squadron in the St. Lawrence, Giraudais chose Restigouche River until a Parks Canada ar- to enter Caller Bay on 20 May to rest, take on chaeological team discovered and excavated water, make biscuits, and wait for word from the remains between 1967 and 1972. As a Quebec as to whether he should attempt the result of this excavation and its subsequent river or continue to Louisiana, the alternate designation as an historic site, Parks Canada plan in the eventuality Giraudais now faced. commissioned several works. This book is The relief force discovered and began to based upon the formal archaeological treatise feed 1500 Acadians who had managed to competed in 1996. It is very readable despite evade the British expulsions from Ile St. Jean ( originating as a technical treatise. The author PEI), New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. But weaves the history of the relief force with the the force made the mistake of capturing British story of the vessels and their cargoes; the men vessels while heading for Chaleur Bay and who led the force; living conditions aboard; continued to harass British vessels in June. shipbuilders; and French hull construction, These activities quickly brought the seventy- layout and rigging. In fact, several important four-gun Fame, seventy-gun Dorsetshire, documents not found in earlier works explain sixty-gun Achilles, thirty-two-gun Repulse, and the vessel construction as well as provide thirty-gun Scarborough. details about supplies bound for New France. The French, in their smaller and lighter- The author not only focussed on draft vessels, withdrew further up the Marchault but also brought in details of French Restigouche, sinking ten small schooners and warship construction. He provides a lavish bateaux and forcing the British to leave their amount of contemporary artwork, ship plans, large ships-of-the-line in the river's mouth. On and photos from the excavation. He also in- 28 June Fame and the smaller British frigates cludes tables of similar French and British began to engage shore batteries built from vessels. dismounted guns from Marchault and the other This is an excellent technical study, but I relief vessels. After five days the British si- wish that the author had room to include more lenced the battery and advanced cautiously up detail from the original treatise. Moreover, this the uncharted river, burning Acadian houses as study fails to explain some of the strategic/ they went. political details that made the relief force On 8 July, the British frigates came within necessary. It also fails to explain what hap- gunfire range of Marchault, which fought pened to the soldiers and sailors of the relief valiantly with its remaining fourteen twelve- force or to the Acadians. For these details, one pounder cannons, but the overwhelming fire must consult an earlier Parks Canada publica- 80 The Northern Mariner tion, Judith Beattie and Bernard Pothier, The from Glasgow to the west of Scotland provided Battle of the Restigouche: 1760 (1978; reprint, a stimulus for further development, including Ottawa, 1996). Other minor details, such as a construction of embankments and quays. lack of a detailed index and bibliography, also The story is essentially about applying lessen its value. Lastly, there are sometimes engineering to create economic growth, written shoddy translations from the original French. by a civil engineer. Such accounts are rare. The For example, when referring to the French reader new to port history will find a wealth of cannons, the translated work refers to the well-researched material, much of it drawn cannons interchangeably as twelve pounders from the papers of the Clyde Navigation Trust. and twelve calibres, although the two terms are Following the Clyde Navigation Act of quite distinct in meaning. These minor qualifi- 1840, development was facilitated, albeit in the cations aside, a complete technical study on the "lumpy" manner of port expansion. Twenty ships involved in Battle of the Restigouche is feet of water was achieved in the 1860s, while welcome. We can finally celebrate its arrival. tidal basins began to be excavated off the main channel. The last was the King George V Bradley Shoebottom Dock, opened in 1931, which proved its worth Fredericton, New Brunswick in World War II by handling a vast array of military material from the USA. The background of local politics and John Riddell. The Clyde: The Making of a personalities is well covered, supported by a River. Edinburgh: John Donald Publishers, [ two-page bibliography and index, but no Distributed by Dufour Editions Inc. Chester footnotes. Sufficient statistics, tonnages and Springs, PA], 2000. xiv + 385 pp., photo- costs are provided to illustrate developments graphs, charts, illustrations, tables, figures, without being overwhelming. Two well-illus- diagrams, appendices, bibliography, index. US trated chapters and two appendices are devoted $21.95, paperback. to the fleet of dredgers and hoppers – a much neglected subject. The special efforts to pro- John Riddell's thorough and readable account vide a passage for the large Cunarders built on first appeared in hardback in 1979 as Clyde the river get a mention, as do the large cranes Navigation: A History of the Development and for heavy cargo lifting and installing ships' Deepening of the River Clyde. The more suc- machinery. cinct modern title epitomises the phrase "Glas- But cargo handled at Glasgow peaked at gow made the Clyde, and the Clyde made about ten million tons in 1913-1914; thereafter, Glasgow." Over three centuries, the river was wars and economic depressions reduced the changed from a fordable watercourse drifting amounts handled, accentuated by the trend between meadows to a forty-foot-deep com- after World War II to ever-larger tankers and mercial waterway that allowed the biggest bulk carriers. After the Clyde Port Authority ships to reach Scotland's largest city. was set up in 1966 to merge all up- and down- In the eighteenth century, the merchants of river interests, any further trade changes could Glasgow had to tranship their cargo through best be handled in the deeper waters of the Port Glasgow, twenty miles to the west, where Firth. Such shifts were also mirrored in the the river broadens into the Firth of Clyde. With provision of drydocks, which were essential to less than five feet of water at high tide over the a major port and a major shipbuilding river. shoals, the city authorities sought advice in the The text is identical to the 1979 version, mid-eighteenth century on deepening the river. albeit with better reproduction of the illustra- Various river training schemes were adopted to tions. In a short preface, the author resisted increase the natural scour. But it was not until "the temptation to explain further the changes" the first steam dredger was built in 1824 that by adding new material. This is regrettable, the waterway began to match the demands given the shifts in the intervening two decades, being put upon it. The early steamboats trading such as that commercial traffic has all but Book Reviews 81 ceased on the upper Clyde. An epilogue would four distinct geological regions and is marked not only have rounded off the story but also by several major faults that add to the hazards enhanced the book's future reference value. of navigation. In all, it provides drainage for To those who do not already have the about one-sixth of the area of the Common- 1979 work, The Clyde offers many rewards wealth of Kentucky, including the Inner Blue and insights, whether read straight through or Grass area and the capital, Frankfort. dipped into for reference about the many Professor Ellis suggests that the early aspects of related river and city growth. Euro-American settlers along the river had always maintained a bare subsistence. Up to Ian Buxton the period of the Civil War there was limited Tynemouth, UK exploitation of the resources adjacent to the river. By the 1870s, however, many people in Kentucky were becoming envious of the eco- William E. Ellis. The Kentucky River. nomic development occurring elsewhere in the Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, United States. Once they made the decision to 2000. xviii + 226 pp., maps, photographs, join the mainstream of American society, they illustrations, notes, bibliographical references undertook a series of measures to exploit both and index. (The Ohio River Series.) US the river and its neighbouring resources. While $29.95; ISBN 0-8131-2152-3. these dreams of prosperity were never realized, they had a tremendous impact on the river and This study by William Ellis is the fourth mono- those who lived nearby. graph to be published on the Kentucky River. The search for prosperity led to the cutting The earlier publications examined geological, of the huge stands of hardwood adjacent to the economic, and political aspects of the river, headwaters of the Kentucky River. The logs and Professor Ellis has incorporated and ex- were floated downstream on the spring floods, panded material from them, especially that of and the boom in timber drove the economy of Thomas E. Clark's volume, which was pub- Kentucky from 1870 to 1920. One unintended lished in 1942 as part of series on Rivers of result of the tree clearing was the worsening of America. Professor Ellis' work is divided into the already serious flooding problem. Mean- eight chapters, which range from a description while, other promoters wanted to develop the of the formation and geological characteristics river for navigation. The river was unsuited for of the river to its future prospects. Rather than such a purpose, but five dams, with locks, were providing a detailed economic study of the built to enable small craft to travel from river, the author has chosen to focus on the Frankfort to the junction with the Ohio and to concept of a river that captured the minds of such markets as Cincinnati. Then other pro- those who lived on it. In sketching what he moters insisted that they could develop a tow- regards as a unique subculture, Professor Ellis boating service for bringing coal and various draws heavily on oral history interviews car- minerals from upstream mines if more dams ried out between 1987 and 1998. He inter- and locks were constructed. By 1917 another weaves the interviews into his descriptions of nine dams had been constructed by the Corps the lives of those who lived and worked on the of Engineers, but there was an inherent conflict river, such as shanty boatmen, raftsmen, and between steamboat traffic and logging and locks men. rafting. Moreover, the size of the tugs and the The Kentucky River forms a small part of number of barges were limited by the size of the extensive eastern watershed of the United locks and the narrowness of the often turbulent States. The headwaters of the river rise in the and dangerous river. The scale of operations eastern Kentucky mountains and, after joining thus proved to be too small to be economically together at the Three Forks, flow in a generally profitable, and the dream of controlling the northeastern course some 225 miles to the river ended with fourteen obsolete dams that junction with the Ohio River. The river crosses required constant and expensive maintenance 82 The Northern Mariner and completely altered the river's nature. comparative. In particular, she has read widely Furthermore, run-off from the abandoned in the new historical writing on the convict mines have continued to pollute the river. experience in Australia, and also in recent While the days of rafting timber and work on British rule in India, especially that steamboats on the river have long since faded, coming out of the important subaltern school the author points out that they have left a of historians. Just occasionally this influence legacy which requires careful attention. The seems to make her over-privilege her convict river is badly stressed by the flooding, pollu- subjects: "Other maroons [escaped convicts] tion, sewage, and solid wastes. Further, the acquired money and petty luxuries beyond dams require extensive maintenance. While their immediate consumption needs. Such tearing down the dams is possible, it would conspicuous consumption expressed the truly reduce the flow of water to the Lexington area, liberational dimension of convict marronage." [ which uses the river for its water supply. 75] But mostly she writes well, showing a The development of the Kentucky River sometimes mordant wit. Leprous convicts were has thus created critical problems of public sent to separate colonies, where "[t]hey were policy. The author concludes with the observa- expected to be self-supporting until their death, a tion that returning the river to some previous timely reminder of which was the wooden pristine state is impossible, but that any policy coffin each was made to build and keep that is adopted must recognize the geological propped up in their hut." [42] nature of the river. Whether this can be done The point here is that the British govern- without antagonizing the political and regional ment was not prepared to pay for coffins for forces in the Commonwealth of Kentucky these lepers, and indeed a dominant theme in remains to be seen. While the book is in many the book is economic imperatives and influ- ways intended to be a commemoration of an ences. The British had abolished the slave often hazardous way of life, it can also serve as trade in 1807, though not yet slavery on Mauri- a case study of problems which far too often tius. But labourers were still needed, in part to afflict many waterways in North America. do public works, and more generally to concili- ate the powerful French plantocracy on the Ken Pryke island, for the British were concerned to win Leamington, Ontario their support and help them expand the sugar industry. They needed a new source of labour, preferably unfree, and it was hoped that con- Clare Anderson. Convicts in the Indian Ocean: victs would meet the bill. Fortunately, the side Transportation from South Asia to Mauritius, effects of the British conquest of India had 1815-53. London: MacMillan, 2000. xii + 192 produced plenty of convicts, and the nexus pp., appendices, notes, bibliography, index. seemed irresistible. Other economic matters £42.50, cloth; ISBN 0-333-76112-X. also affected what happened. Once the Bengal government discovered that Mauritius actually In the early nineteenth century the Indian wanted the convicts, it very skilfully made Ocean island of Mauritius, which was taken by them pay all the costs involved in transporta- the British from the French in 1810, had a very tion, which was ended in 1837. When those large slave population. Later, some 453,000 remaining in Mauritius got less useful for hard indentured Indian workers came in. Both these labour as they got older, the government groups have been much studied; Dr. Ander- wanted to avoid having to sustain unproductive son's aim is to pay attention to a third unfree convicts and so suggested they be repatriated group: the 1500 Indian convicts transported to Bengal. But the Bengal government refused there between 1814 and 1837. to pay. Dr. Anderson has written a scintillating, Perceptions and ideology were also impor- intelligent and readable book about these tant influences on British policy. Here are three unfortunate Indians. Her account is strongly examples. They had been told that Hindus Book Reviews 83 feared to cross the Black Water. By transport- as it constitutes the first regional survey of the ing them nevertheless, they hoped this would nineteenth-century development of the seaside make transportation even more to be feared, holiday in Australia, where academics have becoming both a punishment and a deterrent. been even more reluctant than elsewhere to The British also evolved notions of some acknowledge that beaches and beach resorts Indians being "criminal castes," and "born have a history worth pursuing. As the author robbers." By transporting them their vile net- suggests, this may be based on a perception works would be broken up. Once large num- that the enjoyment of the seaside has no his- bers of indentured labourers had come in, the tory: it is part of Australian culture and is British were worried that the convicts would assumed to have always been enjoyed in the corrupt them. Partly for this reason, they ended same way. transportation. One of the services her book performs is An important theme in recent studies of to emphasize how utterly different the servile labour, whether slave or convict, has prevailing practices and values of Victoria's been forms of resistance, both violent and " nineteenth-century seaside tourists were from everyday," such as simply going slow, or those of the late twentieth century. She shows petty theft. Dr. Anderson has two very strong convincingly that they borrowed slavishly chapters on these matters, and on the related from English models, with emphasis on health, one of the degree to which the convicts could rational recreations and the formal, decorous maintain their "cultural identity." She shows display of the capacity to consume and to that the convicts had agency too, yet to the present the self in consensually appropriate extent that the convicts were able to do this, ways. Many of the resort names were English they were made more recognizable, which of (including Brighton and Torquay) and their course suited the British. early markets were drawn from colonial This important book closes with a brief "gentry" and administrators, although the discussion of the end of the system. No more visiting public was opening out much more convicts were brought in after 1837, and in widely towards the end of the nineteenth 1853 the last of those remaining in Mauritius, century, with the resulting social tensions and only sixty-five by now, were liberated. This unease as well. All this is very interesting, and makes a positive ending to this admirable it is based on newspaper, guide-book and book. manuscript diary sources, as well as being beautifully illustrated with paintings and post- M.N. Pearson cards. As a whole, the book adds usefully to Lennox Head, Australia the scope for producing a full-scale intercontinental comparative history of seaside tourism and the seaside resort as Andrea Inglis. Beside the Seaside: Victorian global phenomena. Resorts in the Nineteenth Century. Melbourne: There are, however, frustrating aspects. No Miegunyah Press/Melbourne University Press, maps are provided, suggesting that the 1999 (orders at www.mup.com.au). x + 116 intended market is mainly local, and no pp., illustrations, photographs, selected bibli- sense at all is conveyed about the relative ography, index. AUS $34.95, cloth; ISBN 0- sizes of the resorts under review, their social 522-84865-6. structures (including the roles of fishing communities, port activities, and other English readers, especially, will need to know maritime phenomena), the actual alignments that the reference to "Victorian" in the title of and workings of their transport systems, the this beautifully-produced book is geographical numbers of their visitors, or how these things rather than chronological in its import: the changed over time. The occasional allusion to Australian state, not the reign. As such, Andrea the incongruity of trying to re-create English Inglis' labour of love is particularly welcome, resort environments (parks and gardens included) in Australia provokes interest without satisfying it: here are ideas 84 The Northern Mariner which could have been developed in an " born at sea, and Hattie herself sailed to orientalist" or "post-colonial" direction. No Valparaiso as a toddler, crossing the equator attempt is made to assess the visual material four times and celebrating her third birthday on other than as a record of what was there at a the briny wave. Like most children of Maine particular point, with interpretation confined to ship masters, Hattie was kept at home once she explanations such as the meaning of the red reached school age to learn social skills along flag flying above a bathing establishment. The with her figures and letters. Then, at the age of range of themes, focussing especially on the seventeen, she left all this to accompany her seaside as a health resort, is narrow and the father on the barque Charles Stewart. She was exposition becomes somewhat repetitive. The the only female on board, but this was not bibliography is quite full and enterprising, but uncommon, either. What makes Hattie stand the omission of John Fiske's chapter "Reading out is the gaiety, staunchness, and good hu- the Beach" (from his Reading Popular Culture mour so fluently expressed in the account that [London, 1989]), is telling: this piece of con- she wrote of her adventure. temporary cultural anthropology develops Captain Atwood had plenty of choice interesting potentially-transferable ideas about when he decided to take a companion on a Australian beaches in the late twentieth century voyage. As he enjoyed informing people in in ways that might have opened out discussion. foreign ports, "he had four daughters and the Sadly, here, as elsewhere, the opportunity to fellows swung on the front gate so much it engage with other disciplines is not taken up. broke the hinges." [78] Hattie volunteered to Overall, then, this is a particularly well- go because she was without the "tender affec- written and handsomely-produced piece of tions" of a fellow at the time, a decision that regional history on an important theme. The must have delighted her father as much as it is author conveys her enjoyment of her subject in guaranteed to please the modern reader. a refreshing style. Its academic quality is Entering the ship, whether in Brisbane, sufficient to make it useful to researchers in Gibraltar, or Trapani, was the signal for the other disciplines and geographic areas, but it commencement of a social whirl, something makes no interdisciplinary leaps of its own, for which Hattie was remarkably well braced, and its limitations need to be acknowledged as though she "nearly collapsed" when a Sicilian well as its real virtues. Despite the constraints kissed her hand. Port characters leap to life on of scale and scope, however, it will be a worth- the pages – and none more so than the Hobart while purchase for university libraries with harbourmaster who stormed on board when collections in tourism and maritime history. Hattie was at the helm dropping the vessel astern while the sailors worked the windlass. " John K. Walton What kind of bloody vessel is this," he hol- Preston, UK lered, "to come up into a strange port without a pilot and with a woman at the wheel?" [48] Equally vivid are descriptions of men and Curtis Dahl (ed.). Around the World in 500 women encountered at sea, particularly the Days: The Circumnavigation of the Merchant 300-pound Mrs. Fulton, who "pulled lines with bark Charles Stewart 1883-1884, Recounted the sailors" and almost swamped a boat when with Zest and Detail by the Captain's Daugh- she jumped into it. While the tone is unfail- ter Hattie Atwood Freeman. Mystic, CT: ingly positive and happy, the grim aspects of Mystic Seaport, 1999. 223 pp., illustrations, seafaring are not glossed over; some offer a maps, glossary, appendices. US $24.95; ISBN glimpse of Hattie's courage, and none more so 0-913372-90-0. than the gale-wracked day when a man was thrown from the helm and suffered a com- Hattie, daughter of Captain Horace Atwood of pound fracture of a leg, which Hattie, the mate, Hampden, Maine, was not at all unusual for and her father worked for two hours to set. her setting and time. Her two older sisters were Originally published privately (in 1907) as Book Reviews 85

A Trip Around the World on Board the Mer- friends nor the general reading public. On the chantman Bark "Charles Stewart," Hattie return voyage he left the ship, and apparently Atwood Freeman's account is now very rare, his diary as well, in Calcutta. It ended up with only three copies being recorded in public the Marquess Wellesley, the Viceroy of India, institutions. It is doubly pleasing to see this and finally found its way into the British Mu- new edition. Curtis Dahl has a light and sensi- seum in 1843. Did Price sell it for profit or tive touch as an editor, the design is carefree exchange it for some vice-regal favour? Or did and apt, and the re-titling is fun. Not only is it he simply mislay it and forever lament that it well overdue, but this re-publication is delight- would not see the light of day? The fortunes of fully true to the spirit of the writer. the journal may have seemed as uncertain to Price as the six-stanza poem he attached Joan Druett around the neck of a small bird somewhere in Wellington, New Zealand the vicinity of Latitude 4°46" South and Longi- tude 162°51" East, instructing the "sweet bird to Ireland go" and tell his love that he will John Washington Price (transcribed and edited soon return. Price dallied in India for some with an introduction by Pamela Jeanne Fulton). years; history does not record whether the bird The Minerva Journal: A Voyage from Cork, ever made it. Ireland, to Sydney, New South Wales, 1798- But eventually the journal did. Pamela 1800 Carlton South, VIC: Melbourne Univer- Fulton has transcribed its prosaic detail, sharp sity Press/Miegunya Press, 2000. xviii + 290 observation and poetic whimsy, and now it pp. plates, notes, appendix, bibliography, appears, two centuries after its creation, com- index. AUS $104.50, cloth. ISBN 0-522- plete with Price's illustrations. There are de- 84850-8 tailed footnotes that introduce the reader to the people he talked about and that link his obser- John Washington Price was a young ship's vations to the history that came after. Fulton's surgeon working on Minerva, a ship that is interest in the convicts on board ship and in famous in the annals of Australia's early Euro- Price's Sydney sojourn is evident in the much pean history because some of its 200 convict fuller notes provided for these topics, but this passengers were the first of the Irish political is probably inevitable given her own language prisoners transported to Sydney. He com- and cultural linkages to the world of Price, and menced his journal in Cork with the boarding given Price's own recording of events. His of passengers, convicts and supplies, and it observations of islander and East Indian peo- recounts the voyage from Ireland to Sydney, ples are those of a European observing via Rio, and back again through the islands of "primitive" peoples, and his visit to Rio de the East Indies to Calcutta. Janeiro is that of an outsider observing an Price said he was writing it for his friends exotic Portuguese location. And while Sydney in Ireland, but like all such journals he was and its surrounding territory provide much that also writing for the market. The meticulous is fascinating and new – his drawing of a water entries concerning the weather, strange flora mole (platypus) is interestingly eccentric – it is and fauna and customs of people he encoun- familiar enough for him to receive immediate tered are the work of someone fascinated by entree to the society of its leading citizens. the details of his own everyday life and knows Price could observe of a certain court case that that there are publishers back home hungry for took place in Sydney that "the trial was tedious this kind of manuscript. He had with him on & the charges were too indelicate to be in- board the journal of Captain Watkin Tench, serted" [151-152] but the unmentionable whose account of the journey and first days in details are easily recovered by Fulton from the Sydney had been published in 1793 in London court records and duly inserted in the endnotes. (and most recently in 1996 in Australia). Should the endnotes have been footnotes? But Price's journal entertained neither his Probably not. A close reading of all Fulton's 86 The Northern Mariner associated research requires endless page George Hamilton. A Voyage Round the World turning, but it also permits the journal to stand in His Majesty's Frigate Pandora. Sydney, as it was written. It has been divided into NSW: Horden House, 2000. Australian Na- chapters but with only minor interventions to tional Maritime Series, No. 4. 161 pp., illustra- Price's spelling and grammar. There must be tions, tables, bibliography. US $145, hand- compromise in deciding how this kind of bound in quarter cherry Scottish calf with document should be presented, but The Mi- marbled paper sides; ISBN 1-875567-22-4. nerva Journal has the balance right. It is a good read. Price knew that the Finding an out-of-print book returned to circu- people he was meeting were the notables of the lation is rather like running into an old friend. settlement of Sydney, but he could not have There is certainly pleasure in the meeting, but imagined that so many of them would continue silently one is thinking, "I wonder how my to be of historic interest today. His observa- friend has held up?" In the case of Dr. Hamil- tions will add significantly to current debates ton's work, judging by the externals it has held about the kind of society that was being cre- up very well indeed. The latest version is ated in "Sidney" [sic]. There is little in his attractively, not to say elegantly, bound and account that resonates with the brutal place printed on high quality paper that is likely to described by writers such as Robert Hughes in last a good, long time. Unfortunately, when the his The Fatal Shore. But then it would be book is judged by more than its cover, there difficult to imagine what would disturb the are some disappointments in this new edition. equanimity of Price. Some of the United The short introduction of less than twenty Irishmen he transported were involved in pages is the main problem. It has two parts, the attempts to overthrow the government of the archeological and the historical. When the fledgling new nation in 1800 and in 1804, and editor is dealing with marine archeology and his accounts of these men will add to those the exploration of the wreck of Pandora, his stories. But what can we make of his journal comments, while brief, are informative and entry for 10 February 1800 where he show his expertise in the area. When the sub- describes a pleasant day spent in the ject is the author or his voyage, the briefness company of the Governor and Dr. Jamieson creates problems. and then records that he had "almost forgotten Two topics best illustrate this point. De- to mention" that the night before Major spite a statement to the contrary, the ships on Foveaux had been busy dealing with an which Dr. Hamilton served between 1778 and attempted insurrection involving plans of " 1786 did not only get larger. Before his service seizing the magazine & of putting every on Pandora, his ships ranged from a cutter to person to death that should oppose them." a third-rate and back to a cutter. The editor [153] He goes on to note that those involved recognizes that patronage is the key to under- will be punished, and that he hopes they will standing Hamilton's assignments, but his soon settle down and "renounce all their politi- sources are only a general study of the navy cal designs." and a colleague's notes. There are no refer- I recently saw a splendid yacht moored on ences to Lord Sandwich's papers in the Na- the shores of Sydney Harbour that rejoiced in tional Maritime Museum in Greenwich, where the name of Convict's Revenge. The sense of patronage and assignment records from before pleasure at having "made it" against the odds is 1778 to 1782 are kept and where the mystery one that applies also to the belated publication might be solved. of this splendid transcription of the journal of The editor did check the record with John Washington Price. respect to Captain Edwards' instructions re- garding the exploration of what was then Shirley Fitzgerald called the Straits of Endeavour and discovered a Sydney, Australia discrepancy. According to the text of Hamil- ton's book, as well as modern authors who Book Reviews 87 have written on the subject, exploration of the W.H. Bunting. A Days Work: A Sampler of straits was part of Pandoras assignment from Historic Maine Photographs, 1860-1920, Part the Admiralty. The editor says the instructions II. Gardiner, ME: Tilbury House Publishers, preserved in the Public Record Office at Kew " 2000. 384 pp., 270 b&w photographs, notes, make no mention of Edwards being directed to index. US $35.00, paper; ISBN 0-88448-207- carry out this survey." the editor needed to 3. determine if additional instructions existed, and if not, what Edwards thought he was doing by Mention W.H. Bunting and immediately his trying to take a frigate through one of the masterful presentation of late nineteenth- world's most dangerous water passages in the century Boston maritime life, Portrait of a middle of a stormy night. Once again, no Port, comes to mind. Now, from the heart of explanation is offered. the Pine Tree State, Bunting reappears with an While one could defend a brief introduc- extensive, visual, two-volume look at the tion to a short book, the fact remains that it is varied aspects of everyday life in Maine be- limiting. Yet there are other ways to assist a tween 1860 and 1920. Like Part I, this volume modern reader. A simple crew list would have of A Days Work contains classic photographs, helped make more sense of the people Hamil- each complimented by a related narrative on ton mentions. Brief biographies of the officers the opposite page. Part Two contains photo- he mentions, especially of Captain Edwards, graphs that could not be included in Part One. would have been even better. Along those Both volumes are samplers, offering a broad same lines, a glossary would have made selection of photos documenting the produc- Hamilton's text easier to follow. It is doubtful tion and distribution of goods and services in that many readers will understand what he Maine during the later half of the nineteen and meant by "thrumbing a topsail to haul under early twentieth centuries. This collection may her bottom, to endeavour to fodder her." be considered a visual presentation of Maine's Leaving the editing to one side, there is economic life in that era. still Hamilton's original work, which does As in the first volume, Bunting casts his net have its pleasures to this day. With tales of statewide, capturing all sorts of gainful activity adventure both exotic and erotic he obviously both on land – in lumber camps, railroads, hoped to cash in on the memory of Pandora quarries, farms, and factories – and at sea. Yet before it faded from the public's mind. Yet he this is not primarily a maritime work. Only a does fill in a variety of blank spaces left by third of its 270 photographs relate directly previous writers. Hamilton clearly read the or indirectly to maritime subjects. literature about Pacific exploration produced Nevertheless, the maritime influence cannot be by both the British and the French and took ignored. Consciously or unconsciously, pur- care to reintroduce readers to various Tahitian posely or accidentally, Bunting's choice of figures mentioned by Cook and Bligh. Surpris- photographs draws land and sea together in a ingly, he spends a good deal of time describing single economic context. This is hardly sur- how the British were as interested in introduc- prising, for both salt and freshwater not only ing plants and animals, ranging from cotton to served as the favoured means of moving goods cattle, to Tahiti as they were in transplanting and people but also supported the state's fish- breadfruit to the West Indies. ing and shipbuilding industries. Thus, in vary- In the end is this book worth having? It ing degrees, the sea touched the lives of most depends on how much one values old friends of those who lived and worked in Maine. who are not reintroduced with the verve and The vessels that appear are almost exclu- thoroughness that they deserve. sively sail. There are a few photos of the Boston steamers and smaller connecting boats, a Roy Schreiber few ocean steamers at Portland, and some of South Bend, Indiana the forgotten small ferries and steam craft on remote interior lakes. These maritime subjects 88 The Northern Mariner are not clustered but are scattered throughout non is far from new. According to Lemmers' both volumes. As random as this might seem, introduction, they were direct descendants of none is glaringly out of place. Ice harvesting, tin soldiers, which were a planning phenome- logs being cut, towed or driven, lime kilns, fish non at the end of the sixteenth century, when processing and shipyard views always remind they were used as tactical practising material the reader of the sailing vessels, steamboats by several Dutch generals, like Wilem and even canoes upon which people depended, Lodewijk van Nassau and Prince Maruits. As while the lumberjacks, quarrymen and farmers toys, they were used even before that date by draw attention to the interdependence of land the Emperor Maximiliaan (1459-1519) and and sea upon in Maine's economic life. later by Louis XIII and XIV and the Russian The photographs are of the highest quality tsars. Peter III built himself a brand new castle and are extremely well reproduced, whether so that he might have enough space to replay panoramas or solitary images. Each is large great battles with thousands of tin soldiers. enough to savour, powerful and effective in As a means of visualising tactical ma- conveying meaning and emotion. None is noeuvres and naval strategy, miniature ship sterile. All contain a wealth of rewarding models go back as far as the early nineteenth detail. An eclectic collection, random browsing century. Specifically, in the second half of that is effortless and worthwhile. Even though the century they were the main tools for so-called photos could stand alone, they blend naturally "naval war games" with which officers were as components of a greater, interconnected trained to make tactical decisions under the essay depicting the work of the young and old. pressure of time, space and coincidence. Fred Two points cannot be emphasized enough. T. Jane's war game was used to a great extent First, the details in each photo, especially in in both the British Royal Navy and by ama- those of vessels, are invaluable. Second, the teurs alike, all reliving the battle of the Nile or commentaries, culled from a variety of con- Trafalgar. Research done for the preparations temporary sources, truly enhance each photo- of the exhibition led to the finding of a rare and graph. Those acquainted with Maine will be undamaged copy of Jane's game in the Royal pleased and impressed. Those with a marine Naval Institute in Den Helder, Holland. interest will value the opportunity to view the Ship models were produced by companies construction details of the vessels, the shore- in Great Britain (Basse-Lowke in side industries, and the coast itself. The greater Northampton) on a scale of 1/1200 and in one's acquaintance with the Pine Tree State, Germany (Wiking, Kiel) on a scale of 1/1250. the greater the appreciation will be. Both companies worked for their governments as well as for the private industry and the Martin J. Butler marketplace, except in wartime. Then the New Bedford, Massachusetts private selling of the models was prohibited for national security. Many of the models were so correctly detailed that they were also used in Alan Lemmers. Hans Dorlas, Hans Kragt. In recognition training during and after the Sec- een Notendop. Schepen in Miniatuur: ond World War. Catalogus bij de tentoonstelling over Early this year the Dutch Ship Collectors minwaterlijnmodellen ter gelegenheid van 25 Club celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary Jaar Dutch Ship Collectors Club in het with an exhibition of miniature waterline Mariniersmuseum Rotterdam. Amsterdam: De modes in the Mariniersmuseum in Rotterdam, Bataafsche leeuw, 1999. 87 pp., photographs ( collected, adapted and built by the members of colour, b+w, figures). Fl 29,50, cloth; ISBN the Club. This book is a catalogue for this 90-6707-509-4. exhibition and for the first time credit is paid to the phenomenon of miniature models in a A fine example of ship models used as tools historical context. The points concerning the are miniature waterline models. The phenome- exhibit that are written in Dutch are compli- Book Reviews 89 mented by good summaries in English and shibboleths like builders' demand for aid even German at the end. The numerous pictures of at the expense of US owners' ability to com- the models (in colour) hardly need any expla- pete commercially, rejecting "that hoary corn- nation. This work is recommended for ship- munitarian claim, still so often heard in de- lovers with an interest in the use of miniatures fence of outdated industrial policies, that the from a number of historical points of view. government has an obligation to protect and preserve traditional ways of life." [75-76] In Ab Hoving the Cold War's aftermath, they find the Amsterdam, The Netherlands national security argument no longer relevant, given the rise of containerships and open registries that have aggravated the often Andrew Gibson and Arthur Donovan. The overlooked divergence between military and Abandoned Ocean: A History of United States commercial utility. They believe the US can Maritime Policy. Columbia: University of rely on ships enrolled in open registries (to South Carolina Press, 2000. xiv + 362 pp., avoid US regulation and taxes) to supply its illustrations, tables, abbreviations, appendix, wars, since "the evolving practices of global bibliography, index. US $39.95, cloth; ISBN 1- capitalism have brought about as complete a 57003-319-6. separation between registry and political power as that which has long existed between Gibson and Donovan narrate the US merchant registry and ownership."[234] A renewed marine's nineteenth-century rise (thanks to focus on commercial utility might revitalize technological innovation) and fall (due to the US fleet, though "economically unrealistic Confederate attacks, protectionism, and tech- political demands" [226] in regard to nological stagnation). "The combination of inspections, taxes, and crewing need to be restrictive registry requirements and federal addressed. Rooted in Gibson's experiences of subsidies...kept the most modern part of the seafaring and administration, their advocacy American foreign-going merchant marine makes a de-regulatory case well worth hostage to political will rather than economic considering. Their effort to contextualize this performance."[84] American's rise to super- argument in the history of US maritime power status and involvement in world and policy is generally, though not universally, cold war then fuelled an artificial twentieth- successful. century recovery, while seamen, dockworkers, The historical scholarship of maritime owners, and builders seeking optimal earnings issues' diplomatic and geopolitical context is at one another's expense threatened the mer- not always present. The authors occasionally chant marine's viability (and US power projec- cite outdated scholarship (the Beards' view of tion). Technological and managerial revolu- the Constitution [22]). Extensive recent re- tions sparked a commercial decline long ob- search on the origins of the War of 1812 that scured by the national security argument that a places maritime issues in cultural context is US-built, US-owned, US-flag fleet capable of absent [35-36]. First World War maritime supporting unilateral engagement in large-scale issues require reference to Jeffrey Safford's land wars deserved generous subsidies. The research. Recent scholarship on Second World recent geopolitical revolution occasioned by War maritime policy merits additional review the USSR's collapse offers an opportunity for (Lewis Douglas' role was entirely ignored). A re-evaluation. contradiction between differing accounts of the Discarding what they perceive as outdated origin of the Liberty ship's design is not re- assumptions, the authors critically examine " solved. [144 and 166] the struggle between market responsiveness But while this is therefore not quite a and federal planning" [118] in "an industry that complete history of US maritime policy, partic- seemed to have an insatiable appetite for public ularly of its diplomatic implications, several underwriting." [122] They discard industry key strengths deserve recognition. The impact of antebellum and modern technological 90 The Northern Mariner change is brilliantly summarized and period here, 1790-1815, is a complete contrast contextualized in comprehensible terms. Chap- to the modern world of electronic espionage. ter introductions superbly maintain the narra- His first seven chapters are organized around tive flow. Though further annotation could themes, such as the Admiralty, deception and have clarified some lists of reform proposals, the role of the commander. The remaining thorough examinations of repeated congressio- three chapters use particular occasions to nal investigations into maritime woes comple- illustrate how the difficulties of collecting and ment excellent explanations of the generally interpreting intelligence affected an incident; negative impact of the legislation that occa- Pulo Aur, 1804; the Battle of Copenhagen, sional emerged. The authors deftly define the 1801; and the campaign which culminated in basic contradictions encountered in devising the battle of the Nile, 1798. public subsidy of a private business [8l]: could Maffeo omits the Trafalgar campaign, subsidies provide effective oversight and aid while admitting that it was "bursting with builders without encouraging inefficiency? The intelligence issues and incidents" [283], and judicious use of quotations and humorous the period 1805-1815 is treated cursorily, observations about builders and bureaucrats though it "saw tremendous naval activity – and enlivens the text. The authors skewer "Justice naval intelligence activity." [286] He need not Department lawyers... [who are] unburdened have done so if he had reduced the lengthy by any knowledge of the shipping industry" [ quotations from secondary works and elimi- 238], shipbuilders who "demonstrated that if nated quotations from (and references to) the their interests were not taken care of, maritime fiction of Forester, Kent and O'Brian. The mix legislation was going nowhere" [273], and of fact and fiction is strong in the chapter on reformers who found it "convenient and grati- signals and information transmission, where fying to emphasize the moral failings of the Maffeo makes interesting points on codes (not shipping executives and their bureaucratic listed in the index), ciphers and cryptography. counterparts rather than the practical difficul- With the excellent and exciting facts he uses, ties of yoking public and private resources to a why bother with fiction, the best of which is common task." [131] itself based on such material? Discussion of US maritime policy will Maffeo's description of the period's primi- long be indebted to this formidable work of tive communications technology, the lack of a advocacy. The authors' contention that the era structure to service the use and collection of of dependence upon US-flag sealift as an intelligence, and its dispersal among govern- adjunct of geopolitical influence has passed ment departments and agencies is lively and may be tested in the years ahead; it certainly engaging, and he correctly emphasises the role should facilitate further debate. of the commander in the interpretation and use of intelligence. He also reminds us, in the Kevin Smith chapter on deception, of the difficulties of ship Muncie, Indiana identification when there was a similarity of ship types, no standardized paint schemes, and the widespread use of prizes, and he pays Steven E. Maffeo. Most Secret and Confiden- tribute to the abilities of that expert practitioner tial: Intelligence in the Age of Nelson. in deception, Cochrane, many of whose ex- Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2000. xxvii + ploits Patrick O'Brian transferred to Jack 355 pp., photographs, maps, appendices, notes, Aubrey. bibliography, index. US $32.95, cloth; ISBN 1- The appendices are helpful to those unfa- 55750-545-4. Canadian distributor, Vanwell miliar with the period, though personnel and Publishing, St. Catherines, ON. some titles of state offices changed between 1775 and the 1790s. The printing on maps of Though the author has been professionally the Mediterranean and the Baltic is rather small associated with intelligence since 1979, his and a more detailed map of the approaches to Book Reviews 91

Copenhagen and Aboukir Bay would have 278-290), perhaps too late for inclusion, sheds highlighted Nelson's difficulties, while a map fresh light on the subject. These additions locating the less famous Battle of Pulo Aur would improve a bibliography which is already would have been helpful. Relevant illustrations a helpful source of further information for are often too dark to see details clearly. interested readers. The term "British" rather than "English" would be more accurate, since numbers of P.K. Crimmin Scots and Irish held high offices in government Egham, UK and the navy in this period. The decision to send Nelson, a junior commander, into the Mediterranean in 1798 [37], occurred to both Paul C. Krajeski. In the Shadow of Nelson: The Spencer and St. Vincent independently and Naval Leadership of Admiral Sir Charles was merely confirmed by George III, as the Cotton, 1753-1812. Westport, CT: Greenwood author later implies. [5] The quotation attrib- Publishing , 2000. xiii + 219 pp., illustrations, uted to Barham [47-48] is an Admiralty minute bibliography, index. US $68.95, cloth; ISBN of 1808, in the Barham papers, when Barham 0-313-31039-4. had ceased to hold any government office. Even Nepean was not secretary to Lord Mel- David Shannon (intro.). Nelsoniana, 1805- ville's admiralty [50] but a member of that 1905 : An Anthology of Notes and Queries from board from September 1804. The secretary was TP 's Weekly Magazine in 1905, the Year of the William Marsden, and though Maffeo rightly Trafalgar Centenary. Hertford, UK, The Nel- pays tribute to the importance of the office [ son Society, 1999. 51 pp. [for copies e-mail: 281], the first secretary to the Admiralty was [email protected].]. ISBN 0- not a government minister. In appendix 5, the 955107029-0. guerre de course, the French war on trade, was not the same as the "fleet in being" theory, By virtue of his rank and his succession of proclaimed by Admiral Torrington in the late high-level, Admiral Charles Cotton was any- seventeenth century. thing but an "undistinguished" naval officer. Maffeo has used the Navy Records Soci- At his death in 1812 he commanded the Chan- ety volumes, but could have consulted the nel Fleet, and immediately prior to that he was relevant Historical Manuscripts Commission in charge in the Mediterranean, succeeding no publications, while the Memoirs and Corre- less a personage than Cuthbert Collingwood. spondence of Admiral Lord de Saumarez (Sir Before that Cotton exercised independent John Ross, ed: London, 1838), would have command at Lisbon during the crucial year of been informative, since Saumarez was not only 1808, and earlier still he spent nearly a decade c-in-c in the Baltic (1808-1813) but Nelson's as a subordinate flag officer, again in the second in command at the Nile. Maffeo rightly Channel. Yet despite thirteen years' active stresses the importance of newspapers in service at flag rank, and the professional com- intelligence gathering. As well as the petence such employment suggests, Cotton government-sponsored The Times, he might remains frustratingly elusive. In this volume have used opposition papers and the London Paul Krajeski has had to confront the diver- Gazette, an important dissemination of news, gence between Cotton's service record and his mentioned in the text but not listed in the historical anonymity. His efforts shed valuable sources or index. There are some gaps in light on myriad subjects, among them the secondary sources, chiefly A.B. Rodger, The interplay between Admiralty and station chief War of the Second Coalition 1798-1801 (Ox- in a vexed and volatile situation such as Cotton ford, 1964) and the seminal works of Piers encountered in the Tagus and, refreshingly, the Mackesey, while Michael Duffy's article on equally perplexed matter of overseas fleet British naval intelligence in the expedition of logistics in the age of sail. What is missing is a 1798 in Mariner's Mirror (LXXXIV [1998], comprehensive portrait of Cotton the man. 92 The Northern Mariner

This volume, to do Krajeski justice, does – who served with Cotton in the Caribbean in not attempt a full-scale biography – a difficult, 1781-1782. By way of contrast, Thomas if not impossible task given the paucity of Grenville, First Lord in the Whig-dominated " evidence on Cotton's personal and family life. all the Talents" ministry, described Cotton as " Rather, it aims at "[a] broader understanding of entirely unfit for command of the Channel British naval leadership...through a balanced Fleet," while Rear-Admiral Thomas Fremantle assessment of Cotton's career." [xvi] In the wrote to his Whig patron Lord Buckingham purely professional arena this is relatively that any minister who observed Cotton for a straight-forward. Krajeski draws extensively week "would pronounce his incapacity" to upon official correspondence, in particular command in the Mediterranean. [44 and 159] with the Admiralty and other senior officers, This is not to imply that he was unworthy of such as Wellington, with whom he cooperated. the responsibility vested in him; rather, it is to Krajeski's account of what Cotton was ex- suggest that in an era of almost continual pected to do, and did, is solid and informative. warfare, in which dozens of officers demon- Yet ambiguities or outright controversies strated capacities for leadership and high surround several key episodes in Cotton's command, Cotton's appointments from 1805 to career. At the Battle of Martinique (17 April 1812, like that of Hyde Parker in 1801, seem 1780) his vessel failed to support Admiral curious if judged solely professionally. George Rodney's flagship, a failure Krajeski Krajeski has produced a valuable study of admits "cannot be adequately explained." [7] the means by which British naval and military Nor does he have an answer to why Cotton policy was carried out, especially in the post- was reluctant to pitch into the fray at the Glori- Trafalgar era but, due to its operational focus, ous First of June (1794). Indeed, if based one which seems to downplay other factors solely on his battle performance, it is difficult contributing to Cotton's lengthy and respect- to fathom, the iron law of seniority aside, why able, if hardly outstanding, career. Equally Cotton ever rose to flag rank, much less to crucially, although through no fault of the command of some of the Navy's most impor- author, the reader never gets a strong sense of tant stations. The explanation for this paradox Cotton's personality. is Cotton's "consistent reliability and sound The Nelson Society's Nelsoniana, on the judgment," coupled with his grasp of diplo- other hand, exudes personality. This charming matic niceties, which proved valuable assets in collection originally was serialized in T.P. O' Portugal and were appropriate in the Mediter- Connor's T.P. 's Weekly as a Trafalgar ranean, where the likelihood of fleet action was centenary celebration. Many anecdotes will be remote. [196] All the same, this seems only a familiar to readers of Nelson's numerous partial explanation for Cotton's rapid rise ( biographies: the turbot destined for Hyde from entry to post-Captain in less then seven Parker's dinner table, Nelson's arctic encoun- years) and subsequent flag appointments. ter with a walrus (often depicted as a bear), and The less evident factor appears to have raising the telescope to his blind eye. In addi- been political patronage, something that tion, though, readers were invited to submit Krajeski notes but downplays, claiming that " their own reminiscences, and many of these, the mechanism of naval [rather than political] passed along as oral traditions within families patronage driven by professional concerns before being committed to print in O'Connor's determined advancement in the Royal Navy." [ journal, are likely to be unfamiliar even to the 3] Yet he admits that Cotton's early promo- most ardent Nelson buff. The Nelson Society tion owed much to his father's friendship with has reprinted these tales verbatim, without Lord Sandwich. It is perplexing, therefore, that apology, as David Shannon puts it. None is he fails to address this possibility when consid- needed. ering Cotton's subsequent career. All his flag appointments came from Tory boards, one of John Beeler them headed by a First Lord – Lord Mulgrave Tuscaloosa, Alabama Book Reviews 93

David Howarth and Stephen Howarth. Nelson: alleged to have lived rivals those of Queen The Immortal Memory. New ed., London: Elizabeth), and the number of facsimile letters Conway Maritime Press, 1997. 400 pp., printed in some of the early biographies which illustrations. £12.99, cloth; ISBN 0-85177- have been carefully preserved as "genuine" is 720-1. vast. Indeed, Nelson, Napoleon and Churchill are the three leading subjects for autograph Another book on Nelson, once could well say, collectors, and the common initial "N" for the and, moreover, one which has risen to the first two must have been a forger's delight. heights of being reprinted. After reading the That, however, is fortunately outside our first few chapters, however, your reviewer immediate purview. began to realise how the story of Nelson's Throughout the book the authors attempt, early life palls to the convinced naval historian with fair success, to indicate how Nelson's by the repetition to which he is subjected on experiences shaped his character, but while this topic. But matters improved as Nelson offering background to elucidate the affairs of moved into higher command, and the intrigu- the wider world they go no deeper than is ing story of Horatio Nelson's career is cer- strictly necessary. Nor do they discuss the tainly well described in a generally accurate, affairs of the Nelson family and his friends and attractive text that is well provided with appo- associates. This last point perhaps gives a site quotations. It is adequately supported by a negative impression: the book as a whole selection of illustrations, though all appear to skilfully draws a favourable view of its subject, come from Greenwich. It is not, however, a but one should not look for too much detail. specialist's book. It has no references or bibli- ography, although there is a reasonable index. A.W.H. Pearsall The book therefore offers the general reader a London, UK flowing narrative most appropriate for those relatively unfamiliar with Nelson's career. Nelson is a difficult subject in many ways. Gene A. Smith. Thomas Ap Catesby Jones: As probably the most successful Admiral of all Commodore of Manifest Destiny. Annapolis: time (how many others have won three major Naval Institute Press, 2000. xiii + 223 pp., victories?), he commands the special interest of photographs, notes, bibliography, index. US naval historians for his strategic thought, his $34.95, cloth; ISBN 1-55750-848-8. tactical skill and his leadership ability. At the same time his private life arouses the attentions Little attention is paid these days to the United of quite a different type of reader, and to bal- States Navy between the early period of spec- ance one against the other can be quite a prob- tacular battles in the Barbary wars and the War lem. In this case, it has been achieved reason- of 1812. A few of us may know of the support ably successfully. One of the attractions of to so-called Manifest Destiny in the west and Nelson to the biographer is, of course, his against Mexico, or in the Pacific for the prolific letter writing and the great numbers exploration of the South Seas and the which have since been printed by editors from opening of Japan. Yet it is a story Nicolas onwards, avoiding the necessity for generally bereft of combat on the high seas tedious visits to archives. The Howarths have or glamorous deeds and slogans. The support certainly made good use of these sources, and the navy accorded the army in the war against produce interesting anecdotes. The traditional Mexico was largely logistical rather than "polar bear" tale, for example, is severely put operational. It is true that this period saw the in its place. It is in discovering the origin of founding of the Naval Academy in 1845 and many of these corrections that one feels the technological developments in weaponry and lack of references. But the Howarths wisely do propulsion. It was also a period of rather not attempt to tackle all the numerous "Nelson pompous, domineering careerists pacing the legends" (the number of houses in which he is quarter deck and going off on their own as self-identified instruments 94 The Northern Mariner of force projection and representatives of a Of similar fascination, and here Smith Yankee Doodle nation. probes more soundly, Jones exercised ques- One character of this stripe was Commo- tionable judgment when it came to investing dore Thomas ap Catesby Jones, a native Vir- officer and crew money in speculative ventures ginian possibly best known for his impetuous of dubious legality. All that would surely have seizure of Monterey in 1842 on the seen him cashiered today. Still, his was a misperception that a state of war existed be- different time and place, a period of bumptious tween the United States and Mexico. Gene spread-eaglism befitting an adolescent nation Smith, professor of early American history at and its navy. Thomas ap Catesby Jones (with Texas Christian University, has delivered an that striking Welsh application of "son of or " admirable portrait of Jones. Even before ap") continues as a largely unknown, even Monterey, Jones was known in naval circles transitional figure, in a navy not yet ready to for independent initiative, political wrangling advance to first rank among world sea powers. with authorities in Washington, strict ship- But, as reflected in Commodore Jones himself, board discipline, intrepid squadron leadership that navy fully attended to affronts to its hon- and adroit diplomacy. As a member of the our, knew the code of duty to country and landed gentry (when not on active assignment), brooked no nonsense from officials of the Jones developed a bent for agricultural experi- Crown, Mexican satrapies, or aboriginal mon- mentation on a farm near the nation's capital. archs in the South Seas. Jones' life spanned the But controversy and rancour attended his naval years 1790-1858; his career between 1805 and career, almost from the time he lost a gunboat 1858. This "Library of Naval Biography" in Lake Borgne at the battle of New Orleans in contribution is a lively, informative treatment late 1814 through his jockeying for command of a personality and institution as they con- of the important South Pacific Exploring cluded the age of sail en route to that of iron Expedition and two separate tours as head of and steam. the Pacific Squadron. Finally, as a result of the Monterey affair and his heavy-handed quaran- B.F. Cooling tining of crews during the California gold rush, Washington, DC enemies within and without the service secured his court-martial, conviction and forcible retirement from the service. R. Thomas Campbell. Sea Hawk of the Con- There can be no doubt that Jones, in federacy: Lt. Charles W. Read and the Smith's words, was a "self-righteous, self- Confederate Navy. Shippensburg, PA: Burd reliant type of officer that the navy nurtured." Street Press, 2000 [PO Box 152, [165] But he also made major contributions not Shippensburg, PA 17257]. xiv + 236 pp., only in terms of projecting American interests illustrations, photographs, appendices, notes, in the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) and Califor- bibliography, index. US $29.95; ISBN 1- nia (during both Mexican and early-American 57249-178-7. acquisition periods) but also as an outspoken Anglophobe. Smith has done well in spelling The brief career of Lieutenant Charles W. out this aspect of Jones' life and career. He has Read (1840-1890) as a naval officer during the been somewhat more superficial concerning American Civil War was spectacular. Shortly his important contributions as the American after graduating last in his class of twenty-five navy's leading ordnance expert and inspector from the US Naval Academy, the Mississippi- of the era. He might well have devoted more born midshipman resigned and followed his space to this subject, given today's fascination native state into the Confederacy. Read served with changing military technology and condi- with distinction on commerce raiders, torpedo tions of a defence industrial base. The book is boats and ironclads. The drama of his reckless more naval-diplomatic rather than technologi- heroism comes to life in R. Thomas Camp- cal or institutional history. bell's Sea Hawk of the Confederacy. Campbell has published extensively on the exploits of the Book Reviews 95

Confederate States Navy, feeding the general not always follow recognized conventions. public's strong interest in the conflict. There are numerous strung-on quotes [134- Read began his service to the South on 137, 146-152 and 163-165] and a needless CSS McRae while defending the port of New listing of the name of every participant in a Orleans. In the spring of 1862, the Union given scenario. Finally, the author often had to flotilla that captured the Crescent City also speculate on Read's feelings due to a lack of sank the McRae. Undaunted, Read joined the written documentation. Campbell and the ironclad CSS Arkansas on the Yazoo River. editors have unnecessarily extended the book's Outgunned and outnumbered, the Confederate length, which too often is a distraction. While ironclad managed to steam through a gauntlet Read's naval exploits make a fascinating of federal warships before Arkansas' own crew adventure, Campbell's effort would have been was compelled to set her ablaze. Read was one better rewarded in a more concise biography. of the last to depart from the burning ship. Moving to the open sea, he joined the Benjamin Trask commerce cruiser CSS Florida under the Newport News, Virginia command of Lieutenant John N. Maffitt. For six months, the young Read captured Union merchantmen and eluded powerful US war- Jack D. Coombe. Gunfire Around the Gulf ships in the Atlantic. Itching for command, The Last Major Naval Campaigns of the Civil Read took charge of Clarence in the spring of War. New York: Bantam Books, 2000. xii + 1863. When this sailing raider proved inade- 239 pp., maps, photographs, notes, bibliogra- quate, Read transferred his command to the phy, index. US $13.95, paper; ISBN 0-553- recently-captured Tacony. Despite the short- 38106-7. comings of the vessels Read commandeered, he managed to capture enemy trading ships and American Civil War naval historiography thus generated waves of fear along the eastern includes a number of bad books, but few are as seaboard of the United States. awful as Gunfire Around the Gulf. The first Read constantly sought to exploit the problem that leaps out is the book's conceptu- complacency of Union forces. In so doing he alization. Although the title indicates that it captured the US Revenue Service cutter Caleb covers "the last major naval campaigns of the Cushing at Portland, Maine. His recklessness, Civil War," the book is actually about the however, resulted in his capture and subse- battles of New Orleans and Mobile Bay, with quent imprisonment at Fort Warren in Boston a chapter on CSS Florida, one on "the happen- harbor; he attempted to escape but only ob- ings at Galveston," and a few opening contex- tained his freedom when exchanged. After his tual chapters thrown in for good measure. The release, Read assumed control of the torpedo title notwithstanding, New Orleans and Forts boats of the James River Squadron near the Jackson and St. Philip, the city's chief Confederate capital of Richmond. In the midst defences to the south, lay on the Mississippi of a bitter winter, he led an unsuccessful over- River, not on the Gulf of Mexico, and the land raid against federal shipping. His last Battle of New Orleans occurred in April 1862, assignment was to take the ram CSS Webb near the beginning of the war, not the end. The down the Red River to the Gulf of Mexico in last major naval campaign of the Civil War the desperate hope that it could be converted was the Union's amphibious attack on Fort into a commerce raider. Read made it past New Fisher in January 1865, not the Battle of Mo- Orleans but was compelled to raze Webb when bile Bay in August 1864. it was cornered by the Union navy. Jack Coombe is an amateur historian and While enjoyable to read, Sea Hawk of the author of one ther book on the naval Civil Confederacy suffers from poor editing. The War. He wrote Gunfire Around the Gulf appendices and some of the illustrations are mostly from the perspective of Union superfluous. The endnotes and bibliography do operational commanders and based it largely on secondary 96 The Northern Mariner

sources and the published official records, with as ports used by blockade runners "only after a sprinkling of unpublished manuscript materi- fierce naval battles that took a devastating toll als for colour. The book provides no new in men and ships on both sides." [ix] Actually, information on naval operations in the Gulf of fewer than 200 Union naval officers and en- Mexico, lower Mississippi, or Mobile Bay, nor listed men died in the battles of New Orleans does it offer new insights or interpretations. and Mobile Bay, nearly half of whom went While there is nothing inherently wrong down with Tecumseh after it hit a mine in with a retread aimed at a popular audience, at Mobile Bay. This was hardly a "devastating least it should be accurate. In Gunfire Around toll" when compared to the nearly 1700 Union the Gulf however, errors, exaggerations, soldiers who lost their lives during the Battle misstatements, and contradictions abound. of Chickamauga. Such hyperbole masks an There is not enough room in this review to list important point about a navy that has com- them all, so a sampling will have to suffice. As mand of the sea: significant gains can be made Coombe would have it, the dictum that wooden at relatively low cost. ships could not stand up against forts was The tragedy of this book is that it had the disproven at Fort Fisher and Fort Royal [x]; the potential to be better. Coombe writes passably, US Navy was in pitiful shape when the Civil sometimes gets down to bedrock in using the War broke out [1]; the Confederate ironclad published primary sources, and often peppers Tennessee was "potentially indestructible" [3]; the narrative with pithy quotations from partic- Confederate naval officer Franklin Buchanan ipants. Unfortunately, the bad so overwhelms was Union naval officer David Farragut's " the good that anyone interested in the battles of former academy friend" [3]; Andrew Foote New Orleans or Mobile Bay would be better was a "deeply religious man with a passion for off reading any of the other books on these intemperance" [9]; and Port Hudson was subjects. located twenty-five miles north of Vicksburg. [11] In reality, the dictum that wooden ships Robert J. Schneller, Jr. could not stand up against forts was disproven Washington, DC at Forts Hatteras and Clark and Port Royal; the US Navy possessed arguably the world's best naval ordnance, well-developed steam plant David M. Sullivan. The United States Marine technology, and a healthy officer corps on the Corps in the Civil War – The Final Year. eve of the Civil War; there is no such thing as Shippensburg, PA: White Mane Publishing a "potentially indestructible" warship; both Company, 2000. xi + 325 pp., maps, photo- Farragut and Buchanan entered the navy de- graphs, tables, notes, bibliography, index. US cades before the Naval Academy was founded; $40.00, cloth; ISBN 1-57249-214-7. Foot was a strong temperance advocate; and Port Hudson lay more than 110 miles south of Historians of contemporary regiments or corps Vicksburg. These errors amount to much more have a difficult task. To succeed in their than a list of typos; they represent a lack of endeavours they must satisfy at least two, and understanding of the subject matter or, equally sometimes three, distinct audiences. The first bad, sloppy writing and editing. Coombe's are the current and former members of the conclusion that had the Confederates possessed organisation under investigation, or those who "the resources of the Union, the naval war have become interested in it from the point of might have had a different outcome" [198] view of family history. The second are individ- only solidifies this impression. Readers who uals interested in military or, in this case, naval manage to finish the book will have worn a history but who have no direct connection or groove into their scalp from all the scratching. particular fascination with the body under In one important case, exaggeration leads discussion. The former demand detail, often in to obfuscation. Coombe says that New the form of long lists of names and can be Orleans, Mobile, and Galveston were critical if they feel that short shrift has been eliminated Book Reviews 97 given to their particular sub-unit. The latter can degree, Marine history in this period was a be overwhelmed by the descent to the tactical subset of the history of the US Navy. The weeds and often want to see the activities of account of the Battle of Mobile Bay (1864), for the particular unit placed into a broader histori- instance, deals with the whole action, the role cal and strategic context. A third audience is of the Marines being highlighted, with skilful the academic historian, who demands rigorous use made of a first-hand account by Private handling of evidence, appropriate footnoting Enoch Jones. and a degree of scholarly detachment. How, The third audience, the academic commu- then, does this latest volume of the history of nity, is well served by The United States Ma- the United States Marine Corps in the Amer- rine Corps in the Civil War – The Final Year. ican Civil War measure up to these different The depth of Mr. Sullivan's research is impres- and competing criteria? sive, as the detailed footnotes make clear, and Marines past and present will have few he has made excellent use of a wide range of problems with this book. The performance of sources, both published and unpublished. He the USMC in the Civil War has usually been adds greatly to our knowledge not only of the seen as one of its less glorious episodes, but Marine Corps's battles against the Confederacy David M. Sullivan takes a sternly revisionist but also of the struggle for survival against its approach, dispatching in the process a number enemies in the US military bureaucracy. Over- of myths. He rebuts the critical comments of all, Mr. Sullivan's argument that the USMC's other historians about the allegedly poor per- performance has been unfairly criticised is formance of a Marine battalion at First Bull persuasive. Run. Admiral David D. Porter's unfavourable To answer the question I posed earlier: report on the behaviour of the Marines at the partisans of the Marines and academic histori- assault on Fort Fisher in January 1865, the ans will welcome this book. Those with a more basis of the idea that this incident was one of general interest in military and naval history the dark secrets of the USMC, also comes in may find the sheer level of detail hard going, for searching criticism and lengthy and persua- but that should not be allowed to detract from sive rebuttal. The idea that the performance of the fact that The United States Marine Corps in the Corps was adversely affected by the defec- the Civil War – The Final Year is a significant tion of the brightest and best to Confederate achievement. service is also scrutinised at length by Mr. Sullivan via the means of pen portraits of each G.D. Sheffield renegade. At the very least, his analysis throws London, UK considerable doubt on this notion. Those concerned with the upkeep of the traditions and reputation of the USMC will, Brian Vale. A War Betwixt Englishmen: Brazil then, undoubtedly be pleased with this book. Against Argentina on the River Plate 1825- So will those who wish to research into the 1830. London: I.B. Tauris, 2000. xii + 275 pp., minutiae of USMC history, since they are maps, plates, appendices, notes, bibliography, treated to long lists of names, numerous photo- index. £39.50, US $59.50, cloth; ISBN 1-86- graphs of individuals, and an exhaustive level 64-456-2. Distributed in North America by St. of historical detail. Yet the casual reader can Martin's Press, New York, NY. find this approach off-putting. Mr. Sullivan strives to strike a balance between detail and Brian Vale has worked for many years in Latin wider issues but does not always succeed. America, during which time he acquired a life- There is no attempt at scene setting as the book long interest in the emergence of the two great opens; presumably, it is taken as given that the South American countries of Brazil and Argen- reader is familiar with the earlier volumes in tina. From this expertise has come a very the series. Thereafter, USMC activities are useful book in which the author sets out to placed within a wider context. To a large explore a hitherto hidden corner of naval 98 The Northern Mariner

history. It is, he suggests, of particular interest the text. The very first map, for example, to British and American readers because of the almost hinders rather than helps an understand- large numbers from both countries who were ing of the story that is to come. Variously, in caught up in the struggle between Brazil and the opening part of the book, Vale uses Argen- Argentina for control of the River Plate. The tina and the United Provinces interchangeably, naval war about which he writes had signifi- but the diagram gives only United Provinces. cant effects on the political and economic The rivers are unidentified, yet the whole history of South America, yet the scale of the struggle revolved around the control of the navies and the engagements was tiny in com- Plate. Later in the book a useful addition parison with the great set piece engagements of would have been a diagram of the action on the the Napoleonic wars. Brazil was a maritime Uruguay, with a clear illustration of the defen- power with an established navy and an exten- sive nature of the anchorage. sive seaborne commerce. By contrast, Argen- The end of the war saw the creation of tina had few naval forces and little tradition in Uruguay as a buffer between the two warring maritime matters. Its economy, nevertheless, countries. The buffer did not bring stability, depended on a huge international trade carried and the continuing tensions led to political mostly in British and American ships. turmoil in both Brazil and Argentina. Many of The focus of the struggle was the control the British officers stayed in South America at of the River Plate. The channels in the river are the end of the war, marrying and establishing tricky and safe passage is made difficult by the themselves in the local society. many shallows, the speed of the stream and the This is a readable book about a little- frequent fogs and mists. These local conditions known naval war between Brazil and Argen- dictated the nature of much of the fighting. tina for control of the Plate. The volume relates Small craft with shallow draught, schooner- the story of a local conflict which reached out rather than square-rigged, were the order of the into the wider world of commerce in the way day. Clever tactics and attempts to entrap it was fought and and recruited men of many rather than confront the enemy were methods nationalities. Having broken new ground, it adopted by both sides. Privateering and com- could well stimulate further volumes of a more merce raiding gave more success than any of analytic nature in regard to the international the set-piece battles that did take place. Both impact of this little naval war. sides relied on the stimulus and expertise of British and American officers and crews, Kenneth Breen particularly on James Norton, who fought for Twickenham, UK Brazil, and William Brown, who acquired heroic status in his leadership of the Argentinian navy. Alan Villiers (ed. and intro. by Basil The scholarly apparatus is clearly pre- Greenhill). The Last of the Wind Ships. New sented and indicates a the use of a wide range York and London: W.W. Norton & Co., 2000. of sources from Brazilian and Argentinian 212 pp., charts, photographs, diagrams. US government archives, British government $55.00, cloth; ISBN 0-393-05033-5. papers in the Public Record Office, newspapers and commercial records and personal corre- This magnificent volume reproduces, in stun- spondence and memoirs. This extensive docu- ning quality, 110 of what must be among the mentary base enables Vale to give an immedi- finest and most original seafaring photographs acy to the accounts of some of the actions and ever taken. Alan Villiers' plates, many of to the relationships between the politicians and which are reproduced as double-page spreads, the military on both sides. are provided with extended captions drawn The maps and diagrams do not do the from his almost equally evocative descriptions volume justice. They are not well presented, of the voyages he undertook aboard square- and there are gaps where a diagram would help rigged sailing ships between 1928 and 1933. Book Reviews 99

By then such vessels were almost wholly record of topmen at work and at another an obsolete, and it was only by happy accident image in which the positioning and actions of that Villiers' inspired camera and pen were the figures impart an almost ballet-like quality there to record this now vanished world. to the photograph. As a Melbourne teenager Villiers learned The next voyage was in 1929, aboard his trade as a seafarer aboard the barques another Falmouth-bound grain ship, Grace which still plied the Tasman Sea between Harwar. This venture was more ambitious, Australia and New Zealand in the years before with Villiers and another seafaring journalist, 1920. Next came a round trip to Europe; out- Ronald Walker, planning to make a documen- ward as an ordinary seaman aboard the barque tary film. But the ship was under-manned, James Craig - a badly-run and unhappy ship - badly provisioned, and crank, this being its and homeward on another barque, the Finnish final voyage before being sold to breakers. grain-carrier Lawhill. Villiers found among Scurvy broke out, and tragically Walker was Lawhill's Ålander crew the cohesive and killed by a falling yard. His photograph (Plate democratic culture of deep-water sailors, and 10 in the section), taken by Villiers shortly clearly relished it, but towards the end of the before the accident, is almost unbearably voyage he suffered an accident which left him poignant. It shows a young smiling sailor temporarily handicapped. Unable to return to leaning on a capstan head, a timeless evocation sea, he took to journalism. of the bond between shipmates and the desola- In 1923 he accompanied a Norwegian tion of sudden bereavement. whaling expedition to Antarctica as a corre- For all Grace Harwar's tribulations, the spondent and photographer, and this set the voyage was photographically productive, pattern for his classic sailing-ship voyages. The yielding some of Villers' best rough-weather first was in 1928 aboard Herzogin Cecilie, pictures. The final voyages in the trilogy pre- bound from Port Lincoln to Falmouth around sented by this book were undertaken in the the Horn with a cargo of grain. As well as his 3091-ton steel four-masted barque Parma, of reporter's notebook, Villiers took a simple which Villiers was part-owner, carrying wheat folding camera, though he had no training as a from South Australia to Falmouth in 1932 and photographer. His technique, he said, was to 1933. These voyages were more extensively choose a good light, point the camera, and photographed than the others, but to this re- press the shutter. viewer the images, though technically excel- However he achieved it, Villiers dealt with lent, are often more contrived and lack some of the technical side of photography almost with- the spontaneity and atmosphere of Villiers' out thought, leaving himself free to concentrate earlier work. But there are still some master- on the essentials of positioning and timing. pieces. My favourite is plate 8, a study of Herein lay his genius. Plate 3 from Herzogin Parma's skipper and co-owner Captain Ruben Cecilie's voyage, "Going Aloft the Fore Mast." is de Cloux (master of Herzogin Cecile on photographed from the chains, looking Villiers' first voyage). This redoubtable Cape upwards against the fully set sails. This per- Horner is shown on deck with a filled sail spective exaggerates the changing geometry of billowing out behind him. De Cloux is a far cry the shrouds, imparting a feeling of height, from the sailing ship captain of fiction. He movement, and the taut integrity of rope and wears no immaculate uniform but stands in canvas. Against this backdrop are the fore- shirtsleeves and braces, cloth cap on his head shortened figures of three climbing crewmen, and feet stuffed into old slippers, a cigarette their vulnerable humanity in stark contrast to dangling from his lips as he examines the the setting. The lower figure lifts his foot reading on his sextant. Villiers' low viewpoint upwards in slightly blurred movement, a detail must have been obtained by lying flat on deck, which gives a powerful visual lead-in to this and this gives the image its exceptional power. remarkable composition. Plate 9, "Furling the The accompanying text verges on hero wor- Main Upper Topsail," is at one level a graphic ship: "In bad weather he stands by the forepart 100 The Northern Mariner of the chart-house...Hail lashes him, spray and George Washington Bridge, followed by rain wet him through and through, the wind chapters on the early ferries of the pre-steam roars round him, and the crashing of the seas era and the technological development of the breaking on board thunders in his ears: he steamboat. There are many drawings and stands on, swaying from foot to foot with her photographs. These chapters will be useful to roll, watching her, considering how she sails, anyone looking to understand the general how she might be better sailed...storing away progress of steam technology. this priceless sea lore in his grey head." The succeeding chapters treat each firm in As a record of the last days of commercial turn, but these chapters will be problematic for sail Villiers' work is unique, and of enormous the general reader. It is difficult to avoid historical value, while as a photographic essay "facts." The saving grace is the breadth of the it is of the highest artistic merit. It is fitting that writing which often includes contextual mate- this book has been edited and provided with an rial on corporate development and political introductory text by Basil Greenhill, Villiers' events that influenced the ferryboat owners. friend and collaborator in setting up the Alan Remember: this is mass transit that is gargan- Villiers Collection in the photographic archive tuan in its scope. of the National Maritime Museum at Green- The second section, Stories ofa Deckhand, wich. These superb and historic images are is by Raymond Baxter, who is "looking back safely preserved for future generations, and upon" his "entire working life and find[ing] this splendid book makes the best of them that the years on the boats were the most widely accessible now. enjoyable." Nothing maudlin here. It is a fond yet realistic look at the many facets of a job Colin Martin that includes friendships, unions, working St. Andrews, Scotland differences between boats, overloading, wheelman's duties, captains and the boat that has a mind of its own. It is very good oral Raymond J. Baxter and Arthur G. Adams. history. Railroad Ferries of the Hudson, and Stories of Part three looks at the present and the a Deckhand. New York: Fordham University future of the ferry service. There is a bibliogra- Press, 1999. xi + 276 pp., photographs, illustra- phy with citations that range in date from 1852 tions, maps, figures, appendix (including to 1996, including three works by one of the bibliography), indices. US $35.00, hardcover; authors. There is also a general index and ISBN 0-8232-1953-4; US $19.95, paper; ISBN thirteen other indices dedicated to persons, 0-8232-1954-2. firms and vessels, and a key to assist the reader through a multitude of acronyms. No This is really an affair of the heart by authors footnotes, but the obvious authority the in their intellectual prime and a measured look authors bring to the task seems good enough. at a passenger transportation system that easily This is a book that "buffs" will enjoy, but rivals any elsewhere in the world. Over 180 it is not a "buffs'" book. It is more then that. pages are devoted to the Railroad Ferries of There are numerous photographs of ferries, but the Hudson while Stories of a Deckhand take there are other pictures of the informal sort, the another sixty-six pages. There is a unity to the kind a well-disposed uncle might show to parts which is a relief. Books of this sort are reveal the secrets of his job. In the Ferries of normally a dull read, unduly concentrated on the Hudson section there are many outstanding arcane facts to the exclusion of the human images. One that took my attention shows the component. Here they have got it right. Part interior of Chataugua in 1910, a sweeping One has five introductory chapters that lead the staircase to the left, passengers in the distance, reader into the more difficult material. The first and wood panelling everywhere. It is the is devoted to the North River, that section of American version of Edwardian splendour for the Hudson that runs from the Battery to the the masses. In the "deckhand" section one Book Reviews 101 shows the Chief of Police examining damage the author's ability to explore in some depth with Runyanesque overcoated figures hovering the policies of particular governments. The nearby. The photographs are well chosen and particular informs the general view that he evocative. This is a book for the specialist that argues. His central conclusion is that " can be dipped into by the general reader. technology [expensive modern containers] undermined and finally Maurice D. Smith shattered the nationalist efforts to create a Kingston, Ontario significant merchant shipping industry in Latin America." [ix] The strongest features of this book are the Rene De La Pedraja. Latin American Merchant extensive research and the cross national focus. Shipping in the Age of Global Competition. While writing of Latin America as a whole, he Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing, 1999. repeatedly breaks the discussion down to Xii + 188 pp., bibliography, index. US $59.95, specific countries and issues, such as Brazilian cloth. ISBN 0-313-30840-3. shipbuilding policy in the 1960s or Nicaragua's shipping problems during the A professor of history at Canisius College, quasi-war with the CIA and the "Contras" Buffalo, New York, Rene de la Pedraja has during the 1980s. That form of discussion furthered the story he began with his 1998 should appeal to anyone attempting to write work, Oil and Coffee: Latin American Mer- about any particular nation's shipping chant Shipping from the Imperial Era to the policies during the period 1955-1990 1950s. This new work picks up the story in the because there is much food for thought and 1950s and continues it through the "container comparison. revolution" of the 1980s. This is an interesting While generally not detracting from my account that addresses shipping policies in a endorsement of this book there are several number of Latin American states. In particular distracting points that require mention. The he discusses policies adopted from one time or author's passion occasionally flashes through another by Argentina, Chile, Cuba, Columbia, the text, particularly when adjectives like " Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru and arrogant" or "childish" are used to generalize Venezuela. All these nations in their own way national or corporate policies. There are also a attempted policies of cargo preference or number of footnotes which make reference to similar protection to preserve, foster or grow documents apparently only available in the their flag-registered merchant fleets. Some author's obviously extensive, but private, undertook efforts to link those measures to archive. Finally, there is a small undercutting shipbuilding. All responded to trade restriction of the technological determinism of his thesis and related protectionist measures employed when he writes that "the Venezuelan Line, the by primarily the United States and European only Latin American company financially able shipping conferences and/or legislation. to make a swift and complete transition to full In making that point he tells an interesting containership, refused to install" them story about the economic trends or forces we "throughout the I 970s." [91] So much for the now term "globalization." With no small irony invisible hand of globalization. That failure he illustrates how it came to pass that despite was the result of corporate actors putting their efforts by most Latin American states to be- heads in the sand—something he clearly dem- come masters of their shipping destinies, most onstrates. had abandoned those efforts by the early Those critical observations aside, as some- 1990s. Abandonment thus returned Latin one who has looked extensively at Canadian America to the shipping patterns of the late merchant shipping and shipping policy since nineteenth century when a few large foreign 1945 I found this book full of interesting owned firms dominated their carriage trade. parallels and redolent with issues and compari- The strength of this work is its scope and sons with Canada's case. I shall certainly employ much of its discussion and detail as a foil for my own work. I am sure others will 102 The Northern Mariner find the parallels, and differences, interesting historical inland canals influenced the land- and worthy of pursuit. Recommended. scape and the trade in the sixteenth and seven- teenth century. Around 1550 large-scale log M.A. Hennessy driving (drift transport) started. During the Kingston, Ontario existence of the Schaale Canal, over 1.8 mil- lion cubic metres of wood were transported. This volume had long-lasting consequences for Uwe Schnall and Ursula Feldkamp (eds.). the landscapes of northern Germany. As well, Deutches Schiffarhrtsarchiv 21 (1998). Ham- the creation of new waterways in the sixteenth burg: Die Hanse for Deutsches Schiffahrts- century led to the clearing of large areas of museum, 1999. 469 pp., photographs, illustra- forest. Since reforestation was unknown at the tions, maps, English and French summaries. time, some regions were transformed to bush DM 46, cloth; ISBN 3-551-88507-9. or heather and others to agriculture. Further- more, the regional network of land routes Like its predecessors, this volume ofDeutsches changed because of crossings being made Schiffarhrtsarchiv contains an amazing variety impassable by the canal. To correct this prob- of themes related to shipping. It covers not lem new bridges were built, and settlement in only sea and inland-shipping but also social the region of the Schaale Canal underwent a history (the first German stewardess on the long-term transformation. passenger ships of Bremen in the nineteenth This volume provides some contributions century; the first German woman who obtained that touch on the Nazi period, with one particu- the mate's certificate for distant trade in 1943); lar article being a much more detailed discus- fishing and whaling; institutional history (Fish- sion of that era. When Hitler came to power in ery Institute of the German Reich; German 1933 he introduced the political system of the Oceanography Board), and other articles, as NSDAP party and wanted to move into ship- well as the contributions of a symposium ping companies in the same manner. But as which treated different aspects of the history of Peter Kuckuk shows in his article on "Naviga- sea and land measuring. Some of the articles tion under the Hungerhaken: The Political offer new research material from different Organisation of the German Seaman by the archives in Europe and elsewhere. National Socialists," after some success in the A brilliant example for using new sources early years of the Third Reich, most of the is Stefan Kroll's article, which deals with the influence of party cells on board declined until navigation and maritime trade of Wismar, the outbreak of World War II. An anti-Nazi Rostock, Stralsun, Greifswald, and Stettin–the newspaper described the Nazi organisations five largest cities in Mecklenburg and onboard in 1937 as "much scoffed-at idiots Pomerania – in the year 1706 and shows how clubs." [120] Nevertheless, there were occa- important peasant ship navigation was in trade sional conflicts between captains and cell and traffic for these cities, a role which has leaders over hierarchy, which usually ended mostly been overlooked. Most of the mer- positively for the former. Kuckuk is writing on chants depended on native ships for their a phenomenon which deserves much more trading. In contrast to the German North Sea attention, and not only in the field of shipping, coast, the majority of shipowners belonged to for there were other areas of German society the local population, although vessels from where prior to 1939 the Nazis were less suc- Lübeck or Copenhagen were also used. But cessful than we have been led to believe. It England and the Netherlands, which dominated must be remembered that Nazi Germany was a Baltic trade, played no role in the trade of these "niche society" where many institutions, like cities during the early eighteenth century. HAPAG or some publishing houses, resisted Using the example of the Schaale Canal ( the Nazis. Further research is required to see operated between 1564 and 1800) in northern how typical this was. Germany, Götz Goldhammer illustrates how This volume gives not only a good over- Book Reviews 103

view of current themes being discussed in attention. scholarly circles but also offers interesting Deutsche Fischdampfer is a very important contributions for both specialists and non- publication on the history of the German specialists. deep-sea fishery.

Olaf Matthes Wilfried Brandes Hamburg, Germany Bremen, Germany

Wolfgang Walter. Deutsche Fischdampfer: Denis Griffiths, Andrew Lambert and Fred Technik, Entwicklung, Einsatz, Schiffsregister Walker. Brunel's Ships. London: Chatham [The German Steam-Trawler. Engineering, Publishing, 1999. 160 pp., photographs, dia- Development, Employment, Register]. Ham- grams, charts, maps, bibliography, notes, burg: Die Hanse for Deutsches index. £30.00, cloth; ISBN 1-86176-102-3. Schiffahrtsmuseum, 1999. 334 pp., photo- graphs, illustrations, figures, tables, sources, This book is the result of popular demand, indices. DM 98, cloth; ISBN 3-551-88517-6. resulting from a one-day Open Museum course at the National Maritime Museum on Brunel Deep-sea fishing is not a significant compo- and his ships in November 1997. Such was the nent of present-day German maritime response that before the day was over, the idea literature, especially compared to merchant for a book had already taken shape. The most shipping and the navy. In recent years, cursory glance will suggest that the project has however, more works on fishing have ap- been handsomely realised. The volume is peared. The book by Wolfgang Walter is the divided into two parts and ten chapters, the first comprehensive treatment of a prototype of first six of which deal with Brunel and ship- German deep-sea fishery. The steam side- building, principally with the fortunes of the trawler (Seitenfänger) was a significant techno- Great Western Steam Ship Company. The logical development. Starting with Sagitta, other four are devoted to the ships themselves: built in 1885, up to the launch of Heckbrowler, Great Western, HMS Rattler, Great Britain the history of German deep-sea fishing was and Great Eastern. Brunel attracts interest largely the history of the side-trawler. from many quarters and it is likely that this After lengthy research Walter has located work will satisfy its varied constituency. Tech- information about 1238 ships. The most crucial nical questions are thoroughly examined, and aspect of the book is the 190-page index. After Andrew Lambert takes the opportunity to a detailed biography on each ship, he provides challenge received views of Admiralty technical data as well as information on mark- conservatism in matters of maritime ings, horsepower, boilers, speed, crew, storage technology. Numerous illustrations support the capacity, owners, builder, and its fate. text. Yet for all its illustrative content, this is far from being a mere picture book. The The main text is placed before the index. bibliography and notes bear witness to the It mentions the ships' technical data and solid scholarship from which Brunel's Ships catching equipment. The development of that has been distilled. type of ship from the beginning to the latest construction is also included, as well as docu- Isambard Kingdom Brunel was a man of mentation on "special steamers," starting with such innovative brilliance across a whole range Vigilant, built in 1887, up to Düsseldorf, built of engineering projects that it is of some pass- in 1961. There are also descriptions of the ing amusement that it takes the combined skills work of deep-sea fishermen. There is also an of three acknowledged experts to do justice to article on the deep-sea steam-trawlers of the one area of his endeavours. The clarity of his former German Democratic Republic. But engineering vision was seldom clouded by shipyards and fishing companies are given less commercial considerations. Brunel's ideas were sometimes impractical in the short term, 104 The Northern Mariner and vindication sometimes occurred years later deal with the interpretation of the underwater and often in unforeseen ways. The stranding of archaeological record; the current state of Great Britain in Dundrum Bay, for example, underwater archaeology; and the basic me- while an undoubted embarrassment, ultimately chanics of ships and shipwrecks. The book proved a point about the durability of iron opens with a discussion of the development of construction. Great Eastern, despite the diffi- the current theoretical underpinnings of ar- culties that attended its launch, was an engi- chaeology and the interpretive inadequacy and neering feat that pointed the way towards an pitfalls of much of this. Gould also argues exponential increase in ship size. Triumph, against a linear view of technological develop- disaster and disappointment are chronicled ment and the application of simple diffusion here with an authority that will please even models, since cultural and technological his- those for whom this is familiar territory. tory is much more dynamic. As he expands The focus moves slightly away from upon in the case studies, the technological trail Brunel in the chapters where his work is set in of ship development, rather than being directly the context of early iron construction and evolutionary, is littered with incidents of where the career of HMS Rattler is considered. devolution, re-emergence and co-invention. Otherwise, the authors have blended harmoni- The following chapter comprises a compe- ously to produce a book that is a worthy tribute tent description of how modern underwater to the man described by Daniel Gooch as "the archaeology is conducted. He presents and greatest of England's engineers." [11] illustrates with examples the tools, methods, survey and excavation strategies, and recording Alex Ritchie and conservation techniques employed. Fol- London, UK lowing this is a chapter on the mechanical aspects of ships and shipwrecks. He explains the factors vital to understanding and analysing Richard A. Gould. Archaeology and the Social shipwreck sites, such as ship design and con- History of Ships. Cambridge: Cambridge struction, sailing characteristics, hull stresses, University Press, 2000. xiv + 360 pp., photo- buoyancy, the reasons for wrecks, and site- graphs, plates, diagrams, tables, bibliography, formation processes. index. £40.00, cloth; ISBN 0-521-56103-5. Armed with the basics, the reader is moved into the case studies in the next eight This latest offering from Richard Gould con- chapters, which follow a roughly evolutionary tinues his longtime interest in things anthropo- and chronological order, starting with small logical and, more particularly, the relation water craft and then on to the first ships, an- between material culture and human behav- cient trade, ships of the Middle Ages, ships iour. This book clearly follows in the footsteps from the great age of sail, the transition from of his earlier landmark publication, Shipwreck sail to steam, more recent naval warfare and Anthropology. In this new book Gould argues finally a study of marine infrastructure. As for the marriage of underwater archaeology might be expected, the scope is vast; geograph- and maritime history to produce a more scien- ically spanning the globe and chronologically tifically rigorous field. He urges that ship- extending from prehistory to the modern era. wrecks not be viewed as single isolated events The final case study on marine infrastructure but rather as products of the cultures that shows that there is more to underwater archae- produced them and the socioeconomic milieu ology than shipwrecks. The study of harbour in which vessels operated. To do this, the installations, both ancient and modern, high- author marshals a vast array of data in the form lights the legitimacy of this area of research. of detailed case studies from underwater sites The crux of the book lies in the case stud- that elucidate his point of view. ies and their relation to wider historical The book is divided into twelve chapters, themes, such as changes in shipbuilding, over- the first three of which are introductory. These seas trade, life on board ship, navigation, Book Reviews 105 colonization and warfare. The point is clearly originally published in 1986 in conjunction made that shipwrecks and other underwater with the Alaska State Museum's exhibit of the information can provide fresh data and new same name. David Zimmerly's work is in print perspectives bearing on these themes. It is in again, providing a thoughtfully-organized and these sections that Gould amply demonstrates well-designed guide to water craft that for so the benefits of moving from historical long were an integral element in indigenous particularism to broader studies. cultures from Siberia eastward to Greenland. In the final chapter, the author makes the As the peoples of the north have adopted point that this great underwater reservoir of modern technology and lifestyles, traditional information is finite and constantly under hunting and related social and cultural rituals threat. Documented with examples of looted have declined or disappeared. The kayak is no and destroyed sites, the author calls poignantly longer central to procuring food, and the skills for preservation. for building the craft in traditional ways are Overall, this is a well researched and almost lost. Qayaq is important because it written book that makes a significant contribu- compiles information about a dying way of tion to both underwater archaeology and mari- life. It includes information from a variety of time history. The focus is clearly archaeologi- published sources not readily accessible; cal, although there is wealth of thought- pro- photographs, both old and recent, that record voking ideas and directions for new research kayak use and cultural context; detailed scale linking archaeology and history. Underwater drawings (including cross-sections) of kayaks archaeologists will likely find little new in the that have been preserved; and a clear glossary. site descriptions but, as the book touches upon The kayak, with a history extending at most of the world's major submerged archaeo- least two millennia, appeared in a wide variety logical discoveries, it is useful for a great deal of styles and sizes, depending upon location of diverse archaeological site material to be and use, and especially on whether it was to be brought together under one cover. The success used in the open ocean or on rivers and lakes. of the book is its ability to move beyond indi- The craft Zimmerly examined ranged from 9.2 vidual sites into the wider realm of thematic to 24.7 feet in length, with beams from 19.2 to studies. The book is adequately illustrated with 29.3 inches, depths from 7.6 to nineteen black-and-white figures, although there are a inches, and weight from twenty-four to 96.1 few instances, particularly in technical descrip- pounds. Although he cites the Aleut one-hole tions of ship construction, where additional baidarka as "the ultimate in sea kayak design", illustrations would have helped. Formatted in he pays careful attention to each type. a textbook style, it would be ideal for an under- While two- and three-man kayaks were graduate course. Archaeologists, historians and described, the one-man kayak was most com- anyone with an interest in the maritime world mon. It was an extension of its owner, usually will find this book appealing, worthwhile and constructed according to anthropometric mea- a valuable addition to their personal libraries. surements. Though construction materials varied from place to place, the kayak, per R. James Ringer Zimmerly's definition, had a discrete wooden Ottawa, Ontario framework covered with skins (thicker hides on the bottom, thinner for decks), with individ- ual cockpits where the paddler usually sat with David W. Zimmerly. Qayaq: Kayaks ofAlaska outstretched legs. The paddle was most often and Siberia. Fairbanks: University of Alaska double-bladed, and the paddler generally wore Press, 2000. x + 103 pp., photographs, dia- a waterproof garment that could be attached to grams, maps, tables, index. US $16.95, paper; the coaming. While the three-hole kayak ISBN 1-889963-10-0. appears to have been a product of contact with Europeans, designed more for heavier loads Qayaq: Kayaks of Alaska and Siberia was than for hunting, even small one-man kayaks 106 The Northern Mariner were used for transport and towing. major inland water system. The start of each Zimmerly describes a range of capsize- chapter shows a map of Ireland with a short recovery techniques (from none to high levels synopsis of the water system presented. The of skill in righting overturned craft) that seem chapter then goes on to follow pictorially the to correlate directly with inherent craft stabil- course of the water system through a series of ity. It seems that swimming ability was not a stunning photographs. prerequisite for kayaking. Training to handle a Kevin Dwyer is truly a gifted photogra- kayak began early in a boy's life (kayaks were pher who easily brings to life the history, for men only) and continued into his teens, beauty, peacefulness and ruggedness of inner when he was deemed ready to accompany his Ireland. His great love of his homeland is father on the hunt. Kayak ownership proved evident in both his photographs and his de- one's readiness for adulthood and assured the scription of the waterways. In its simplest form ability to provide for a family. In some groups this is an appealing book to have and would a man's kayak covered him in his grave. entertain anyone who looks through it. It Zimmerly has included verbatim descrip- naturally attracts you to visit Ireland and its tions of kayaks and kayakers, subsistence waterways. hunting, and associated rituals by observers In the more complex form it breaks down whose accounts span two centuries. These for those who are not familiar with the country include many familiar names, both historical that is Ireland. The chapter introductions are and contemporary, including Veniaminov, confusing when you try and follow them on Sauer, Davydov, Bogoras, Jochelson, the simple map provided. The narration of the Langsdorff, Nordenskiold, Lisiansky, Elliott, individual pictures is written by a hand that is Nelson, Lantis, Curtis, Birkett-Smith, Ray, well familiar with the geography of each Robert-Lamblin, and Black. photograph. The less familiar are left searching For students of the indigenous cultures of for the specific points of which he speaks. the north and those who love the sea, Qayaq: The beauty and tranquillity of the photo- Kayaks of Alaska and Siberia will be intriguing graphs belie the true nature of Ireland. Every and informative. picture is taken on a lovely day with bright sunshine or pleasant overcast. I know that it Judith Ball Bruce rains a lot in Ireland but you would never Sandston, Virginia know it from this book. If the author is trying to show the reality of Ireland and its water- ways, then a few photos in a good downpour, Kevin Dwyer. Ireland – The Inner Island: A which has a peacefulness and tranquillity unto Journey Through Ireland's Inland Waterways. itself, might be appropriate. If he is trying to Cork, Ireland: Collins Press (distributed in attract visitors to the country then he may be North America by Dufour Editions, Inc.; misleading them. Chester Springs, PA), 2000. 160 pp., photo- Kevin Dwyer's wizardry with his camera graphs, maps, index. US $39.95, cloth; ISBN is evident from the front of this book to the 1-898256-91-8. back. It is a splendid collection of pictures that travel through the history, splendour and Ireland – The Inner Island is a coffee contrast of Ireland's inland water system. As a table book which takes the reader on an aerial simple coffee table book depicting the beauty journey sequentially through the inland and serenity of Ireland, it is a must. As a guide waterways of Ireland. It is intended to expose to would-be travellers of the inland water you to the beauty and tranquillity of Ireland, system, it is both provocative and enlightening. as well as give some insight about life on On both counts the book is a success. the inland water system. The book is a pictorial collection of aerial R. McDonald photographs with a chapter dedicated to each Watchfield, UK