Jack Lagan | Book Reviews

Compass: A Story of Exploration and Innovation by Alan Gurney W W Norton & Co, 2004 top^	Compasses are such a commonplace object that we tend to overlook their place in history and Alan Gurney puts this right. I like informative books that entertain and this is one of them. The very opening line of Compass grabbed my attention: 'The cry of "Breakers ahead!" was the first warning that the navigating officers had made a dreadful mistake in their dead reckoning, or, in the mordant Spanish equivalent, their navegación de fantasia.' Ever since then, I've called 'dead reckoning' by the much more appropriate name of 'fantasy navigation'. Highly recommended.
Mercator: The Man Who Mapped the Planet by Nicholas Crane Weidenfeld & Nicholson top^	The thinking seafarer's Jean-Claude van Damme. (Mercator was Belgian too.) The first thing one learns from this excellent book is that Mercator was a partnership; he drew the maps and Jodocus Hondius handled the publishing side of things. Neither ended his life a pauper. The author is a geographer, which explains the brilliant research, but does not explain the imaginative depiction of Mercator's remarkable achievement in developing his essential projection amidst the Balkanisation of 16^th C Europe and a session in the hands of the Inquisition. (Sorry, geographers.)
Sailing Alone Around the World by Captain Joshua Slocum Seafarer Books: 0911378 20 0 top^	'Boys who do not like this book ought to be drowned at once,' according to Arthur Ransome. This well-written account of Slocum's 1896 single-handed circumnavigation meets my preference for books about cruising; no more than you need to know about the sailing, but lots about his remarkable adventures during the stop-overs. It is also surprisingly funny and unsurprisingly politically-incorrect.
Under the Sea Wind by Rachel Carson top^	The thinking yachtsman’s Britney Spears. Most famed for Silent Spring, Rachel Carson’s books about the sea are The Sea Around Us, Under the Sea Wind and The Edge of the Sea. All are still in print, including many translations. No seafarer’s library can be complete without the books of this remarkable writer (especially Under the Sea Wind and The Edge of the Sea).
The Custom of the Sea by Neil Hanson Corgi Books: 0 552 14760 5 top^	Shipwrecked and afloat in the lifeboat? Out of food? The solution? Eat the cabin boy. Then eat the deckhand. It was called 'The Custom of the Sea', hence the title of Neil Hanson's superbly-researched book. The story centres on the case of the racing yacht Mignonette (which sank while being delivered from the UK to Australia) but also includes a fund of other fascinating material about 19^th century seafaring.
Survive the Savage Sea by Dougal Robertson Adlard Coles Nautical Paperback - June 1995 top^	A rattling good account of the experiences of the Robertson family after their 43ft schooner Lucette was struck by a killer dolphin (orca) and sank in 60 seconds. This happened in June 1972 and Dougal Robertson’s story of how he, his wife Lyn, elder son Douglas, twin sons Neil and Sandy and an American student called Robin survived for 38 days in the Pacific is still the best text book available on survival at sea. Turtles saved the day and the Robertsons did not have to resort to the Custom of the Sea -- which was fortunate for the American student.
The Cruise of the Snark by Jack London Seafarer Books: 095381 800 4 top^	We have Jack London's ketch Snark to thank for a good deal of his wonderful fiction. Cost over-runs during building caused him to be 'fiscally challenged' and he had to start hammering out magazine articles and short stories to remedy the situation. Which was fortunate because the yacht was completed, the cruise took place and this entertaining book was the result.
Schooner Integrity by Frank Mulville Seafarer Books (UK) and Sheridan House (US): 085036 425 6 top^	The Integrity was a traditional American schooner, designed and built by Waldo Howland in the 1960s. This book is the story of her unseemly fall from grace interwoven with Frank Mulville's courageous attempt to rescue her. What is not rescued is the reputation of many of those involved in the sad story. When the book was first published in 1979, it would have been better titled "The Loss of Integrity".
Cochrane: Britannia's Sea Wolf by Donald Thomas Cassell Military Paperbacks: 0 304 35659 X top^	When I was compiling this list, my first idea was to include a biography of Nelson. But Thomas, Lord Cochrane is a far more interesting chap. As well as being an outstanding naval commander in the Napoleonic Wars, he campaigned against corruption in the Admiralty, became a radical politician and was jailed after being framed in a Stock Exchange fraud. On his release he sailed off and liberated Brazil and Chile from colonial rule. You couldn't make it up! Not included in this book is the more recent experience of his great-great-great-grandson. This Cochrane is a Royal Navy commander who found himself and his ship acting as picket for a French aircraft carrier in the Adriatic during the blockade of Yugoslavia. The French Navy was so impressed they awarded him a medal, The Order of the Golden Escargot Third Class or something. Once the gong was securely pinned to his chest, Commander Cochrane raised his glass and told the assembled officers of his great-great-great-grandfathers exploits in blowing their ships out of the water a couple of hundred years earlier. You couldn't make that up, either.
The Unlikely Voyage of Jack de Crow by A J Mackinnon Seafarer Books (UK) and Sheridan House (US): 0 95381 805 5 top^	Unlikely indeed. Believe me when I tell you that this is a seriously funny book. All right, it doesn't have any awesome ocean voyages but it does have an 11ft yellow Mirror Dinghy, a pith helmet (yes, a Bengal Bowler!), and an author who rowed and sailed his way by canal and river across Europe from north-east England to the Black Sea. Even though he's Australian, Sandy Mackinnon comes straight out of the mould of Great English Eccentrics complete with a wonderful sense of humour and a backpack full of humanity. His writing rivals that of J K Jerome and P G Wodehouse and I'll be first in line to buy his next book.
If you'd like to read a review of a classic or recent book about the sea and seafaring, email me and tell me about it. I might give it a write-up -- but no promises.