March 2010
To continue our monthly series of book lists, the Washington Talking Book & Braille Library would like to recommend the following about ships and sailors.
March 2010 – Ships and sailors: books about the briny deep
Sea of Glory: America's Voyage of Discovery; The U.S. Exploring Expedition of 1838 – 1842 by Nathaniel Philbrick
U.S. History. Using diaries kept onboard, the author uncovers the saga of the 1838 expedition to the Pacific Ocean led by Lt. Charles Wilkes. Exploring the entire Pacific Ocean, including the Columbia River and Puget Sound, 6 ships and hundreds of sailors embarked on what would turn out to be a journey of adventure, discovery and controversy. Includes extensive bibliography. 2003 Large Print Book LP 20279 Cassette Book RC 58902.
Arctic Drift by Clive Cussler
Boaters mysteriously die in British Columbia, an explosion targets a scientist with a global-warming remedy, and U.S.-Canadian tensions rise. National Underwater and Marine Agency's Dirk Pitt and his offspring link the incidents to a long-ago arctic expedition and a present-day plot to exacerbate America's energy crisis. Some violence. Bestseller. 2008. Large Print Book LP 24311 Cassette Book RC 68120 Digital Book DB 68120.
The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea by Sebastian Junger
Recounts the 1991 loss at sea of the New England fishing boat “Andrea Gail” in the “perfect storm” that resulted from the explosive convergence of several high-energy weather fronts. Depicts a fisherman’s harsh life and gives a likely account of the vessel’s final hours before sinking. Vividly portrays failed rescue efforts and people drowning. Bestseller. 1997. Large Print Book LP 13782 Cassette Book RC 44751.
1421: The Year China Discovered America by Gavin Menzies
Former British submariner and amateur historian theorizes that the Chinese under the third Ming emperor Zhu Di explored Antarctica, Australia, and the Americas decades before the Europeans. Speculates that the emperor's eunuch admirals circumnavigated the globe between 1421 and 1423. 2002. Cassette Book RC 55526.
Master and Commander: #1, Captain Aubrey Series by Patrick O’Brian
Historical sea tale chronicles the adventures of Jack Aubrey of the Royal Navy, Master and Commander of the brig “Sophie”, as he and his crew battle the French and Spanish in the Mediterranean during the Napoleonic Wars. 1970. Large Print Book LP 16123 Cassette Book RC 33485.
Flying Cloud: The True Story of America's Most Famous Clipper Ship and the Woman Who Guided Her by David Shaw
Account of the clipper ship's 1851 maiden voyage from New York to San Francisco. Describes how the navigator, captain's wife Eleanor Creesy, managed the crew and safely plotted the vessel's course around Cape Horn. Observes that the Flying Cloud made the sixteen-thousand-mile trip in a record eighty-nine days and twenty-one hours. 2000. Cassette Book RC 58595.
The Sea Runners by Ivan Doig
In 1853, four men escape from Russian Alaska and make their way by canoe down the Pacific Northwest coast in an exciting adventure that pits its characters against the sea and each other. A chronicle of physical and spiritual endurance. Some strong language. 1982. Cassette Book CBA 7550.
The Two-Ocean War: A Short History of the United States Navy in the Second World War by Samuel Eliot Morison
Describes the major sea battles and campaigns of World War II, beginning with the unexpected attack on Pearl Harbor and the subsequent struggle in the Pacific. Traces naval operations in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, including U-boat attacks on the eastern seaboard of the United States. 1963. Cassette Book RC 52841.