- or South to the Blind Horn's Hate. Thus spake Kipling of Cape Horn, the most notorious navigational landmark of all time. (Rud continues: "/Or East all the way into Mississippi Bay/Or West to the Golden Gate.")

This is a splendid history of a famous place; a perfect set-off to "Latitude Zero: Tales of the Equator." Hough takes us on a historic tour of Tierra Del Fuego and Cape Horn, from Magellan through Drake to Anson and forward to the nineteenth-century cowboys who conquered the island (and whose conquest and diseases tragically killed the indigenous peoples). Hough is particularly interesting in describing the wholly different mindsets of Magellan, the Catholic, and Drake, the Protestant, as they battle the elements. Magellan saw adversity as a divine test; Drake blamed the devil. There are centuries worth of stories of shipwreck and discovery in this corner of the world, retold (and illustrated) spectacularly well.

This book was great. I learned so much that I thought my head would explode. The Yellow kid is funny and I really enjoyed being able to see what the actual drawings looked like. I give it 5 stars.

The book descriprion on this page is good and I enjoyed this edition of the book with the help of the glossary provided in this edition which contains definitions of sailing terms and and few archaic usages that are in this book. It made it much more enjoyable and understandable.

I liked the grueling portarit of life at sea, reading some first written observations of early California, a fine and admiring description of a very able-bodied seaman that Dana encountered and many other points.

I think to that this challenging adventure for Mr. Dana restulted in restored vision for his failing eyes after he removed himself from life perhaps largely behind a desk. Could the neccessity of challenge and needed to see have contributed?

There are many facets and admirable points in this book. I think you would enjoy it.

Why should you read this book? Yes, it is a classic. Yes, it documents the wonderful, adventurous time of the clipper ship. But that's not why you should read it.

Richard Henry Dana must have been a most extraordinary man. While attending Harvard as a young man, his eyesight became weak and his health declined. He decided that the austere prescription of salt air and plain hard work would be the cure. Not many would give up comfort and privelege, but for two years, Dana served as a common sailor, given no special treatment as the gentleman he was, and lived in the forecastle of the Alert, eating the mess of salt beef and common hardtack, risking his life and serving under a captain crueler than most.

Dana was able to write in such a way as to re-create the life on board a sailing ship, down to the smallest details and that's what makes this book so real and touching. You can feel the cold of Tierra del Fuego, taste the salt beef, and feel the wind and damp. What's more amazing is that Dana's carefully-kept journal was lost along with his other mementos of his voyage when he landed back on shore in Boston, due to some tragic carelessness of someone he entrusted with his chest of belongings. Yet he was able to recreate his voyage in loving detail and in some very excellent writing.

Dana's later life as a lawyer was far from happy, though he made some critical contributions to maritime law. He died a poor and disappointed man, but left us the richer with his book. I just re-read it again for the tenth time, and it is fresher than ever. Read it along side of Moby Dick. It's American literature and American history and culture at its very best.

I'm a Californian who has seen the entire coast described by Dana. He has painted a remarkably true picture of that coast still recognizable. Jackson was president when Dana sailed in 1833. It was also the age of the Mountain Men some of whom were seen in CA while Dana was there. In San Diego Dana met professor Nuttal who taught at Cambridge and was known to Dana. Nuttal crossed the continent the hard way, as a naturalist, then made his way to CA, and eventually returned on the same ship with Dana to Boston. Both Dana and Nuttal, and their respective pursuits, were precursors to Manifest Destiny. Their trips also were descriptive of the times. Two years after his leaving Boston, Dana returned as an accepted 'foc'sle' sailor, a man cured of whatever ailed him when he left home. His exploits are remarkable for their daring. He never shirked his duty as a shipmate. His is a remarkable tale which could only have been told by one of his character. If read in conjunction with the landed history of the time, 'Across the Wide Missouri,' by DeVoto, it becomes a historical masterpiece significant for its truth, sadness, and moments of supreme beauty of expression.

While I doubt that many Custerphiles and Little Big Horn enthusiasts will agree with me, this book may well be the definitive work on the Battle of the Little Big Horn. It starts with a summary of the results of Fox's 1984 archaeological investigations conducted at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. After reviewing his methodology, Fox examines standard U.S. Cavalry tactics of the Plains Indian War period. Using tactical doctrine as the framework for his discussion, Fox examines the archaeological evidence discovered at the battlefield to arrive at some very startling and novel conclusions about the development of George Armstrong Custer's last battle. The evidence Fox musters is impressive, and his reasoning so cogent and persuasive, that it is clear that any writer attempting to explain the course of the Battle of the Little Big Horn ignores this work at his/her peril.

As a cultural anthropologist with emphasis on plains indian tribes and history and a frequent visitor to the Little Big Horn Battlefield Monument, I have read Mr. Fox's book a number of times and have gone over the ground with it in hand. I have also read many of the other accounts, both contemporary and historical to attempt an understanding of what occurred at the Little Big Horn. Fox's precise, analytical and well-reasoned account, taking into consideration the physical evidence at the site, seems irrefutable. Contrary to one reviewer, I found no evidence of "rambling" at all, but a thorough analysis of all aspects of the battle from archeological evidence, oral and written histories to US Army Calvary tacitcs in use at the time, that support Fox's thesis, which is different and original from all that have preceeded it. Congratulations to Mr. Fox for a model of historical, archeological and anthropological research. I believe he has indeed broken new ground in the field. If you have any interest at all in the plains tribes, Custer or western history you owe it to yourself to read this fine book.

After reading this book I only wish that I had read it before I visited the LBH this past September. Dr. Fox provides great detail to properly explain how the excavations and laboratory findings were done and in explaining what they mean. This detail is neccessary to understand Dr. Fox's explanation of what he thinks ocurred at Custer's battleridge. After reading the evidence first, then his well researched literary quotes, his conclusions on the Custer portion of the battle are very believable and fit well with the Indian oral histories. I found it very revealing and immensely stimulating. The early chapters may seem slow to someone who does not appreciate archaelogy but it picks up speed as Fox moves to his conclusion which is virtually a climax of the battle. I have reread several sections and it's a mainstay in my Custer library.