- 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 is an entertaining if odd little book and is much overated. I had two problems with it: 1) There are no footnotes but all sorts of two-hundred year old dialogue provided. The author has verbatim discussions taking place on the remote island that certainly could not have been recorded (but how would we know since none of it is footnoted?). Mostly, the author made it up it seems and the device shadows the credibility of the whole book. 2) And if I was not incredulous enough over the history-as-soap opera style, the author saves his blockbuster thesis for the last chapter. He agues that the crusty Captain Bligh and Spencer Christian were really gay lovers and this explains the combustibility and passions that came into play. Bligh according to this view was jealous of Christian's love affair with the Tahitian girl he later fathered three children with. The author offers not one shred of evidence for this, not one shred, and says as much in the final pages of the book. This book has an amateurish feel, written by an author who got away for too long with writing pseudo-histories. This book is not without redeeming qualities; it certainly is interesting and a good read. The 1984 movie The Bounty was based on this account, though the movie, mercifully, skipped over some of Robert Blough's more nutty conclusions.

I can't remember exactly where I came across my copy of this book...I think my parents unearthed it in thier attic one afternoon and gave it to me, the family's avid reader. I took it with me to St. Croix as a means to pass the time, and there sitting in a hammock on a beach not unlike the ones described in the book I began my adventure.
"Mutiny on the Bounty" chronicles the story of the HMS Bounty under Lt. Bligh, a thoroughly tyrannical leader if ever there was one. Shortly after thier departure from Tahiti (to get breadfruit trees for the slave colonies of the West Indies), the mutiny takes place and Bligh and a dozen other loyal crew members are put into the Bounty's open launch and set adrift. The remaining pages are dedicated to those left behind on the Bounty, both mutineer and loyalists.
"Men Against the Sea" tells the story of Bligh and the other loyal crewmembers who were stranded with him in the launch, and of thier gripping journey back to civilized land, covering some 3600 miles according to the book.
"Pitcairn's Island" continues the saga by finishing the stories of Fletcher Christian and his small band of remaining mutineers trip to the deserted island of the same name. There they set up a safe haven to hide in, until the Tahitian men rebel...
I read this book, unable to put it down. All three of the stories are amazingly gripping and this book is a true page-turner in every respect. Maybe being on a tropical island added something to it, I may never know, but I would certainly recommend this to anyone who just wants a really good story!

The subject matter is engrossing and will leave you wanting for more when it's all done. I'm a sometime visitor to Pitcairn Island's website, check there to see how the decendants of the original crewmembers are doing :)

The Bounty mutiny is perhaps the most fascinating and stirring sea adventure in world history, even more so than the TITANIC. Hough's book is an excellent reexamination of the story and of the complex relationship between William Bligh and Fletcher Christian. While I don't agree with Hough's conclusions as to what was really at the heart of the mutiny (I won't spoil it for you by revealing that here) the relationship was combustible and was at the heart of the mutiny.

The Bounty crew were for the most part hand-picked and young. Christian was only in his early 20s, Bligh was in his early 30s and only a very few of the crew were in their late 30s or early 40s. Despite the popular image of the story, Bligh was actually pretty lenient with his crew when it came to punishment and he made it all the way to Tahiti losing only a single man. During his epic open boat voyage after the mutiny, he made it to Coupang having lost only one man en route, although many of the survivors died within weeks of their rescue. Bligh was a complainer, a nagger and had a viciously sharp tongue though which was more than the youthful Christian could bear.

Far from the heroic image that Christian is given in the movies, Hough shows that Christian was impulsive and not much of a leader. While Bligh, sharp tongue and all, was able to save nearly all of the men who were kicked off the ship with him, Christian and his men met with disaster at almost every turn, primarily because Christian was a failure as a leader. The mutineers' disastrous attempt to settle on Pitcairn Island is perhaps the most gripping and fascinating part of the story.

Hough's book is excellent and the Mel Gibson/Anthony Hopkins movie "The Bounty" was based on it and is by far the most authentic and best of the Bounty movies.

This well researched tale of exploration and discovery is one of the best biographies I've ever read. The achievements of Captain Cook and his crewmen are incredible. In the age of "survivor" TV this story resonates with true courage and ingenuity. The range of Cook's travels from the South Pacific to the coast of Alaska and the varying conditions that were encountered make for an emjoyable read. Highest recommendation. A book to be read and reread.

This is a fine biography of a fascinating man. And, judging from a search of Amazon.com, there don't appear to be too many biographies about James Cook in print. Mr. Hough's book is much easier to read than Beaglehole's; and it is a good introduction to start with before tackling Cook's Journals.

One thing that caught my attention was how radically different Captain Cook behaved on his third and final voyage. On the earlier voyages, he acted much more decisively, and showed remarkable concern for his men. They in turn developed great affection and respect for their leader.

On that last fateful voyage, Cook acted very much out of character. He was short-tempered, even cruel. He made hasty or stupid decisions and took foolish risks. At more than one point the crew was close to mutiny.

Hough explains that perhaps Cook was suffering from a parasitic infection or other physical and mental afflictions. This might explain his unusual behavior. It also occured to me that perhaps the good captain was simply "burned out" (to use a modern phrase). After having completed two round-the-world trips of 2-plus years each, the last thing this man needed was another long voyage. Even his superiors in the Admiralty knew he needed and deserved a rest. Cook himself must have known that too. Yet, his sense of duty impelled him to volunteer for one more mission. The Admirals should never have permitted it. Certainly not so soon after Cook's return from Voyage Two.

This is a good book. I have long admired James Cook; now after reading Hough's work, I list the captain among my heroes.

One final note: another reviewer asks why Cook was "always returning to Tahiti." Perhaps I missed something, but I only counted three visits by Cook to that island. Once to observe an astronomical event (the official reason for his First Voyage); later (on his Second Voyage) because his ship was in need of repairs and supplies; and then on the Third Voyage to return a Tahitian they had taken to England on the previous trip --- and this was the official reason for the Third Voyage.

On second thought, could anyone fault Cook for frequenting the beautiful Polynesian islands? Perhaps a few months on the beach --- but away from his work! --- would have saved the man's life!

I was prompted to read this book after finishing Longitude which alludes to the progress Captain Cook made in a seamans health at sea. What I found was a man who rose to the top of his trade by applying himself and following his curiousity. He not only changed the way men lived while at sea, he travelled the globe in search of new and exciting places. While it's true he wasn't a great discoverer, the length and success of his trips speak for his talent and drive. Imagine spending upwards of 3 - 4 years at sea seperated from you home, family and friends and doing it on a vessel 100 feet long with a crew of 100! It's unheard of today and speaks of the fortitude adventures, such as Captain Cook, possessed. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in setting sail on the open seas from the comfort of your chair, you won't be disappointed!

This book was first published in 1964 and unless it has been updated, it is very inaccurate and misleading. Mr. Hough divides the categories of battleships into three generations of dreadnoughts, first (Dreadnought, herself), second (Queen Elizabeth class, and third, the German pocket battleships onwards. This in itself is not misleading but he depends on old volumes of Janes Fighting Ships for individual class data and the line drawings found at the end of the book. Janes Fighting Ships was known to include data provided by different Navy Admiralties and this information was often deliberately inaccurate. Hough credits the Italian Littorio class with a speed of 35 knots when their sea speed was actually about 28 knots. The appendix with line drawings in the back credits the American Iowa class with 19 inch belt armor when they actually had inclined plates of 12.2 inches. Hough pursues the history of the dreadnought battleship from the building of HMS Dreadnought in 1906, to the British/German naval arms race prior to WWI, the events of WWI, the postwar naval building competition leading to the Washington Naval Conference of 1922 and the resulting modifications to existing ships as new construction was prohibited. He then proceeds to begin discussion of the last types of fast battleships, including the French Dunkerque, Richelieu, the British King George V, the US North Carolina and South Dakota, the Italian Littorio and German Bismarck. Finally, he describes the US Iowa class and the Japanese Yamato class. He states that there was no record of the Yamato ever having fired a full broadside due to concussive effects. Where he got that information I will never know. Yamato could and did fire full nine gun broadsides with no structural problems. In sum, this book is good for a high school student but the errors contained make it more than useless for the serious naval historian or warship enthusiast.

Hough's book was one of the earliest books on the subject and does contain some erroneous information. However, as a former Navy Commander who served on a DDG, I can tell you that the thrust of his analysis, the division of BBs into three generations, works quite well. The book is well-written, intelligent, and is a quick and good read. It is NOT a substitute for the increasingly detailed design studies that now abound. It is a good introduction or overview to a fascinating subject.

Bad reviews by self-appointed experts should be taken with a grain of salt. This book is for the intelligent reader, not folks who want to know how many 14" shells the KGVII class carried for each gun (the answer is: 100, or so they say!)