For those that read and enjoy sailing adventure novels such as C. S. Forester’s Horatio Hornblower series or Patrick O’Brian’s Jack Aubrey series, TALES OF THE SEVEN SEAS will add a great deal of real life detail that such adventures necessarily omit. Rough men, working under almost impossible conditions accomplishing amazing goals all driven by the personality and skill of the real life Captain, Dynamite Johnny O’Brien. And the reader is there with them, feeling and seeing what conditions were like in the old sailing ship days as ocean commerce transitioned into steam.
Very good detail on what life was like in that era not only aboard ship but also a look at conditions faced by the men taking part in the gold rush to Alaska. Captain Dynamite Johnny came into close contact with a number of well known names of the time and apparently influenced them in powerful ways. His acquaintance with Jack London, for example, with his tales of his First Mate Wolf O’Malley were apparently used later by London in his story Wolf of the Sea.
I came across several technical errors concerning the handling of the sails but they are of minor import. However I cannot gloss over the statement that a chronograph was “an accurate clock used to determine direction.” A chronograph is indeed an accurate clock but its use is far more important; it is used to determine Longitude.
TALES OF THE SEVEN SEAS belongs in the permanent library of anyone interested in the old sailing ships and the men who sailed them. It ranks along with Last of the Cape Horners, First hand accounts of commercial tall ships, edited by Spenser Apollonio; The Bounty; true story of Mutiny on the Bounty by Caroline Alexander and In the Heart of the Sea Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick. I know I will enjoy frequently dipping into Dennis Powers’ delightful book.
Very good detail on what life was like in that era not only aboard ship but also a look at conditions faced by the men taking part in the gold rush to Alaska. Captain Dynamite Johnny came into close contact with a number of well known names of the time and apparently influenced them in powerful ways. His acquaintance with Jack London, for example, with his tales of his First Mate Wolf O’Malley were apparently used later by London in his story Wolf of the Sea.
I came across several technical errors concerning the handling of the sails but they are of minor import. However I cannot gloss over the statement that a chronograph was “an accurate clock used to determine direction.” A chronograph is indeed an accurate clock but its use is far more important; it is used to determine Longitude.
TALES OF THE SEVEN SEAS belongs in the permanent library of anyone interested in the old sailing ships and the men who sailed them. It ranks along with Last of the Cape Horners, First hand accounts of commercial tall ships, edited by Spenser Apollonio; The Bounty; true story of Mutiny on the Bounty by Caroline Alexander and In the Heart of the Sea Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick. I know I will enjoy frequently dipping into Dennis Powers’ delightful book.
