If my husband asked me to go to sea hunting whales for a few years, I’d start looking for a good divorce lawyer. Yet, that’s exactly what Captain Thomas Williams asked of his pregnant wife, Eliza. Shockingly, she complied!
Marc Songini’s book is a view into a world we can’t even imagine. Captain Williams and Eliza spent a few years chasing whales across the globe’s oceans. She boarded the ship pregnant, and disembarked a few years later with two children! What’s even more shocking is that the arrangement wasn’t all that unusual. Apparently, it was common for a captain’s wife to join him at sea.
The reader experiences the voyage from no particular perspective—you’ll hear a number of voices. Learning about the grueling and gruesome business of whaling should be eye opening. It was a cruel and dangerous business. Songini doesn’t mince words to protect the reader from reality. Some of it isn’t easy to read, but it is compelling.
Captain Williams masterfully escapes capture by the Confederate ship, Alabama. Songini shares stories of lost ships, crews, and the local inhabitants they meet while the Florida sails around the globe. Ultimately, the story exposes the demise of a once-important industry. Over-hunting decimated the whale population.
What makes the book so gripping is that it’s all real—brutally and fatefully real. History buffs will love this book. Anyone researching the era will definitely want to include Songini’s The Lost Fleet.
The above review was contributed by: Susan Sales Harkins: Susan is a Software consultant and the author of several articles and books on database technologies. She and her husband, William, collaborate on children's non-fiction. Click Here to read more of Susan’s Reviews.
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