In this, the second installment of the Bounty trilogy, the jettisoned crew of Captain Bligh's 23 foot launch travels 3600 miles from the island of Tofoa to the Dutch colony of Timor. This novel is based on a true story of Captain Bligh's miracle, whereby he saved the lives of 18 of the 19 men who were marooned with him on the little launch to fend for themselves in the vastness of the South Pacific.Honestly, I enjoyed the "Mutiny on the Bounty" better, but "Mutiny" had it all - adventure, the interaction of cultures, and the legal drama of the mutiny trial. In contrast, "Men against the Sea" is a grinding tale of hardship. The men on this little launch suffered through days of privations, barely enough food to survive, storms, cold, heat, murderous natives and their own arguements and struggles. The Captain Bligh character did a 180 degree turn in this novel. No longer the petty, tyrannical and thieving officer that he was in "Mutiny", in "Men" he is a selfless, courageous and inspirational leader. There were just enough references in "Men" to the mutiny to remind the reader of Bligh's shortcoming, but other than that, you would not know that this is the same man. It is quite interesting.Although "Men against the Sea" is not as good as "Mutiny on the Bounty", it is a riveting story of survival at sea. I would recommend it to anyone, particularly to anyone who loves a good sea story, and anyone who enjoyed the "Mutiny on the Bounty".
Men Against the Sea is a nice piece of historical fiction, set in 1789, based on the nautical log and personal writings of Captain Bligh chronicling the 3,652 mile voyage 19 men jammed into a 23 foot row-boat. These guys were on the losing side of the whole mutiny on the Bounty thing. I liked Nordhoff and Hall's exhaustive research which produced a book that was both entertaining to read and as factual as possible. After weeks of eating nothing but bread and water these guy's hit the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of New Holland (Australia) and go crazy eating clam stew and oysters on the half shell. After reading all of the sufferings of exposure, hunger, having to continuously bail water from the row-boat, and getting chased by hostile South Sea islanders, I was glad that these guys finally got to rest on a beautiful beach and eat some delicious food.
