""Lifeboat" is a fascinating and meticulously researched work to be
enjoyed by seafarers and history buffs alike." -- Linda Greenlaw,
author of "The Lobster Chronicles" and T "he Hungry Ocean "
"Stilgoe has written a book that examines situations of such
fear, despair, physical danger, and mental torment as most healthy
minds cannot imagine. In so doing he shows us our reflection in a
cruel sea; the image seldom flatters." -- "International Journal of
Maritime History "
" "Lifeboat" is a majestic, prodigious, mighty book." -- John
Casey, National Book Award--winning author of "Spartina "
"The author takes his readers (whether couch-anchored or ready
to strain at the oar) on a magnificent voyage of discovery....
Stilgoe presents a virtual encyclopedia of incidents and actors
skillfully integrated into the hows, whys, and responsibilities of
disaster, rescue, or loss. Stirring tales crowd the pages; writers
from Conrad, R. L. Stevenson, Nordhoff and Hall, Tomlinson, and
Villiers through to the moderns are appositely quoted, while
Stilgoe's deft introduction of forgotten classics -- some feeding
the morbid reader's taste for cannibalism (passengers are eaten
first) -- is of lasting value. Previously neglected historical and
geographical information abounds; arcana such as U-boat etiquette
for ship-sinking and survivor-treatment are also presented." --
"ForeWord "
"John Stilgoe has taken one of his passions and transformed it
into a solid piece of scholarship that is bound to enlighten and
engage readers.... Through his copious references and brief
tellings of many stories, [he] has not only whetted our appetites
but has also given us the information we need to satisfy
thoseappetites." -- J. Revell Carr, "WoodenBoat Review "
Woven through "Lifeboat" are good old-fashioned yarns, thrilling
tales of adventure that will quicken the pulse of readers who have
enjoyed the novels of Patrick O'Brian, "Crabwalk" by Gnter Grass,
or works of nonfiction such as "The Perfect Storm" and "In the
Heart of the Sea." But Stilgoe, whose other works have plumbed
suburban culture, locomotives, and the shore, is ultimately after
bigger fish. Through the humble, much-ignored lifeboat, its design
and navigation and the stories of its ultimate purpose, he has
found a peculiar lens on roughly the past two centuries of human
history, particularly the war-tossed, technology-driven history of
man and the sea.
John R. Stilgoe, Robert and Lois Orchard Professor in the
History of Landscape at Harvard University, is the author of
numerous books, including "Outside Lies Magic, "Alongshore," and
"Landscapes and Images" (Virginia). He lives on the coast of
"Massachusetts, where he sails a ship's lifeboat from Newfoundland,
built in 1935.
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