A Sailor's Story.Robert Holden Robert Holden is a British landscape architect born in Preston and educated at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. Later a director of Brian Clouston and Partners, and director of the MA Landscape Architecture programme at the University of Greenwich. is an author who cannot resist a good yarn and his latest book The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, certainly falls into that category. It is an extremely entertaining book which weaves fact and fiction. However, from an historical point of view there is certainly more fact than fiction. Holden has been meticulous in his research and has filled out the lacunae in Chamberlain's life convincingly and without self-consciousness. The book tells the remarkable story of the life of William Chamberlain William Chamberlain is the name of several notable individuals including:
n. Slang One who carries or sets explosives. Noun 1. powder monkey - someone who carries explosives (as from the magazine to the guns on board a warship) , was re-united with his family in Sydney and went on in later life to become a captain of a whaling ship. Robert Holden paints a vibrant picture of life in the 19th century, in colonial Australia, in the Royal Navy and aboard the whaling ships of the time. Essentially the book is divided into three distinct sections, each dealing in detail with the different aspects of Chamberlain's life. The first part of the book starts with an amazing interview with Chamberlain aged 12, in 1816 before the Navy Board in Portsmouth. He was asked where he was born and the answer was Port Jackson Port Jackson or Sydney Harbour, inlet of the Pacific Ocean, 22 sq mi (57 sq km), 12 mi (19 km) long and 1.5 mi (2.4 km) wide at its mouth, New South Wales, Australia, forming Australia's finest harbor. The Parramatta River forms its western arm. , New South Wales New South Wales, state (1991 pop. 5,164,549), 309,443 sq mi (801,457 sq km), SE Australia. It is bounded on the E by the Pacific Ocean. Sydney is the capital. The other principal urban centers are Newcastle, Wagga Wagga, Lismore, Wollongong, and Broken Hill. , and he then goes on to outline how he arrived there and some of the incredible adventures he had along the way. The language in the early part of the first section is the language of the early 19th century and I was pleased that this was not continued for the whole book. Nevertheless it does set the scene and allows the reader to become immersed in the atmosphere of the period. Holden's coverage of life on whaling ships is particularly evocative and he has captured the horror of this vile trade in a compelling fashion--all that is missing the stench of boiling whale oil and rotting whale flesh. I particularly enjoyed the section which retells the story of the Essex, a whaling ship apparently sunk by a whale and the inspiration for Hermann Melville's masterpiece Moby Dick. The book succeeds as great history because it is factual, well researched and because it is, at the end of the day, a ripping yarn! Detailed notes and sources for each chapter are provided. Alan Ventress Associate Director, City State Records Authority of NSW NSW New South Wales Noun 1. NSW - the agency that provides units to conduct unconventional and counter-guerilla warfare Naval Special Warfare HOLDEN, Robert The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea Sydney, Harper Collins, 2003 $29.95 ISBN ISBN abbr. International Standard Book Number ISBN International Standard Book Number ISBN n abbr (= International Standard Book Number) → ISBN m 0 7322 7557 1 |
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