Publisher's Weekly Review
For dramatic tension and tragic heroism, few tales of the high seas can match the mutiny on the Bounty. Novelists and screenwriters have kept busy for two centuries imagining and reimagining the fateful showdown-between William Bligh, the tyrannical captain, and Fletcher Christian, his long-suffering lieutenant-that occurred in 1789 in the middle of the South Pacific. In this engrossing cultural biography, Salmond (Aphrodite's Island: The European Discovery of Tahiti) agrees with the scholarly consensus that Bligh has been badly misrepresented in popular culture. A passionate man subject to what fellow sailor George Tobin called "violent tornados of temper," he was nobody's ideal of an enlightened executive, but neither was he worse than the average sea captain of his day. Fletcher Christian-far from the tortured victim portrayed by Clark Gable or Marlon Brando-appears here as a petty schemer who preferred whiling his time away on Tahitian beaches to obeying the harsh discipline of the British navy. A professor of Maori Studies in New Zealand, Salmond's real concern, however, is not to retrace these familiar narratives but to "illuminate the Island world" of Tahitian politics and culture that had previously served merely as an exotic backdrop to the main story. "This is an episode in the history of the world, not simply the history of the West;" she writes, "and the Pacific protagonists were as real as their British counterparts, helping to shape what happened." Maps and illus. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Choice Review
Had a mutiny not occurred on board his ship, the story of William Bligh would be but the tale of another successful late-18th-century voyage in pursuit of science and empire in the Pacific under the British flag. Dozens of books and several Hollywood films have provided various views of Bligh. As the present work shows, he was less a tyrant than a sharp and foul-mouthed commander, insulting to those whom he perceived as not fulfilling their duty. Fletcher Christian, often portrayed as the aggrieved opposite, does not feature in this work. Anthropologist Salmond (Univ. of New Zealand) attempts to show the native side of cross-cultural encounters, and does not deliver as much as is promised. Familiarity with naval matters and the demands of sailing across vast distances fall short of excellence in maritime history. Sidelights are given on Captain Edwards of the Pandora, a ship sent to hunt down the mutineers at great cost, and on Captain George Vancouver of the Discovery, at Tahiti about the same time. Seeing the hardheaded Bligh from the outside, as is generally the case, has been softened by the use of correspondence with his wife. The enduring fascination is likely to continue. Summing Up: Recommended. Most levels/libraries. B. M. Gough emeritus, Wilfrid Laurier University
Library Journal Review
Salmond (Distinguished Professor of Maori Studies & Anthropology, Univ. of Auckland, New Zealand; The Trial of the Cannibal Dog: Captain Cook in the South Seas) has crafted a rich and riveting biography of the British explorer of the South Pacific best known for surviving the 1789 mutiny on his ship Bounty by skillfully navigating a small open boat across 3000 miles of Pacific Ocean to Timor, in present-day Indonesia, then the nearest outpost of European civilization. Salmond provides balanced coverage of the major episodes of Bligh's life, focusing especially on his three South Pacific voyages. She thoroughly describes his interactions with native islanders, particularly the people of Tahiti. Drawing on Bligh's own writings as well as other contemporary primary sources, she provides fascinating ethnographic details of Tahitian cultures when contact with Europeans was just beginning to transform the Tahitian way of life. She seeks to reconstruct Bligh's interest in and attitudes toward the Tahitian people and to understand how the Tahitians viewed late 18th-century British sailors. VERDICT Salmond has successfully brought to life the complex personality of William Bligh and his world. Highly recommended for readers in British naval history, voyages of exploration and discovery, and Western encounters with Polynesian cultures.-Elizabeth Salt, Otterbein Coll. Lib., Westerville, OH (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
