The Wind Off The Island

The Wind Off The Island
By Ernle Bradford
Grafton Books, 1988

Comments:  Ernle Bradford is one of my favorite authors. He was a prolific writer, largely known for his studies in history, but a few of his books are more personal, dealing with his own experiences of sailing on the Mediterranean. This book is an account of a year he and his wife spent cruising near Sicily on a small Dutch cutter named Mother Goose.

The cruise took place in the 1950s, when life for most of the local island inhabitants was still very rustic, consisting of the traditional livelihoods they'd held for generations. Although there are certainly enough passages about sailing to please most nautical enthusiasts, the book is really more of a travel memoir, offering a quaint snapshot of a beautiful island country and its authentic people. And about Bradford's own quest to find a simpler and more independent life closer to the sea.

Copy Notes:  Paperback, later edition reprint of 1960 original

Sea Change

Sea Change
Alone Across the Atlantic in a Wooden Boat
by Peter Nicols
Viking, 1997

Comments:  The framework for this book is a true account of writer Peter Nichol's ill-fated crossing of the Atlantic on a small sailboat named Toad. However, the deeper story involves his reflections on the boat's connection to his marriage, and the factors that led to the demise of both. It's essentially an unhappy tale about dealing with loss told through the lens of a nautical experience. The book is certainly well written and many of the sailing passages are beautifully recounted, but the overall tone of the book is somber and sorrowful. It's not exactly an inspirational adventure, but one the author does ultimately survive and grow from.

Nicols is also the author of another sailing book that I enjoyed enormously, A Voyage for Madmen, an account of the first solo, non-stop circumnavigation of the world by sailboat in 1969.

Copy Notes:  Hardback, first edition

The Great Seige, Malta 1565

The Great Seige, Malta 1565
by Ernle Bradford
E-Reads edition, 2010
Originally published in 1961

Comments:  This is the story of one of the greatest military sieges in the history of warfare. In 1565 the Knights Hospitalier, one of the last remaining military orders in the Holy Roman Empire, were based on the island of Malta. For both political and strategic reasons Malta was important for the expansionist plans of the Ottoman Empire to control the Mediterranean. Consequently the Turks amassed a large army and naval armada to attack the island and seize control for the Sultan. The defenders consisted of a small cadre of knights backed by Maltese islanders, facing a Turkish force that outnumbered the them to an apparently decisive extent. For most concerned nations at the time the outcome was thought to be certain. But this story is one of those stunning examples of how a small group of highly trained, disciplined, and committed warriors overcame overwhelming odds to defeat a much larger foe and change the tide of history.

This is another fascinating historical account by Ernle Bradford, reinforcing his reputation not only as an adept historian, but as a master storyteller. Bradford spent much of his life living on the Mediterranean, including several years on Malta. He brings to the story an intimate knowledge of the island's terrain and the natural forces of the nautical landscape that surround it, effectively describing events as someone who understands the minutiae of those important variables, adding meaningful detail and interest to the story. With this book he delivers another well done tale that is well worth reading.

Copy Notes:  Includes bibliography, notes, and glossary

My foray into e-books

As much as I love physical books, it's fairly apparent that e-books will ultimately supplant their primacy for many types of publishing. Conventional books will undoubtedly still be produced far into the future, but they'll gradually become more marginalized as the mass market moves further toward electronic formats. This evolution is inevitable, as digital devices continue to integrate deeper into our lives with each generation. So it goes.

As a practical matter there certainly are some very appealing advantages to e-books. I've wanted to explore these for some time, so I recently decided to re-read a couple of familiar Vonnegut favorites as e-book editions. I purchased both from the iTunes bookstore, loaded them onto my iPhone and iPad, and then read them back-to-back, so to speak, over several days. By the time I was done I had become completely convinced of the utility of e-books and had begun planning my new e-book library.

Once I got past the tactile differences of the object itself, I found the reading experience to be very satisfactory, even for extended sessions. The interface options for visual customization and integrated reference tools were both welcome enhancements, but portability was the key benefit for me. The ability to have easy access to a book -- or a library -- on my iPhone with bookmarks that are automatically synchronized in the cloud for reading elsewhere on other devices is particularly useful. I rarely carry traditional books with me in public, but I always have my iPhone. Having a book I'm currently reading always in my pocket is very advantageous for extending its enjoyment. So much so that it has now become a priority for me when searching for new material.

The only downside I've experienced so far is on the supply side. While most new titles are available as e-books, there seems to be a dearth of older titles, even some of the more popular ones. Just as with music, I'm not only interested in buying new books, I want access to older ones as well. Apparently publishers have not rushed to embrace the mass conversion of backlists to digital the way the music industry did. The publishing industry is undoubtedly being cautious with their move into the digital market for financial reasons, but hopefully the momentum of consumer demand will soon open up more older titles. I'm a consumer, I have a credit card, and I'm waiting.

As I said at the outset, I love hardback books, and I'll always want to collect and read them for their own intrinsic value. But for reading efficiency and knowledge development e-books are an extraordinary new option well worth embracing. For my part, I now have an appreciation of both and you can certainly expect to find e-book titles covered here in the future.

Dorade

Dorade
The History of an Ocean Racing Yacht
by Douglas D. Adkins
David R. Godine, 2012

Comments:  When I first saw this book I was immediately drawn to its beautiful photography of historic sailboats. I didn't buy it at at first, mainly due to the price, but after encountering it a second time I gave in. Although I bought it primarily for the photography, I was quickly engaged by the story. As the name suggests, it's basically a history of the sailboat Dorade, a well-known and highly regarded racing yawl that was dominant in ocean racing during the 20th century.

For anyone interested in sailing, this is a fascinating history. Dorade is a 52-foot, Bermuda rigged yawl built at a City Island, New York boatyard in 1930, just after the Great Stock Market Crash of 1929. She had a revolutionary high-performance design and quickly became recognized internationally after achieving much competitive success. Early on she sailed in the top races on the East Coast of the U.S., transatlantic races, and prominent European races, consistently either winning or placing very favorably. In the 1930s she was sold to a new owner on the West Coast and began to race in the Pacific, again competing at the highest level and further securing her winning reputation. Subsequently, she went through a series of owners that took her to the Pacific Northwest for a few decades, then Italy for several years, and ultimately back to the U.S. in 2006, where she remains today.

The sport of sailboat racing has nowhere near the popular following today that it did early in the last century, so it's hard to imagine how famous Dorade was in her prime, but she was as well-known then as any superstar athlete of today. Beyond all her racing success and distinction, she's also a very sleek and beautiful boat to look at. Consequently, there's a remarkable amount of great photography of Dorade from throughout her career, and those images add much to her history. This is both a beautiful book to study and a wonderful story to read. Dorade has had a long and extraordinary life. Anyone who loves the feel of spray on their face would enjoy this book.

Dorade's Website

Copy Notes:  Hardback, first edition, photography and illustrations

The Swerve

The Swerve
How the World Became Modern
by Stephen Greenblatt
W.W. Norton, 2011

Comments:  I don't follow bestseller lists, preferring instead to rely on serendipity to find books that interest me, but occasionally I do take notice of a popular title. The Swerve has received a fair amount attention lately, most likely because of its somewhat provocative exploration of religious meaning. The book is about the early Renaissance rediscovery of a poem written around 100 BCE by the Roman poet Lucretius and the subsequent influence of that text on human knowledge.

The rather lengthy poem was found at a German monastery in 1417 by a humanist Italian scribe name Poggio Bracciolini who was specifically searching for written works from antiquity. Written in Latin and titled On the Nature of Things, the poem describes a scientific view of the world that is remarkably similar to our modern understanding of it, but also one that completely minimizes the role of any deity or religion in its unfolding. This was clearly considered dangerous and heretical in the Catholic-dominated culture where it re-emerged. Nonetheless, the rediscovery was important because it ultimately contributed greatly to the foundations of modern thinking. An impressive list of scientists, philosophers, artists, and statesmen are known to have studied Lucretius. His writing has clearly influenced some of the greatest minds since the Renaissance.

The story of the actual discovery is fascinating, but the real impact of the book -- and where it may unsettle some -- is the author's apparent objective embrace of a godless human existence. One chapter where the author outlines Lucretius' thesis point-by-point is particularly direct and powerful. Although modern society is generally more open to critical thinking about religion, the role of a deity in our lives is still a powerful belief that can arouse strong reactions to ideas as extreme as those of Lucretius. Beyond that, some readers will also be disturbed by the very unflattering light this book shines on the historical abuses of the Catholic church specifically. However, for anyone not afraid to explore their own spiritual beliefs and motivations, this book is a thought-provoking journey.

Copy Notes:  Hardback, later printing, color plates

The Prophet

The Prophet
by Kahlil Gibran
Alfred A. Knopf, 1977

Comments:  My copy of The Prophet is not a significant edition by any collecting standard, it being the 99th printing of a book that was first published in 1923. But I've had it for over three decades, since I was in college, and it has much significance for me. I find it to be one of those rare, comforting works that can sooth the soul in times of tribulation. As a sort of moral touchstone it bears repeated reading, and I have done so many times. What makes it so powerful is that it gets to the nature of human spiritual quest without being constrained by religious denomination or dogma. Part of the appeal for many is that it reaffirms the value of a spiritual life, without any particular religious baggage.

The full text is not lengthy and can be read in one sitting, but the pensive nature of the story and the lyrical quality of the writing lend themselves to being consumed in smaller measures. That's how I most often approach it, and how I imagine others do as well. It's accompanied by several beautiful illustrations from the author's own hand, and though they are not strictly illustrative of events from the story, they add a wonderful ethereal quality to one's perception of it. I'm sure there are many fine editions of this book to be found, but this ordinary one has suited me for many years, as I hope it will do for many more.

Copy Notes:  Hardback, 99th printing from 1977, illustrations