Mon - July 18, 2005

Over the Edge of the World by Lawrence Bergreen

I read Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe by Lawrence Bergreen last week, and enjoyed it. It is the story of Magellan's circumnavigation of the world in 1519-22. Magellan was Portugese, so, although his trip was in the service of Charles I of Spain, he was never really trusted by many of the Spaniards on the voyage - in fact, he was constantly having to deal with both overt and covert subversion. Facing down the mutiny of three of the five ships in his armada early in the voyage, when they were in what is now the coast of Argentina, he managed to regain all three ships, but at the cost of deepening the rifts between Magellan and many of the crew. He succeeded in discovering the strait that bears his name, and sailed through it to the Pacific, but one of the ships mutinied again and slipped away to return to Spain. Sailing across the Pacific, they greatly underestimated the distance, losing many crew members to scurvy. Landing in the Philippines, Magellan was killed attempting to demonstrate the superiority of Spanish Arms and armor, only to discover that the natives of the Philippines were able to exploit the Magellan's overconfidence by leading them into a carefully contrived ambush. Bergreen suggests the possibility that Magellan's men may possibly have contributed to his death by not coming to his rescue as vigorously as they could have. The armada found the Spice Islands, but he ships and men were in poor shape, and only two ships remained when they left the Spice Islands loaded with cloves. The Victoria headed west, eventually to return to Spain but the Trinidad headed North east into the north Atlantic, eventually gave up and returned to the Spice Islands where it was captured by the Portugese. Only only one ship and 18 men limped back into Spain.
It is a terrific story, very ably told.

Posted at 07:44 PM    

Mon - March 14, 2005

Infidels by Andrew Wheatcroft

¨ ¨

I picked this book up in Greensboro, North Carolina at a conference and was immediately captivated. It is a history of the conflict between the Christian west and the Islamic middle east. One of his major points is that both societies have similar attitudes to each other, almost like a mirror reflection. The same stereotypes held by the west about the east are also held by the east against the west. When a city is "lost" to the other side, it provokes a desire to regain it, prompting a desire to retake it.
He follows the history from the crusades to the arab conquest of Spain and the subsequent re-conquest by the Spanish to the imperialism of the 18th and 19th centuries. It appears to be a good, evenhanded history and is a terrific read.

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Fri - November 26, 2004

I, Claudius

Although I first read this terrific book in 1972, it has been over twenty years since the last time I read it. However, after reading a potboiler about Pompeii, I was reminded of how much I loved this book, so I have read it again. Graves has done a brilliant thing here, by making Claudius narrate the story of the Palace intrigues during the time of Augustus, Tiberius and Caligua. The Emperor Claudius was an unlikely Emperor who was lame, stammered, rarely entrusted with the usual high offices and never given military experience but none the less survives to be Emperor. This idea is an inspired one -Claudius really did write historical works, and he plausibly has the rest of the family confide in him precisely because they underestimate him. Graves is an excellent scholar so it rarely or never outright contradicts what is historically known, and he manages to make the events both compelling and understandable.
Below is a link to a fine article on the historical Claudius.

http://www.roman-emperors.org/claudius.htm

Posted at 09:46 PM     Read More  

Tue - March 2, 2004

Fri - February 20, 2004

Mr. Timothy by Louis Bayard

I finished reading Mr. Timothy by Louis Bayard today. It is very enjoyable for a number of reasons. The first is that it works as a plain old adventure story. An aristocrat who has a fetish for ten year old girls imports foreign girls, treats them in a horrific manner to keep them docile, then shares them with other aristocrats who share his predilections. Mr. Timothy (Dickens's Tiny Tim, now grown) breaks up the ring with the help of one of the girls and a streetwise boy named Colin. On the level of an adventure it is gripping and exciting.
But there is more to this book. It also plays with Dickensian style. Where Tiny Tim was almost insufferably good, Mr. Tim is painfully aware that he cannot live up to his fathers narrative of his goodness, and much of his adventure in saving the girl Philomena is a kind of restitution for what he sees as his egotism and self involvement. So it also is about how on Christmas Eve, a man who sees ghosts (his father) comes to understand selflessness and giving for others, only this time there is no Victorian sentiment involved. There are other nods to Dickens - the outsized characters like Captain Gulley and the the odd coincidences that pop up in unlooked for places that tie the many strands of the plot together.
Last of all, it has something to say about a son's relationship with his father. He has spent his life making fun of his father, thinking him a naive, poor victim who did not know enough to know he was being victimized, but he comes to realize just how selfless and loving he had been, and in the process grows up.

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Sun - February 15, 2004

Fri - February 13, 2004

Wed - February 11, 2004

Tue - February 10, 2004

The Yellow Admiral by Patrick O'Brian

The Yellow Admiral is the seventeenth book in the Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian. This was the second time I have read it, the first time was in 1997.
When the book begins, Maturin is in London at the Admiralty, then at the Grapes, in the Liberty of the Savoy. The Admiralty was located in Whitehall (just by the WH of Whitehall).


The Liberty of the Savoy was located between the Thames and the Strand, just upstream from Somerset House.

Maturin, Clarissa, Diana and Brigid go to Aubrey's estate in Woolhampton in Dorset. From there, Maturin, Aubrey and Diana take a coach to Torbay, in Devon. There are three cities in Torbay - Torquay, Paignton, and Brixham.This map is from devon.co.uk


Aubrey and Maturin manage to join the Bellona off Ushant (Ile d'Ouessant), off the western tip of Brittany, France, near the town of Brest.


Maturin is put ashore at Pointe du Raz. The Bellona then goes back to Plymouth for repairs, and after Aubrey makes a quick trip to Woolhampton and back, then the Bellona goes back to to the blockade of Brest. Maturin is picked up at the Pointe du Raz again, then Maturin goes back to London on the Ringle.
At Sir Joseph's house in Shepard's Market, Maturin catches a spy. Shepards Market is just off Park Lane, near Curzon St.


After Maturin takes a coach to Dorchester, then a chaise to Woolcombe, he continues on to join the Bellona blockading Brest.
Here are my earlier posts on books by Patrick O'Brian
HMS Surprise and The Mauritius Command
Desolation Island
The Fortune of War
The Surgeon's Mate
The Ionian Mission
Treason's Harbour
The Far Side of the World
The Reverse of the Medal
The Letter of Marque
The Thirteen Gun Salute
The Nutmeg of Consolation
The Truelove
The Wine Dark Sea
The Commodore

Posted at 07:57 PM     Read More  

Sun - February 8, 2004

The Commodore, by Patrikck O'Brian

The Commodore is the seventeenth book in the Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian. This was the second time I have read it, the first time was in 1996.
I have been trying to follow the geography this time through.
When the book begins, they are just entering the English Channel from the Atlantic. This map was found at encarta.msn.com.


The Surpise goes to Shelmerston, a fictional port on the channel, probably in Cornwall, perhaps somewhere west of Plymouth. The Ringle, carrying Dr. Maturin, continues up the Channel, through the Strait of Dover into the Thames.


From there, they go up the Thames and into the Pool of London, tharea of the Thames just downstream from the London Bridge, near Wapping. This map was found at the UCLA Dept. of Epidemiology.


Once in London, Maturin visits the Admiralty in Whitehall.


Maturin, as usual, stays at the Grapes in the Liberty of the Savoy.


Maturin then goes to Aubrey' farm Ashdown in Hampshire near Portsmouth, and also to Barham Downs, where Diana raises arabians, also in Hampshire and most likely nearby to Ashdown.
Aubrey and Maturin then report aboard the Bellona at Portsmouth.
Maturin makes a quick trip to Blaine's farm, also in Hampshire. Although the location is not specified, it is somewhere in the neighborhood of Liss, Hampshire.
Maturin reports back to the Bellona, in Portsmouth, but soon after he takes the Ringle for a quick trip to London - as before the trip is through the Dover strait, then up into the Thames to the Pool of London. On their return, adverse winds keep them in the Channel near Deal for some time.



Eventually the winds do allow them through the Strait of Dover, and they return to the fictional Shelmerston, somewhere in the West Country. Maturin makes a quick trip to Barham Downs, picking up Clarissa, Brigid, and Padeen. They go back to Shelmerston, and board the Ringle.
The Ringle takes them down the English Channel, and turns south going around Ushant and into the Bay of Biscay until they reach the port of Corunna (La Coruna) in northern Spain.


The Ringle continues south, catching up with the Bellona at the Berlings (Ilha Berlenga), near Peniche in Portugal.

The Bellona now sails to Freetown, Sierra Leone, then along the African coast from Cape Palmas to the Bight of Benin.

They spend some time at Freetown, in Sierra Leone (where Stephen meets Christine).


They sail on into the Grain Coast, now Liberia.


Near Philip's Island, Maturin travels up the Sinen River (now the Sinoe River) where he gathers specimens and catches yellow fever.



They go past the Ivory Coast (now Cote d'Ivoire), the Gold Coast, the Cape Coast and the Slave Coast in the Bight of Benin, finally making a raid on Whydah (now Ouidah), in Benin.



Leaving Whydah, they return to Freetown. At this point they receive new orders, and go to meet a French squadron headed for Ireland (they are to meet in the open Atlantic off the coast of Northern Spain. They follow the squadron, and engage them in Bantry Bay, Ireland.


Maturin takes a chaise to Drimleague, where Diana is staying, and the book ends there.

Here are my earlier posts on books by Patrick O'Brian
HMS Surprise and The Mauritius Command
Desolation Island
The Fortune of War
The Surgeon's Mate
The Ionian Mission
Treason's Harbour
The Far Side of the World
The Reverse of the Medal
The Letter of Marque
The Thirteen Gun Salute
The Nutmeg of Consolation
The Truelove
The Wine Dark Sea

Posted at 07:58 PM     Read More  

Thu - February 5, 2004

The Wine Dark Sea by Patrick O'Brian

The Wine Dark Sea is the sixteenth book in the Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian. Like the others, this was the third time I have read it, the first time was in 1995. Earlier postings on this series begin here.
I have been trying to follow the geography this time through, with the help of Harbors and High Seas, by Dean King.
When the book starts, Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin are aboard the Surpise in the fictional island of Moahu, which is supposed to be located in between the Hawaiian Islands and Christmas Island. From there, they sail to Callao, a port in Peru. Callao is a port on the Pacific coast, located near Lima. This map is from livingtravel.com.


Maturin goes to Lima, and from there sets out on a long journey high into the Andes, travelling south. The exact route is difficult to follow, but it is clear that he does eventually get to the shores of Lake Titicaca, and between that Lake and the port of Arica he goes over a very high pass where he gets frostbite and loses a couple of toes. After this point, he is carried to Arica in far southern Peru. This map is from the University of Texas.


It is not explained how he gets from there to Valparaiso, Chile, but we are told that he meets Aubrey and the Surprise there. This map, showing Valparaiso's location on the coast of Chile, was found at the University of Texas.


At Valparaiso, Maturin joins the Surpise and they sail south, eventually getting to the Diego Ramirez Islands, located south of of Cape Horn.
According to 70south.com,

These Chilean islands were discovered by a Portuguese expedition on 12 February 1619, becoming the most southerly known land in the world at that time. They held that honour for more than 150 years, until 1775, when James Cook discovered the South Sandwich Islands. Islas Diego Ramirez are about 100 km south of Cape Horn.

They are just off these islands when the book ends.

Here are my earlier posts on books by Patrick O'Brian
HMS Surprise and The Mauritius Command
Desolation Island
The Fortune of War
The Surgeon's Mate
The Ionian Mission
Treason's Harbour
The Far Side of the World
The Reverse of the Medal
The Letter of Marque
The Thirteen Gun Salute
The Nutmeg of Consolation
The Truelove

Posted at 07:58 PM     Read More  

Sun - February 1, 2004

The Truelove by Patrick O'Brian

The Truelove (Clarissa Oakes in the U.K.) is the fifteenth book in the Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian. Like the others, this was the third time I have read it, - the first time was in 1995. Earlier postings on this series begin here.
I have been trying to follow the geography this time through, with the help of Harbors and High Seas, by Dean King.
When the book starts, they are leaving Port Jackson, in Australia, headed for Norfolk Island. Norfolk Island was discovered by Captain James Cook in 1774. A settlement is established in 1788, and an infamous penal colony was established there in 1825. A timeline of Norfolk Island history can be found at norfolkisland.com.
This map of Norfolk Island was found at norfolkisland.com

After leaving Norfolk Island, they alter course to Tonga in the Friendly Islands, where they anchor at the island of Annamooka. This map, from the University of Texas shows the journey from Sydney all the way the fictional island of Moahu (north of Christmas Island and south of Hawaii (its fictional position is marked by the arrow).


Annamooka is also called Ha'apai - this map of Tonga shows where Ha'apai is in relation to the nearby islands. The map is from lonelyplanet.com.


When they leave Annamooka, they head for Christmas Island, discovered by Captain Cook in 1777. This map of Christmas Island was found at janeresture.com.


From here, they head north to the fictional island of Moahu, which appears to be about halfway in between Christmas Island and the Hawaiian Islands.

Here are my earlier posts on books by Patrick O'Brian
HMS Surprise and The Mauritius Command
Desolation Island
The Fortune of War
The Surgeon's Mate
The Ionian Mission
Treason's Harbour
The Far Side of the World
The Reverse of the Medal
The Letter of Marque
The Thirteen Gun Salute
The Nutmeg of Consolation

Posted at 07:43 PM     Read More  

Sat - January 31, 2004

The Nutmeg of Consolation by Patrick O'Brian

The Nutmeg of Consolation is the fourteenth book in the Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian. Like the others, this was the third time I have read it, - the first time was in 1995. Earlier postings on this series begin here.
I have been trying to follow the geography this time through, with the help of Harbors and High Seas, by Dean King.
The book starts out with them marooned on an island in what is now Indonesia. The island is beween Bangka and Biliton.



They are soon rescued and taken to Batavia, which is now Jakarta. Jakarta is located on the northern coast of the island of Java.



They spend some time in Batavia, while a new ship, The Nutmeg of Consolation is readied for them, but when the sail, it is through the Salibabu Passage (marked with an arrow).


They rendezvous there with the Surprise, and Aubrey and Maturin leave the Nutmeg, which then heads north to Canton. The Surpise continues on to Australia (which they call New Holland). On their way they stop at Sweetings Island, which is fictional but supposed to be near the equator, somewhere north of the Solomon Islands. Turning south, they stay off the coast of Australia to avoid the Great Barrier Reef, and pull into Sydney Cove, a penal settlement in Port Jackson, a harbor at the mouth of the Parramatta River. It is now in the heart of the city of Sydney. This map shows the location of Sydney in Australia and is from LonelyPlanet.com.



This map shows Sydney's location on the south shore of Port Jackson. It was found at Worldexecutive.com.


This map show Sydney Cove's location in the city of Sydney. It was also found at Worldexecutive.com.



When the book ends, they have just left Sydney.

Posted at 02:00 PM     Read More  

Sun - January 25, 2004

The Thirteen Gun Salute, by Patrick O'Brian

The Thirteen Gun Salute is the thirteenth book in the Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian. Like the others, this was the third time I have read it, - the first time was in 1995. Earlier postings on this series begin here.
I have been trying to follow the geography this time through, with the help of Harbors and High Seas, by Dean King.
When the book opens, they are in Portsmouth, at Jack's house Ashgrove Cottage. Portsmouth was, and is, a large naval base in Hampshire. A timeline of Portsmouth history can be found here. Portsmouth is on the south coast of England, protected from the storms of the English Channel by the Isle of Wight.

They meet a ship in the Atlantic, west of Lands End, which they chase up the east coast of Ireland through the Irish Sea- they lose it and go around the northern coast through the North Channel between Ireland and Scotland, go around Malin Head and turn south going off the west coast of Ireland in the open sea heading directly to Lisbon, Portugal. This map of Ireland comes from ireland-information.com.


The voyage to Lisbon is uneventful. Lisbon is on the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula, about halfway down. This map can be found at LonelyPlanet.com.


They stay in Lisbon for a time, but there Jack gets orders reinstating him on the post captains list and giving him command of the Diana, a French frigate he had cut out in Normandy. He and Stephen travel overland from Lisbon to Corunna, Spain (now called La Coruna), on the Bay of Biscay, where they take ship for London. This map from LonelyPlanet.com shows that their trip to La Coruna was almost directly north from from Lisbon.


In London, Jack is reinstated. given command of the Diane and sent on a mission to take an ambassador to Pulo Prabang, in what is now Indonesia, to make a treaty with the Sultan. Meanwhile, the Surprise will continue under Pullings from Lisbon, acrosss to South America, around Cape Horn, across the Pacific to meet them off Java.
They go south, and skirt the Cape of Good Hope, going into the forties as they turn east, then eventually northeast as they come to Batavia, (now Jakarta) on the island of Java, where they meet the governor, Raffles (who really was the governor). Here is a map from the University of Texas of the area.

From there, they go to Pulo Prabang a fictional volcanic island somewhere off the coast of Sumatra, south of Singapore and north of Bangka.


There they conduct the treaty, and head to the rendevous with the Surprise near the False Natunas in the South China Sea. Upont their return, they strike a rock, and are forced ashore. This seems to be in between the island of Bangka and the island of Biliton.
As the book ends they are on this island in the South China Sea.

Posted at 03:54 PM     Read More  

Fri - January 9, 2004

The Letter of Marque, by Patrick O'Brian

I finished The Letter of Marque by Patrick O'Brian today. This is the 12th book in the Aubrey/Maturin series - my posting on the previous book is here. Like the others, this is the third time I have read this book, so this time I was paying particular attention to the geography, although I also found myself emotionally caught up in the ending where Maturin and Diana come to a reconciliation.
It starts out in Shelmerston. It appears to be fictional, but located somewhere in the west of England, possibly Cornwall.
They take a voyage to the Azores, a series of islands in the Atlantic belonging to Portugal. This map is found at WorldAtlas.com

Between San Miguel Island and Santa Maria Island, they engage the Spartan, following that they call at Horta on the island of Faial. This map, and more information on the Azores is found at the Azores site of the World GenWeb Project.


Their next voyage is a cutting out expedition in the French port of St. Martins, a fictional port in Normandy, but there is little iformation to suggest exactly where in Normandy it is.
Aubrey attends the funeral of his father, in Woolhampton. I think this is a fictional place, probably in Dorset.
Maturin takes the Leopard to Sweden, on the way they stop for repairs at while Maturin goes to the fictional Manton, probably in Essex, possibly it is meant to be Maldon. This map comes from This is Essex.


The journey continues into the Baltic, as they pass Skager Rack (Skagerak) between Denmark and Norway, the Cattegat (Kattegat) between Denmark and Sweden and meet the Surprise, which takes Maturin to Stocholm.

Maturin meets Diana there, and is nursed back to health after an accident.
This map of Stockholm comes from LonelyPlanet.com


While Maturin is is in Sweden, Aubrey continues on to Riga, then returns to Stockholm, where the book ends.

Posted at 08:37 PM     Read More