The Wreckers
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More About the Author
Product Description
The Observer
'...poetically precise and luminous account of shoreline orgies and modern-day pirates...a fascinating and original work.'
Review
‘Bathhurst’s descriptions are precise and graphic, but also poignant … Striking and memorable.’ Peter Ackroyd, The Times
‘[Bathurst] is wry, perceptive, laconic, occasionally downright funny and uncannily skilled at recreating atmosphere…a pleasure to read.’ Daily Telegraph
‘Entertaining and gossipy…Bathurst pens vivid accounts of hazardous stretches of our coastline and the depredations of the inhabitants.’ Sunday Telegraph
‘A luminious tale of shifting sands and treacherous seas,’ Monica Ali, Guardian
‘She has a dazzling gift for descriptive writing.’ Adam Nicolson, Independent
‘Bathhurst has opened a magic casement onto a lost world on the edge of living memory.’ Independent on Sunday
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book has the dramatic title of "The Wreckers: A story of killing Seas, False lights and plundered ships". Perhaps it might also be titled "Repetitive tales of shipwrecks, plundered by locals". The book consists of a series of interviews with people involved with shipwrecks as far back as the 1930's, interspersed with accounts of shipwrecks dating back hundreds of years. Whilst the more recent accounts are a little dull, the historical accounts which seem a bit more exciting are understandably rather brief. The author tries valliantly to claim that ships were lured to their demise by false lights displayed from the shore, but can find little or no evidence for it. The Author previously wrote an account about the Lighthouse Stephensons and I suspect that this book is compiled from the bits she edited out of the previous book. Although it is reasonably interesting, it is repetitive and meandering, rather like a college disertation where the student hasn't got enough substance to write about, so strays off the subject and pads it out with irrelevant passages.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I must admit I was hoping for a bit more from this book, it does attempt to cover the topic of Wrecking in Britain in some detail but I fear it is suffering (like so many books on a specific history subject) from a lack of material.
There is alot of padding and some blatantly off topic issues discussed such as Whales at the Natural History Museum!!
Unfortunately I think the book's problem is that Wrecking in the British Isles is simply not a subject large enough to warrant an entire book on it...perhaps if it was wrecking in the world at large perhaps it would make a more gripping read.
I did like the photographs and some of the stories about real wrecking incidents; Particularly the story of a young clergyman who, during a morning stroll on a beach, stumbled upon a shipwrecked sailor's corpse. He ran to find help and came across a cornishman out for a walk, he asked the man what he should do about the body and the cornishman replied 'Search his pockets' and walked off!
All in all it was fairly interesting but it had the potential to be alot better had it covered a broader subject.
There is alot of padding and some blatantly off topic issues discussed such as Whales at the Natural History Museum!!
Unfortunately I think the book's problem is that Wrecking in the British Isles is simply not a subject large enough to warrant an entire book on it...perhaps if it was wrecking in the world at large perhaps it would make a more gripping read.
I did like the photographs and some of the stories about real wrecking incidents; Particularly the story of a young clergyman who, during a morning stroll on a beach, stumbled upon a shipwrecked sailor's corpse. He ran to find help and came across a cornishman out for a walk, he asked the man what he should do about the body and the cornishman replied 'Search his pockets' and walked off!
All in all it was fairly interesting but it had the potential to be alot better had it covered a broader subject.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Its seductive sub-title of 'A Story of Killing Seas, False Lights and Plundered Ships' gives the impression that 'The Wreckers' will be a book which throws a torch-beam upon the romantic mysticism surrounding this dubious profession, uncovers the truths behind the legends, and provides some entertaining tales of bravado and ingenuity such as those featured in Richards Platt's far superior 'Smuggling in the British Isles' (read this).
Unfortunately it is painfully clear from page one that there simply aren't enough detailed sources of information to write a substantial book on the subject. The mistake Bathurst made was to continue to attempt the work using the extremely limited resources she had acquired. What results is essentially a book about the dangerous parts of Britain's coast which gives occasional mention to the activity of wreckers in reference to a particular ship.
The book is split into 7 chapters, each featuring a different area of the country. Each chapter explains the geography of the region, describes the inhabitants of the area, interviews a couple of local residents, and gives info on various shipwrecks. Unfortunately when you've read one chapter you've read them all. Furthermore when she finally does provide a reliable tale of wrecking she dwells on it far too long until eventually even this redeeming feature becomes tedious.
It seems that Bathurst doesn't want to admit the conclusion that her research has lead her to - wrecking never was as widespread or as exciting as our imaginations like to assume, and like all good legends, it should stay as exactly that. I would not recommend this book but Bathurst is a good author and researcher and her other book 'The Lighthouse Stevensons' is an acquired taste but a good read.
Unfortunately it is painfully clear from page one that there simply aren't enough detailed sources of information to write a substantial book on the subject. The mistake Bathurst made was to continue to attempt the work using the extremely limited resources she had acquired. What results is essentially a book about the dangerous parts of Britain's coast which gives occasional mention to the activity of wreckers in reference to a particular ship.
The book is split into 7 chapters, each featuring a different area of the country. Each chapter explains the geography of the region, describes the inhabitants of the area, interviews a couple of local residents, and gives info on various shipwrecks. Unfortunately when you've read one chapter you've read them all. Furthermore when she finally does provide a reliable tale of wrecking she dwells on it far too long until eventually even this redeeming feature becomes tedious.
It seems that Bathurst doesn't want to admit the conclusion that her research has lead her to - wrecking never was as widespread or as exciting as our imaginations like to assume, and like all good legends, it should stay as exactly that. I would not recommend this book but Bathurst is a good author and researcher and her other book 'The Lighthouse Stevensons' is an acquired taste but a good read.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
THE WRECKERS
WELL WRITTEN EXCELLENT DIAGRAMS AND PICTURES.A WORTHY ADDITION TO ANYONES LIBRARY IF YOUR AND INTERESTED IN WRECKS OR IN SHIPPING IN GENERAL.
Published 8 months ago by Chitts
Mariners will love this.
An interesting look at the history of wreckers and the myths that surround them.This book is a fascinating tale of some truely dangerous d waters around our British coastline and... Read more
Published on 15 Aug 2008 by cancat reader
Disappointing.
Could have been such a great book (in theory), butthe author has just got together a collection of details and made them into a book.
Published on 5 Feb 2008 by Ackman3
Outstanding
Drenched in the salt folklore of an island nation, Bathurst's book is a tour de force. Her research is faultless and exhaustive, and shows that the era of the "wrecker" has not... Read more
Published on 21 Nov 2006 by R. T. Kellett
It isn't what it says on the cover!
I bought this book expecting to enjoy a riveting, well reschearched, story of the fabled wreckers of the British Isles. Read more
Published on 13 July 2006 by A. G. Rimmer
Beautiful and Vivid
I adore this book. If you have ever looked out to see and wondered what it would be like to fall foul of it's threatening power then I urge you to read this book and find out. Read more
Published on 6 July 2006 by Seren
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