- Hardcover: 352 pages
- Publisher: HarperCollins; illustrated edition edition (4 April 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0007170327
- ISBN-13: 978-0007170326
- Product Dimensions: 21.6 x 14.4 x 3.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 566,251 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Wreckers
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More About the Author
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Review
Praise for The Lighthouse Stevensons: 'Deeply accomplished ! this splendid book preserves the memory of great deeds performed in a heroic era' Frank McLynn, Sunday Times 'Bella Bathurst has built a lamp herself: it illuminates the work of a literary hero, a family business, a habit of mind and a Scottish period ! from the summit of this first terrific book she looks to become one of the best biographers of her generation' Andrew O'Hagan, The Times 'An enthralling story, vivaciously recounted ! These were epic and scarifying adventures, indicative of an age when the taming of nature was a philosophical given, its execution a religious passion' Alan Taylor, Observer 'This is a grand book doing for lighthouses what Dava Sobel's Longitude did for marine chronometers, and doing it, if comparisons be made, with considerably more panache' Nicholas Bagnall, Sunday Telegraph
Sunday Telegraph
'entertaining and gossipy...Bathurst pens vivid accounts of hazardous stretches of our coastline and the depredations of the inhabitants'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Misleading Title,
By
This review is from: The Wreckers: A Story of Killing Seas, False Lights and Plundered Ships (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:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not Bad...,
By
This review is from: The Wreckers: A Story of Killing Seas, False Lights and Plundered Ships (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.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
No wind in the sails,
This review is from: The Wreckers: A Story of Killing Seas, False Lights and Plundered Ships (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.
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