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Mutiny On The Globe - The Fatal Voyage Of Samuel Comstock
Whilst sailing between Hawaii and Tahiti in January 1824, the captain and officers of the Nantucket whaling ship the Globe were attacked with whaling gear, shot, and dumped overboard under the audacious direction of twenty-one-year-old Samuel Comstock, whose dream was to found his own tropical kingdom. This eventually led to his own violent death at the hands of his co-mutineers. Only a few members of the Globe's crew two men who were rescued after years on a Pacific atoll, bizarrely spared after their fellows had been slaughtered by the natives living there, and a handful more who retook the ship and carried news of the mutiny to the US Navy. Escaping with the ship was George Comstock, Samuel's younger brother and a horrified witness to his brother's murderous deeds. George's remarkable firsthand account, written upon his return to Nantucket, has never been published in full, and "Mutiny on the Globe" will present portions of it for the first time.
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First published April 29, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
April 12, 2015
I am the bloody man; I have the bloody hand and I will be revenged!
My advice is to start with Chapter 3.
And when you hit Chapter 7, skim through everything after the rescue of the lost sailors by the Dolphin until you reach the end.
Because the true story of 1824 mutiny aboard the Nantucket whaling ship Globe is a riveting tale – one of those ‘stranger than fiction’ dramas – that blends maritime history, the adventures of Robinson Crusoe, and grisly horrors reminiscent of Edgar Allan Poe into a macabre mix that seems almost impossible to believe. In the dead of night, far into Pacific, sailor Samuel Comstock and a handful of cronies mutiny, butchering the Globe’s captain and the ship's senior officers in their cabins.
Seizing control of the ship, Comstock steers to the Marshall Islands, where he fantasizes about setting himself up as a “white” king over the native populations, but reality brings only further bloodshed, a daring escape for a handful of whalers and the unlucky ship Globe, and a long, lonely exile for a handful of other stranded crewmen. Author and historian Thomas Farel Heffernan does a fine job choosing his subject matter and the middle chapters of this book – where the action is – reads quickly and easily, a taunt tale of murder, adventure, and rescue on the high seas.
But for as good and dramatic as the middle section of this book is, the opening and ending chapters weigh like heavy anchors off the bow and stern of the narrative. What Heffernan provides of Comstock’s background is interesting, but stretched as it is across two long chapters, it could have been a lot tighter. Worse, after the climatic rescue of the last, stranded crew members of the Globe, we sail into exceedingly dull waters with the crew of the U.S.S. Dolphin. Much of the last half of the last chapter of this book is a rather plodding narrative of Navy boat's further meanderings -- which ultimately lead us only to (of all things) the Hawaiian prostitution riots and a rather tedious Afterward.
I’m still giving this book a pretty high rating, because Heffernan does do an amazing job chronicling the key dramas of this story and the history of the Globe is well-worth knowing and reading. The book is also eruditely researched. But Mutiny on the Globe does chart a bit off-course and, after fervently page-turning through the middle chapters, I found myself casually thumbing my way through to the end.
P.S. As part of my real job, I teach a number of food-safety classes and, as we delve into the various causes of foodborne illness, there’s always a groan from the students as we dig into the most common seafood toxins. For those students who have ever wondered why we bother discussing scromboid poisoning or ciguatera, see Chapter 5.
September 14, 2014
The historical event of the mutiny itself was very interesting, but Heffernan is a bit of a dry writer, in that he included in his presentation of the material EVERY possible detail or presumed detail of the ill-fated voyage. It's quite astounding how much information he was able to gather about an event that occurred in 1822 on a remote South Pacific island, so I give a LOT of credit to him for a job well-researched, but I did have to skim here and there to get through some of the less exciting passages.
That said, this is a fascinating story of the young man, Samuel Comstock of Nantucket, who at only 21 years was quite possibly a sociopath, and who if alive today, most certainly would be responsible for a school-shooting or some other act of random and broadly-reaching violence. We tend to illuminate historic figures as bigger than human and possessing greater than average intelligence, but this man was quite a troubled soul. The account of how he came to develop into a man who not only planned in advance a savage mutiny (mass murder) of the officers of his whaling ship, but also believed that he could successfully land on a remote South Pacific island and be worshiped by the Natives as a white god demonstrates a fascinating level of delusion and inhumanity.
Worth reading for the history, but be prepared to skim past the dry bits.
That said, this is a fascinating story of the young man, Samuel Comstock of Nantucket, who at only 21 years was quite possibly a sociopath, and who if alive today, most certainly would be responsible for a school-shooting or some other act of random and broadly-reaching violence. We tend to illuminate historic figures as bigger than human and possessing greater than average intelligence, but this man was quite a troubled soul. The account of how he came to develop into a man who not only planned in advance a savage mutiny (mass murder) of the officers of his whaling ship, but also believed that he could successfully land on a remote South Pacific island and be worshiped by the Natives as a white god demonstrates a fascinating level of delusion and inhumanity.
Worth reading for the history, but be prepared to skim past the dry bits.
August 25, 2018
I was raised though not born in a New England sea town and have had a life long interest in the sea and stories of whaling and other nautical activities.
I was familiar with the story of the Globe and found this telling a good one. The story is true and so the brutality involved, all the more compelling.
A sociopath on a ship is the story of Samuel Comstock and the Globe.
In Salem, Ma., you can find the Peabody Boat museum which is full of great scrimshaw and other nautical treasures and seaman craft.
I recommend this read if you want an account of a true mutiny and the brutality that accompanied the mutiny at the behest of Samuel Comstock.
I was familiar with the story of the Globe and found this telling a good one. The story is true and so the brutality involved, all the more compelling.
A sociopath on a ship is the story of Samuel Comstock and the Globe.
In Salem, Ma., you can find the Peabody Boat museum which is full of great scrimshaw and other nautical treasures and seaman craft.
I recommend this read if you want an account of a true mutiny and the brutality that accompanied the mutiny at the behest of Samuel Comstock.
November 28, 2019
This isn't a bad book. My own expectations going into the book, however, did not quite match what I found.
I picked it up to read when I saw it on display at a library. I anticipated it might be an account of a mutiny at sea, and the mutineers voyages thereafter.
It is that. For all of about two chapters, roughly forty pages or so. The book before that delves into a background and psychology of our Young Mutineer, and the circumstances and places he was in.
As it stands, Mr. Heffernan does a wonderful job of telling what we do know of the story, but the part of the story I thought would be the most extensive was temporally very short and sparsely documented. Much of the rest of the book is spent detailing two survivors left behind on the Islands with the natives and trying to piece together various contradictions in stories (which he does a good job of explaining), but it is less directly riveting than I was initially expecting.
The appendices are quite nice, including the text of George Comstock's, who was a crew member (and brother of the Young Mutineer) account that is heavily quoted from and utilized as a source.
Overall, good book, but not quite what I was expecting given the title or my general experience in the genre.
I picked it up to read when I saw it on display at a library. I anticipated it might be an account of a mutiny at sea, and the mutineers voyages thereafter.
It is that. For all of about two chapters, roughly forty pages or so. The book before that delves into a background and psychology of our Young Mutineer, and the circumstances and places he was in.
As it stands, Mr. Heffernan does a wonderful job of telling what we do know of the story, but the part of the story I thought would be the most extensive was temporally very short and sparsely documented. Much of the rest of the book is spent detailing two survivors left behind on the Islands with the natives and trying to piece together various contradictions in stories (which he does a good job of explaining), but it is less directly riveting than I was initially expecting.
The appendices are quite nice, including the text of George Comstock's, who was a crew member (and brother of the Young Mutineer) account that is heavily quoted from and utilized as a source.
Overall, good book, but not quite what I was expecting given the title or my general experience in the genre.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 21, 2023
From a historian’s perspective, this book is a mixed bag. It’s well researched and tells the tale of the Globe, but it commits two sins: armchair psychoanalysis and clarity issues. It’s impossible to diagnose the mental illness of the dead, but Heffernan has no problem with flagrantly offering his opinion on Comstock’s sociopathy simply based on his brother’s writing. It’s historically irresponsible and ends up making the mutiny’s narrative into a ‘crazy’ story. Once the story of the survivors begins, Heffernan appears to pull in information - maybe quotes? - from their official recounting, but it is unclear in the writing what is his words or theirs. Sometimes he conflates the two, including a mention of a direct quote from the survivors after he’s mentioned it as if it were his own wording. Overall, the book left me more informed but frustrated. Not a book I’d recommend, even to learn about the historic event.
March 25, 2024
This book is three and half stars for me. The writing was fine, but the story has what you might call “arc” problems. I won’t say much more other than the through-line of the story is a patchwork the author tries to hold together but is only partial successful. That said, it’s not three stars either because of all the solid content about Nantucket and early 19 century whaling industry, life aboard a whaler and a lot more, including the attempted psychoanalysis of the psychotic life of the “almost” main character Samual Comstock.
February 27, 2025
Perhaps you read Demon of the Waters or other sources covering Samuel Comstock and the Globe Mutiny. This excellent book covers the story from several other perspectives including Samuel's brother and others. I read this book prior to keeping track of all the books I read so my memory is spotty. Will soon re-read this and update this review. I do remember finding it fascinating and riveting.
October 11, 2023
Fascinating story but not an easy read. The 1st 1/4 of the book is a slog and could be skipped over. The actual mutiny and US Naval response is the guts of the book and totally absorbing. Very well researched and documented.
November 14, 2016
Feels like the author assumes you already know the story. A really interesting tale, not told particularly well.
August 16, 2019
An adventure story, not bad, the part about whaling was interesting.
January 14, 2021
One of the greatest sea stories of all time
March 7, 2025
I found this book from a random internet search, I’d recently read and enjoyed The Wager so was searching for other books about mutinies on ships. Real or fictional.
I’d not heard of the Globe before but it sounded interesting.
I then found it was available at my local library, so on the spurr of the moment decision, I rented it.
It was an interesting story, but from the first online description I read, hailing it as “the most bloody mutiny in history“, the mutiny itself seemed to pass by very quickly, with much less gore than I imagined. Dissapointing.
I have read some reviews saying to start from chapter 3, and while I agree it was not that interesting at first, I think those earlier chapters helped build up the character of the lead mutineer Samuel Comstock and gives you a feel of what drove him to it.
As interesting as the actual story is, I found it too tedious to be a real page turner, I wasn’t as invested in the story as with the afore mentioned Wager - which I had trouble putting down. This was quite opposite, I had trouble picking it up
I found the story quite long winded, there were a lot of things (especially about the islands chain and the long history of thier names) that seemed rather superfluous and just page fillers. And at times it seemed the writer forgot he was in 21st centry, writing in the style and language of the period, which to me was just confusing and made the story hard to follow.
In Chapter 5 covering the activities of the two Globe survivors on the island, the book quotes many native words and the names of natives which are very long, unponouncable and all very similar, which also made the story hard to follow (moreso after the two survivors are separated, and each have thier own set of people) and as it then repeats these words and names many times, without the translation or meaning of the words given after its original use, I often lost track of what or who it was about, or was unaware of any change of subject, without scrolling back to find that translation or meaning.
Especially confusing here is when the story leaps ahead to the two survivors’ rescue to cover events relating to what was happening at that point in the story, only to then go back to the story again sometimes several paragraphs (or a page) later, by which time you’ve lost the trail of preceeding events.
This was also a bit of a spoiler, as I said I have never heard of the Globe before and so did not know what happened, so to find out several months before the rescue that there WAS a rescue, was a bit of a let down. Like telling me the ending to Game of Thrones without letting me watch the eight seasons (which yes I have seen and love)
I wasn’t invested in the book, and knowing how it ended several months before it ended, I decided to end it myself and returned it to library unfinished
I’d not heard of the Globe before but it sounded interesting.
I then found it was available at my local library, so on the spurr of the moment decision, I rented it.
It was an interesting story, but from the first online description I read, hailing it as “the most bloody mutiny in history“, the mutiny itself seemed to pass by very quickly, with much less gore than I imagined. Dissapointing.
I have read some reviews saying to start from chapter 3, and while I agree it was not that interesting at first, I think those earlier chapters helped build up the character of the lead mutineer Samuel Comstock and gives you a feel of what drove him to it.
As interesting as the actual story is, I found it too tedious to be a real page turner, I wasn’t as invested in the story as with the afore mentioned Wager - which I had trouble putting down. This was quite opposite, I had trouble picking it up
I found the story quite long winded, there were a lot of things (especially about the islands chain and the long history of thier names) that seemed rather superfluous and just page fillers. And at times it seemed the writer forgot he was in 21st centry, writing in the style and language of the period, which to me was just confusing and made the story hard to follow.
In Chapter 5 covering the activities of the two Globe survivors on the island, the book quotes many native words and the names of natives which are very long, unponouncable and all very similar, which also made the story hard to follow (moreso after the two survivors are separated, and each have thier own set of people) and as it then repeats these words and names many times, without the translation or meaning of the words given after its original use, I often lost track of what or who it was about, or was unaware of any change of subject, without scrolling back to find that translation or meaning.
Especially confusing here is when the story leaps ahead to the two survivors’ rescue to cover events relating to what was happening at that point in the story, only to then go back to the story again sometimes several paragraphs (or a page) later, by which time you’ve lost the trail of preceeding events.
This was also a bit of a spoiler, as I said I have never heard of the Globe before and so did not know what happened, so to find out several months before the rescue that there WAS a rescue, was a bit of a let down. Like telling me the ending to Game of Thrones without letting me watch the eight seasons (which yes I have seen and love)
I wasn’t invested in the book, and knowing how it ended several months before it ended, I decided to end it myself and returned it to library unfinished
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 7, 2025
Review published in the New Zealand Listener, 17 August 2002
Mutiny on the Globe
The Fatal Voyage of Samuel Comstock
Thomas Farel Heffernan
Bloomsbury 2002, $36.95
Reviewed by Philippa Jamieson
All the elements of a classic mutiny – treachery, murder, and being marooned on a desert island – are present in Mutiny on the Globe. Thomas Farel Herffernan, author of two other seafaring books (on whaling and Vikings respectively) has written not just an absorbing tale of an obscure event in Pacific history, but also an exploration of human nature.
The Globe sailed from Nantucket in 1824 to whaling grounds near Peru and then Hawaii. On board was Samuel Comstock, aged twenty-one, who plotted the overthrow of the ship and the murder of the captain and three officers. The Globe then stopped at Mili Atoll in the Marshall Islands, but the trouble only worsened. Several crew members retook the ship, leaving the others, including Comstock, to fend for themselves on the atoll, where a number of them were killed by the Milian islanders. Only a couple survived and ended up being both adopted and enslaved by their hosts for two years.
Samuel Comstock obviously had delusions of grandeur: he wanted to set up his own island kingdom, imagining a Pacific paradise where the natives would accept him as their ruler. What drove this Quaker youth to such a bizarre mission? Heffernan provides some insightful analysis and speculation about Comstock's motives and unusual character traits, even if the language is at times melodramatic: 'When Samuel Comstock's river surfaced, it was a river of blood', or 'Samuel was like an iron pot with noxious contents that should never be stirred up.' The author spends the first part of the book foreshadowing the bloody mutiny, referring to it numerous times so it's a distinct anti-climax when it actually happens in the sequence of events.
For me the high point of the tale – fortunately it makes up the bulk of the book – is the aftermath of the mutiny, in particular the interactions between the survivors and the people of Mili atoll. Both groups are thrust into a situation not of their making; how they live together and communicate is a fascinating investigation into cross-cultural contact.
Heffernan has done a thorough job in his research. He has been helped by accounts of the mutiny from the two survivors on Mili, and from Comstock's brothers (one of whom was on board the Globe), as well as newspaper and navy reports. The book's drab cover lets it down, but it's an entertaining read about an anti-hero, his misdeeds, and the consequences.
Mutiny on the Globe
The Fatal Voyage of Samuel Comstock
Thomas Farel Heffernan
Bloomsbury 2002, $36.95
Reviewed by Philippa Jamieson
All the elements of a classic mutiny – treachery, murder, and being marooned on a desert island – are present in Mutiny on the Globe. Thomas Farel Herffernan, author of two other seafaring books (on whaling and Vikings respectively) has written not just an absorbing tale of an obscure event in Pacific history, but also an exploration of human nature.
The Globe sailed from Nantucket in 1824 to whaling grounds near Peru and then Hawaii. On board was Samuel Comstock, aged twenty-one, who plotted the overthrow of the ship and the murder of the captain and three officers. The Globe then stopped at Mili Atoll in the Marshall Islands, but the trouble only worsened. Several crew members retook the ship, leaving the others, including Comstock, to fend for themselves on the atoll, where a number of them were killed by the Milian islanders. Only a couple survived and ended up being both adopted and enslaved by their hosts for two years.
Samuel Comstock obviously had delusions of grandeur: he wanted to set up his own island kingdom, imagining a Pacific paradise where the natives would accept him as their ruler. What drove this Quaker youth to such a bizarre mission? Heffernan provides some insightful analysis and speculation about Comstock's motives and unusual character traits, even if the language is at times melodramatic: 'When Samuel Comstock's river surfaced, it was a river of blood', or 'Samuel was like an iron pot with noxious contents that should never be stirred up.' The author spends the first part of the book foreshadowing the bloody mutiny, referring to it numerous times so it's a distinct anti-climax when it actually happens in the sequence of events.
For me the high point of the tale – fortunately it makes up the bulk of the book – is the aftermath of the mutiny, in particular the interactions between the survivors and the people of Mili atoll. Both groups are thrust into a situation not of their making; how they live together and communicate is a fascinating investigation into cross-cultural contact.
Heffernan has done a thorough job in his research. He has been helped by accounts of the mutiny from the two survivors on Mili, and from Comstock's brothers (one of whom was on board the Globe), as well as newspaper and navy reports. The book's drab cover lets it down, but it's an entertaining read about an anti-hero, his misdeeds, and the consequences.
June 27, 2020
Before I was even a small way into this tale of a man's lifelong descent into psychopathy culminating in near decapitation, mutiny and vain attempt to take over a Pacific atoll I went into Google looking to see where I could stream the movie treatment. Well, apparently there is none and that seems a missed opportunity for what would be something like Master and Commander meets Forensic Files. The tale from whaling Nantucket to Hawaii to the remote atoll is months-long crime investigated and pieced together from multiple primary sources, many of which are included in appendices.
Also, someone should reuse mad Samuel's murderous threat,
Also, someone should reuse mad Samuel's murderous threat,
While still on the Japan Ground the Globe had a gam with the 413-ton Enterprise, on the deck of which something happened that was insignificant at the time but would come to life again during the mutiny and add one more bit of viciousness to the tragedy. A party from the Globe, including Third Mate Fisher and Boatsteerer Comstock, had gone on board the Enterprise. In a playful mood, which the spirit of the occasion encouraged, Samuel approached Fisher and challenged him to a wrestling match. Fisher was the more athletic of the two and had no difficulty winning the match. Samuel was enraged and punched Fisher, who easily went after him again and laid him on the deck. “I’ll see your heart’s blood for this,” Samuel said, but Fisher paid no attention to the threat, something that enraged Samuel even more. The humiliation never abated in Samuel’s mind.
January 7, 2013
"I am the bloody man; I have the bloody hand; I will have revenge!"
Thus spake Samual Comstock, the estwhile leader of the one of the most gruesome mutinies in U.S. history, the mutiny on the Nantucket whaling ship, The Globe, in 1823. Killing the captain and officers, Comstock then led his party of mutineers (and a number of unwilling sailors in fear of their lives) to Mili Atoll, in the Marshall Islands, where Comstock proposed building his own South Seas island kingdom. Within days, his dreams of glory dissolved in murder and chaos.
Mutiny on the Globe is a good and gripping nautical read, with enough well-researched, well-defined background information to make readers appreciate Comstock's upbringing in the icy discipline of Nantucket, the circumstances that drove him to sea in a whaler (one of the harshest professions of a harsh age), and the psychological horrors that lurked behind his eyes. Heffernan, as the expression goes, is a writer that "paints in the corners", with the mutiny providing only the first half of this harrowing tale. The remainder of the book is devoted to the fate of mutineers (and the innocents) on Mili Atoll, and their various fates (which I will not outline here - read the book!).
Interestingly enough, this is the second book on the Globe mutiny published recently. Also available is Demon of the Waters by Gregory Gibson, which I have not yet read, but I understand is based in part on a newly discovered account of an officer from the U.S. Dolphin, the schooner that eventual rescued the few survivors from Mili Atoll.
The most famous mutiny in history was, of course, the mutiny on the Bounty, where Captain William Bligh was unceremoniously bundled into a longboat with his loyal followers and set adrift. Bligh ended up committing one of the great acts of seamanship, bringing his remaining crew back to civilization in an epic voyage 3600 miles across the South Pacific, while the Bounty mutineers, led by Fletcher Christian, ended up on the remote Pitcairn Island, where their descendents still live today.
Check out Mutiny: A History of Naval Insurrection by Leonard F. Gutterridge for more fearful tales of mutinious crews throughout history.
Thus spake Samual Comstock, the estwhile leader of the one of the most gruesome mutinies in U.S. history, the mutiny on the Nantucket whaling ship, The Globe, in 1823. Killing the captain and officers, Comstock then led his party of mutineers (and a number of unwilling sailors in fear of their lives) to Mili Atoll, in the Marshall Islands, where Comstock proposed building his own South Seas island kingdom. Within days, his dreams of glory dissolved in murder and chaos.
Mutiny on the Globe is a good and gripping nautical read, with enough well-researched, well-defined background information to make readers appreciate Comstock's upbringing in the icy discipline of Nantucket, the circumstances that drove him to sea in a whaler (one of the harshest professions of a harsh age), and the psychological horrors that lurked behind his eyes. Heffernan, as the expression goes, is a writer that "paints in the corners", with the mutiny providing only the first half of this harrowing tale. The remainder of the book is devoted to the fate of mutineers (and the innocents) on Mili Atoll, and their various fates (which I will not outline here - read the book!).
Interestingly enough, this is the second book on the Globe mutiny published recently. Also available is Demon of the Waters by Gregory Gibson, which I have not yet read, but I understand is based in part on a newly discovered account of an officer from the U.S. Dolphin, the schooner that eventual rescued the few survivors from Mili Atoll.
The most famous mutiny in history was, of course, the mutiny on the Bounty, where Captain William Bligh was unceremoniously bundled into a longboat with his loyal followers and set adrift. Bligh ended up committing one of the great acts of seamanship, bringing his remaining crew back to civilization in an epic voyage 3600 miles across the South Pacific, while the Bounty mutineers, led by Fletcher Christian, ended up on the remote Pitcairn Island, where their descendents still live today.
Check out Mutiny: A History of Naval Insurrection by Leonard F. Gutterridge for more fearful tales of mutinious crews throughout history.
August 29, 2007
I found this tale interesting enough, except that the final third, describing the rescue of the Globe mutiny's two survivors, is a bit too detailed, and the storytelling momentum that the reader has enjoyed to that point just dies.
Even so, the scene that's going to stay with me comes from that portion of the book: Heffernan describes an outbreak of disease among the natives of the atoll where the Globe's survivors are marooned. The natives have killed seven members of the Globe's crew, sparing just two -- and now popular opinion holds that this disease is divine punishment for tolerating those two among their people.
One of the two Americans, Hussey, tries "to explain that he and is friend could not have been the cause since no such disorder was known in his country," but he's misunderstanding the terms of the debate: It's not a public health policy discussion; it's a theological one. At last he's saved when the highest native authority arrives at a new line of reasoning: The disease is not punishment for suffering the aliens among them; it's punishment for killing their seven crewmates.
This interpretation of events may be more humane from the Americans' perspective, but it's equally irrational, as any modern reader will agree. Won't he? Would he still, if the people of the atoll called their deity Jehova instead of Anit? I couldn't help thinking of the modern American godmongers who explained Hurricane Katrina as heavenly vengeance for the Big Easy's sinful lifestyle, or told us the 9-11 attacks were their god's way of telling us not to tolerate the homosexuals among us. Hut-dwelling island fishermen we may no longer be, but we're still captive to the same primitive superstitions.
Even so, the scene that's going to stay with me comes from that portion of the book: Heffernan describes an outbreak of disease among the natives of the atoll where the Globe's survivors are marooned. The natives have killed seven members of the Globe's crew, sparing just two -- and now popular opinion holds that this disease is divine punishment for tolerating those two among their people.
One of the two Americans, Hussey, tries "to explain that he and is friend could not have been the cause since no such disorder was known in his country," but he's misunderstanding the terms of the debate: It's not a public health policy discussion; it's a theological one. At last he's saved when the highest native authority arrives at a new line of reasoning: The disease is not punishment for suffering the aliens among them; it's punishment for killing their seven crewmates.
This interpretation of events may be more humane from the Americans' perspective, but it's equally irrational, as any modern reader will agree. Won't he? Would he still, if the people of the atoll called their deity Jehova instead of Anit? I couldn't help thinking of the modern American godmongers who explained Hurricane Katrina as heavenly vengeance for the Big Easy's sinful lifestyle, or told us the 9-11 attacks were their god's way of telling us not to tolerate the homosexuals among us. Hut-dwelling island fishermen we may no longer be, but we're still captive to the same primitive superstitions.
April 20, 2014
Most of what this book does is combine three different sources into one rather clean book, with an author who seems truly concerned by how honest the sources are at various times. The first source was an account written by the brothers of Samuel Comstock, the delusional and socio-pathic leader of the mutiny. This is by no means a defence of their brother, especially as one of the brothers was present for the mutiny and saw what his brother was capable of.The second account is one written by two men who were abandoned on the atoll they had landed on after the mutiny, and is the story of their lives among the people native to the islands until they were rescued. The third is the story of the navy vessel, The Dolphin, who was sent to discover what had happened to the men who had been left on the island. It is a cleanly put together story, and an interesting one, not the least because of the interesting nature of the men who were involved.
October 21, 2025
A journey into "the Heart of Darkness..." I was impressed by Joseph Conrad's novel about a journey up the Congo River to find Kurtz and, in this book by Heffernan, I felt it was a similar journey, but one that was true and set in the Pacific, the darkness represented by the madman Samuel Comstock of Nantucket. Comstock went to sea on the whaling ship "Globe" and was able to put into action his plan to seize control of the ship. Following his savage mutiny, Comstock took the ship to an uncharted island in the Pacific to set up his own kingdom.... A bizarre and even chilling story, I won't go into details about what happened to Comstock- and the rest of the seamen of the Globe.
3 1/2 stars rounded up to 4.
3 1/2 stars rounded up to 4.
June 25, 2010
Odd. The book was first published in 2002 but it reads as though it was written in a much earlier time. The language is, at times, antiquated and the author has a difficult time remaining on track. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it. However, it should be read as a reference source and not as literature. If you first take a look at the back you'll notice it has an index. First clue that it is not a convenient read. The appendices are invaluable and should not be passed over. They were, quite probably, my favorite portion.
August 3, 2011
Very interesting story, and well researched - but this book is completely ruined by the way it is written. As a narrative, I found it almost unreadable. The focus frequently shifts abruptly. Major elements of the story (and presumably the most interest ones) are generally given no emphasis whatsoever, which makes you question whether you read the words correctly. And the author has an annoying habit of conversationally interjecting his tangential thoughts, which is disruptive to the flow.
July 28, 2010
Poe used this incident in composing THE NARRATIVE OF ARTHUR GORDON PYM. This book covers the subject adequately, but DEMON OF THE WATERS (I'm finishing that now.) is more dramatic and entertaining a read.
August 9, 2008
Really awesome and fast-paced history of what happens during a whale-ship voyage gone awry.
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