Cast Away: Lost and Found in History

by Joseph Cummins

Cast Away recounts, often in their own words, the epic tales of the survivors of shipwreck, mutiny and marooning through the ages and around the globe, focusing on the age of sail and steam. This enthralling book captures some of the most magical, romantic, gruesome, exciting and bizarre stories of the sea. It offers up for the readers delectation the suffering of innocents; the ruthless predations of pirates; the last-resort horrors of cannibalism; encounters with ferocious indigenous tribes; the unfettered madness of religious maniacs and psychopaths; and survival against all odds. And behind every tale of tragedy or triumph is the eternal mystery and majesty of the depthless, merciless, unpredictable ocean.

Paperback

Published January 1, 2008

About the author

Joseph Cummins is the author of numerous books, including Anything for a Vote: Dirty Tricks, Cheap Shots and October Surprises in U.S. Presidential Elections; A Bloody History of the World, which won the 2010 Our History Project Gold Medal Award; and the forthcoming Ten Tea Parties: Patriotic Protests That History Forgot. He lives in Maplewood, New Jersey, with his wife and daughter.

Reviews

[Frances]

I loved this book - each story was gripping and well told. I never knew history could be so exciting!

[Ric Szabo]

Fascinating accounts of nautical dramas of a bygone age, some familiar, others that should be; stories within stories that detail the dangers, spirit, and courage of those that participated....excellent reading.

[Leon Stevens]

I enjoy historical books. This book describes cases of people being shipwrecked in desolate places for different reasons from weather to mutiny. Castaways fought to survive, often with fatal results.

Well written. Cummins takes you right into the experience.