Shipwrecked!: Deadly Adventures and Disasters at Sea

by Evan L. Balkan

For readers who relish the image of clinging to a sinking makeshift raft while fighting off sword-wielding and delirious mutineers wrenching the last cask of water from a sailor's sun-scorched hands (while sharks circle in famished anticipation), Shipwrecked! Adventures and Disasters at Sea is an irresistible read. A heady voyage through human suffering at the hands of unforgiving oceans, cruel captains, and implacable fate, this latest collection of Evan Balkan's impeccably researched true adventures details 14 major maritime disasters. Included are such legendary stories as the 1629 maiden voyage of the Batavia that ended in mutiny and murder, and the dramatic destruction of the majestic three-masted barquentine Endurance in ice-clogged Antarctic waters in 1912. A vast spectrum of human emotion and activity is featured in these exciting profiles, from deadly incompetence and brutish cannibalism to surprising self-sacrifice and quiet heroism.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

188 pages, Paperback

First published July 28, 2008

Reviews

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's poorly written and could definitely benefit from editing. Some parts were so badly written that they were plain confusing and it was impossible to tell what's even happening. Looks like the author turned Wikipedia pages into a book in a hurry without paying attention to clarity.

Also more than half of the book was devoted to cannibalism. You might as well call this book "Cannibalism" since this topic takes more space in the book than actual shipwrecks.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very quick read that gives a brief overview of quite a few shipwrecks, with a few castaway tales thrown in. The wrecks discussed are the Peggy, Essex, Mignonette, Nottingham Galley, Francis Mary, Stirling Castle, Batavia, Medusa, Karluk, Degrave, Grosvenor, Commerce, and Endurance. The castaways are Pedro de Serrano (possibly fictional), Alexander Selkirk (the inspiration for Robinson Crusoe), Phillip Ashton, and a group of Russian men who were stranded on an island named Spitsbergen.

It's a good book for what it is, but will probably mostly appeal to those who haven't already read much about the subject. If you know a little about any of the individual wrecks, you won't get new information here. And if you're really into this type of story then you might be a bit disappointed by the short number of pages devoted to each ship. It also could have used a bit more editing, I occasionally ran across confusingly worded sentences, unexplained ship-related jargon, and inconsistently cited sources.

Still, this book works for what it's meant to be, a general book about shipwreck stories. The descriptions and bibliography would be a great jumping off point for further reading.