Count Luckner: The Sea Devil

by Lowell Thomas

This book lends a biographical account of the life of Count Luckner, the Sea Devil, the man who commanded the raider Seeadler. The Seeadler was a sailing ship that had broken through the British blockade and played havoc with Allied shipping in the Atlantic and Pacific during the latter part of the war. Luckner looked the part of a Sea Devil; he was a tall, massive man with huge shoulders and a voice that boomed like a foghorn.

Genres: Biography, History, Nonfiction, Travel

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1927

About the author

Lowell Jackson Thomas was an American writer, actor, broadcaster, and traveler, best remembered for publicising T. E. Lawrence. He was also involved in promoting the Cinerama widescreen system.

Reviews

[Hal Brodsky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Count Luckner was a German Count who in World war one set out with a sailing vessel to capture and sink Allied Merchant Ships, without harming their crews. This is the account of his adventures as written by Lowell Thomas, the author of "With Lawrence in Arabia" ( yes, THAT Lawrence of Arabia!). His life from a runaway to his adventures slipping the British blockade and then cpaturing ships takes the reader throgh the first half of the book, and THEN it becomes more interesting (how about a near deadly 2000 mile journey accross the Pacific in an open life boat?). This was an extraodinary year in one man's life.

[Kati · Rating 3 out of 5]

Count Luckner's life was full of exciting, adventurous stories, some of which might actually be true.

This guy is so full of crap.

I'm not saying all of it is BS. Some of it probably is true. But there's no way all of this is true. I'm going to need some independent corroboration.

[Cody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Received this book as a gift from a great man that worked for me. So many great stories in this book...if even a third of them are true, what an incredible life the Sea Devil had! Enjoyed it.

[Jennifer Jeffryes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved reading this (auto)biographical account of the life of Count Luckner’s adventures during WW1. So interesting to be pulled into rooting for the German side.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a history of a forgotten and very successful WW1 Gentleman who fought on the 'losing' side. Well worth reading both as a reminder of how life was in the last century and that not all Germans are deserving of hanging.

[R.W. Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story of Count Luckner is one of the great adventure stories from an era when adventure was turning from sail to steam (as in ships). In fact, by the time of Luckner's exploits during World War One, the setting of adventure on a sailing ship in the era of Jutland and Fisher's Battleships of the line, his success of outrunning modern warships and escaping prison is one of sheer persistence.





The back story of his youth is remarkable on its own. A young count discards nobility to run away to sea (ah! so Howard Pease), jumps ship in Australia to become a boxing champion--all in his mid teens.

[Raymond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did Lowell Thomas write/publish 60 books or 56 books? The record is not clear. Beyond challenge, Thomas, a popular, pioneer news broadcaster for both radio and television, was a prolific writer. He may be remembered best for introducing Lawrence of Arabia to the world and for building the awesome Lawrence legend. Thomas believed he found the German counterpart of Lawrence in Count Felix von Luckner, commander of a four-masted, wooden German raider of World War I who slipped past the British blockade and disrupted Allied shipping. Awesomely, although Luckner and his crew captured and sank Allied merchant ships, they were not responsible for the loss of a single life. The second great Luckner adventure begins when the raider, Seeadler, is lost and the survivors undertake an odyssey in the South Pacific which ends with capture by the British.

[Erik Empson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't vouch for this edition but it is the closest to my 1928 hardback published by The Whitefriars Press in 1928 .

Even if half the stories in the book - all no doubt having undergone some embellishment - were true, it would still be a staggering chronicle of a very daring adventure. Count Felix Luckner, the hero of this tale, became something of a celebrity in Weimar Germany and rightly so for he showed an independent spirit in his career, and gallantry and bravery in command of the IWW German raider, The Seeadler. No doubt the drama of the boat's adventures on the high seas and the men on board was something of an antidote to the grim realities of war elsewhere. Considerable endurance and initiative was shown by these sailors in escapades that truly belong to another world.

[Shawn Blythe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story - as it is written from the recollections of the main character it is somewhat difficult to tell how much actually happened as reported. It would be interesting to read something with other perspectives.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Von Luckner lived such an unreal life, I would've thought this book was fiction, but it's all true! What a character of history. If "the most interesting man in the world" we're a real person, it would be him.

[Christopher Fry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slow start, but got better as it went along. Another example of the evolution of our thinking (well not everyone's) First person account of the court of Tsar Nicholas II was interesting - served mammoth meat (thousands of years old) for dinner!

[Keenan]

Suggested by Laura

[Curtiss]

Another historical study by Lowell Thomas.

I'm looking forward to the time when I have enough time to finally read it, and Thomas's "The First World Flight" as well. [close:]

[Norm · Rating 3 out of 5]

a great book for young teen-age boys...some of it sounds too good to be true.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reads like a fictional adventure novel. It's pretty incredible to think that this actually happened.

[Zac Palmeter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic

It's almost too wild to be true. One of the great adventure books. Too bad noble days have gone by.

[Joseph Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A simply amazing, true story!