Customer Reviews

Annapolis

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Annapolis was my first William Martin book. I have since read everything except the out of print "The Rising of the Moon". Growing up just miles from Annapolis, the title drew me in while I was looking for a casual read. Boy was I wrong. From the beginning I was enraptured with the history of the US Navy and the people who made it the greatest force afloat. His familiar style of telling a history now and then until the complete historical fabric is woven is an entertaining vehihcle that maintains the relevance of the material. For Martin, history is more than a collection of dates. It lives and he breathes life into it for his readers.

The sequence in the South Pacific haunts me even now two years after reading the novel. Martin ably carries on the traditon of historical story telling from Michener. He has demonstrated the ability to paint on the large canvas (Annapolis), the small canvas (Cape Cod) and the personal canvas (Citizen Washington).

I look forward to learning more about my country and its heroes great and small from Martin in the future.

I loved this book and recommend it as a must read. Books like this should be mandated in schools however the stark nature of reality would keep this book out of curricula. Instead, students will continue to learn fabled accounts of how America came to be. It would be so much better if children were taught that some fairly ordinary people with faults like us came together and became something extrordinary. This is what Martin does best.

I found this book covered in dust on the back shelf of a dollar store of all places and thought..why not, its only a buck. After reading the first two pages I was ASTOUNDED, and couldn't believe my luck. Two pages is all it takes to be swept into the mastery of Martin's writing and carried away into another time.
This book is an absolute MUST HAVE for anyone into historical novels, or just appreciates an EXCELLENT read. The span of this book is fantastic and from the 1700's to the 1990's keeps you glued to its pages,with hope in your heart that its been sprinkled with nevernever dust and will not end.
I like to think William Martin knew the depth of attachment that would be aquired by its readers, and thoughtfully weans the reader of the world of Annapolis in the final two chapters. I have never been more pleased with a collection of words in my life. Get this book! You will not regret it.

Are you seeking a book with a panoramic sweep of American History? Do you wish to view it through the prism of perhaps the most tradition-bound institution in the United States? Do you want to witness the great battles that changed history and altered the map of the world? Do you want to see proud families clash? Behold Admirals' egos? Eavesdrop on the great personalities who have strutted history's stage? Then William Martin's sprawling ANNAPOLIS is for you! It's an almost 800 page epic you'll be sorry to finish. A work, I think you'll agree, begging to be a mini-series.
William Martin is a wonderful storyteller and Historian who brings life and breath - and breadth - to the people and events that propel his story - our story! Most of the historical moments you'll recognize. Others will be new and some will be revelations; but all of them are more interesting in his telling. From the battles waged by the U. S. S. Constitution to the sparring of the Monitor and the Merrimack....From Midway to the rivers of Vietnam, Martin's U. S. Navy - and his Stafford family - help shape and protect America. In light of recent dark days in our history, this story is more relevant than ever. It's a 5-Star effort from a 5-Star talent. It's unquestionably the best book of this type I have ever read.
Pick up this book! Keep your 'eyes in the boat,' and before long you'll understand why what's good for the U. S. Navy is good for the United States of America!

I started this book and quickly became concerned that it would turn into The Hatfields and McCoys duke it out on the high seas. With the rather lame interaction between the Stafford and Parrish family constantly battling for supremacy over the ancestral home, I was just about ready to give up on Annapolis. Then the book picked up with rousing tales of naval battles throughout American history and the book soon turned into a fun historical page turner. A decent primer for someone interested in America's naval history, albeit with a fictional framework.

In this 1996 bestseller Martin follows the fortunes of a Maryland Family, the Staffords, from a tragic French pirate raid up the Chesapeake in1745 to the first flight of a Gulf War pilot in the present generation.

A strongly patriarchal family (with no lack of independent women), the Stafford motto remains, through the centuries, "One son for the soil and one son for the sea," meaning one to manage the plantation and one to safeguard it from pirates. And, as time went on, "one for family and one for nation."

With the growing city of Annapolis at its hub, the story traces the rise of America. At the heart of the family history is their city house, Stafford's Fine Folly, a mansion that was built and lost and won and lost again through the fortunes, weaknesses and quarrels of generations of Staffords.

As the book opens, Jack Stafford, 78, a liberal journalist, is nearing the conclusion of his fictionalized but faithful family history. "But when he came to the grayest area of them all - the things the Staffords had done, and failed to do, in the war that ended certainty for good - he couldn't finish."

Jack sends sections of his book to a distant cousin, Susan Browne, an independent filmmaker doing a piece on the Stafford family. As she interviews Jack's brother, Tom, a Navy admiral, and corresponds with Jack and meets their Navy nephew, son of the brother who died in Vietnam, she begins to realize there is unfinished business in the Stafford family. Vietnam has left scars.

Between short sections in which Susan probes for the murky secret that divides the brothers, confronts an oddly bitter family connection named Oliver Parrish, and observes with growing emotion the struggle over who gets Stafford's Fine Folly, the reader is treated to Jack's novel.

Jack's family history is driven and punctuated by the country's wars and conflicts. Martin is at his best writing action. The sea battles of America's first tiny fleet are captivating, the sense of personal danger immediate, the smell of gunpowder and the slam of cannon balls vivid.

Back home the first of the fallings out between the Staffords and the Loyalist Parrishes concerns the loss of a house and a broken promise. A Capulet and Montague relationship right out of Romeo and Juliet seems assured but never quite materializes, mostly because the Staffords aren't hateful enough. Or else they're just plain oblivious.

The families' rivalry continues through the Civil War when the Staffords themselves are divided. Slave-owning but patriotic Annapolis Academy veterans and friends to presidents from Washington on, all but one of the Stafford men remain Union. Martin doesn't ignore the politics of the times but the battles themselves command most of his attention.

Much of the suspense derives from Martin's riveting descriptions of fear and exhiliration, noise and blood and lightning-quick changes of fortune. And part of the suspense is due to never knowing who will survive. Many Staffords die in battle and Martin seldom gives warning.

After the Civil War, while the book remains a thoroughly enjoyable read, the politics grow more complicated and the family becomes harder to keep track of, simply because there are now so many to remember. The present, and the family secret, exerts a stronger pull.

Martin does not disappoint. In a few short chapters he brings to life the ugliness of Vietnam from the innermost circles of power to the intimate gore in the jungle. In a two-pronged conclusion, he delivers a shocking blow and a catharsis strong enough to heal the family.

A rousing and suspenseful saga.

Are you seeking a book with a panoramic sweep of American History? Do you wish to view it through the prism of perhaps the most tradition-bound institution in the United States? Do you want to witness the great battles that changed history and altered the map of the world? Do you want to see proud families clash? Behold Admirals' egos? Eavesdrop on the great personalities who have strutted history's stage? Then William Martin's sprawling ANNAPOLIS is for you! It's an almost 800 the page epic you'll be sorry to finish. A work, I think you'll agree, begging to be a mini-series.
William Martin is a wonderful storyteller and Historian who brings life and breath - and breadth - to the people and events that propel his story....our story! Most of the historical moments you'll recognize. Others will be new, and some will be revelations; but all of them are more interesting in his telling! From the battles waged by the U. S. S. Constitution to the sparring of the Monitor and Merrimack. From Midway to the rivers of Vietnam, Martin's U. S Navy - and his Stafford family - help shape and protect America. In light of recent dark days in our history, this story is more relevant than ever. It's a 5 star effort from a 5 star talent.
Pick up this book! Keep your 'eyes in the boat,' and before long you'll understand why what's good for the U. S. Navy is good for the United States of America!

I agree with Steve Clark's review of this book. It was an excellent book to read. Like Steve wrote, I agree that a Parrish family tree and a few maps would have helped, but still... My wife first got me into historically-based fiction with Jeff Shaara's Gods and Generals and then David Nevin's 1812. I was really excited when she got me this book that was not only historically-based fiction, but also NAVY oriented! 8-) Martin has an excellent writing style. The only thing that I didn't like about the book was I thought it was too short. I enjoyed it so much I wanted the chapters to be longer... Each chapter would have made a really good book I think. Anyway, if you are a lover of naval history and or historically based fiction, then this is a must-read for you.

I wasn't familiar with William Martin previous to picking up Annapolis at a Walgreens for a 5 hr airplane ride at the last minute. But DAMN', this is one hell of a saga! -I couldn't put it down.
Please read other reviews to get a more in depth summary on the plot; I'd like to highlight how excited I was to find this gem! Yes, it's huge! ..almost 900 pages; but it reads so fast. Getting to know the many generations of the Stafford and Parrish clans are wonderful! The saga begins around the 1700s and traces the Stafford's involvement in the naval battles of each war and ends modern day. Again, it's the first Martin book I've read, but it was much better than any Michener novel I've read (almost every Michener has about 300 pages that bore the crap out of me! -not one section of Annapolis put me to sleep!)
I particularly loved the "Forrest Gump-ish" chance encounters with famous / infamous historical figures throughout the book (i.e. Washington, McClellan, Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth, Teddy Roosevelt, and got a kick out meeting the young Billy Halsey & Ray Spruance at the Academy, etc)
In short (I apologize), the effort, research, humor, storyline, characters, and brilliance were amazing and much appreciated. I will put this book in the hands of family, friends, and strangers. Any maritime enthusiast, heavy or light, should read this book. It reads super fast and the creativity makes it a joy.
Thanks Mr. Martin and I look forward to reading your other novels.

After I wrote a review for Cape Cod, Mr. Martin emailed me saying that I would also like Annapolis...and I did. Even though my intense interest in history had not included naval history, Mr. Martin made the description of the ships and the battles, as well as the developments of the U.S. Navy very readable. At times it was a little difficult to follow the family lines, especially since the Parrish family members were not included in the genealogy tables. The reason for only four stars is that, in my opinion, all historical novels MUST contain at least one map. Annapolis has none. A map showing the Western Shore of Maryland would have been helpful.

I love history and family sagas that show us a time and a place and the people who inhabited them. This is the best I've read in this genre in a long time. Not only do we meet a six generations of a fictional naval family, we also meet all four presidents on Mount Rushmore and some other famous faces, too. According to the author bio, William Martin has also made films, and it shows, because you can visualize every scene as if it were a movie playing in front of you.