Come Hell and High Water: Extraordinary Stories of Wreck, Terror and Triumph on the Sea [Hardcover]

Jean Hood (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 5, 2007

Readable, entertaining mini-histories of extraordinary shipwrecks, some famous (Titanic, Kursk) some little known.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

These 17 stories of catastrophes at sea demonstrate why shipwrecks have been a mainstay of literature since Homer's Odyssey. English sea historian Hood (Marked for Misfortune) begins with three mid-18th-century shipwrecks, all resulting from bad weather, bad luck, unsafe ships and incompetent leadership. Though the invention of radio, metal hulls, the internal combustion engine and effective safety regulations eventually ameliorate these problems, in this collection they only figure in the last two stories, about 21st-century Russian submarine sinkings. Except for the tragedy of the Titanic, most of these unhappy events have faded into obscurity; but in their time, the news of mass death accompanied by horror, courage, cowardice and sacrifice produced universal shock. Since survivors rushed to tell their stories, there is no shortage of documentation. Skillfully mining the archives, Hood produces a gripping narrative illuminating ship operation, nautical terms and historical context, so readers have a clear idea of not only what happened but why. But despite wonderful material and obvious writing talent, Hood relies too much on invented dialogue, internal monologues and short, speculative scenarios. Readers who can overlook those unfortunate interludes will enjoy a relentlessly fascinating series of horrific sea disasters. 24 b&w photos. (Apr.)
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From Booklist

A positively brilliant addition to popular maritime history is this omnibus of historic shipwrecks, ranging in notoriety from the demise of the Titanic (which may by now have been done to death, but which Hood eloquently describes, nevertheless) to the mid-eighteenth-century burning at sea of a French East Indiaman. The conduct of those aboard the doomed vessels has ranged from the mass murder committed by the captain of the French frigate Meduse to the sublime heroism of Captain Carlsen's refusal to desert the Flying Enterprise until she sank underneath him (see also Frank Delany's outstanding Simple Courage, 2006). Hood, former press officer for renowned marine insurers Lloyd's of London, places each disaster in the context of shipbuilding technology, maritime law, and seafaring standards in its era. For the utterly lay reader, she provides a glossary; for serious students of maritime history, scholarly apparatus sufficient to permit delving deeper more or less at will. A superior reminder of what can happen to those who go down to the sea in ships. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Burford Books (February 5, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580801439
• ISBN-13: 978-1580801430
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,240,505 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for the general-interest public lending library., May 16, 2007

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Come Hell and High Water: Extraordinary Stories of Wreck, Terror and Triumph on the Sea (Hardcover)

Seventeen stories of naval disaster, heroism, and tragedy have been researched and read with the high drama of a novel in COME HELL AND HIGH WATER: EXTRAORDINARY STORIES OF WRECK, TERROR AND TRIUMPH ON THE SEA. From a sunken sub whose rescue involved revolutionary new techniques to a ship which sank because if the captain had turned back, he'd have to refund fares, COME HELL AND HIGH WATER is packed with high drama and offers any with an interest in shipwrecks or sea stories to enjoy a vivid collection. Perfect for the general-interest public lending library.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Packed full of excitement, detail and human drama., May 12, 2009

By 

Ned Middleton (British professional underwater photo-journalist & author) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Come Hell and High Water: Extraordinary Stories of Wreck, Terror and Triumph on the Sea (Hardcover)

This is a compendium of short stories with a single theme - Shipwreck. There are 16 separate tales of tragedy each of which is based on fact and author Jean Hood is at her very best as she recounts all the passion, exhilaration, misfortune, bad luck, incompetence and loss of life which played a part in each disaster.

Whilst less than half the vessels covered were previously known to me, I learned much from the various accounts. From the earliest wrecks of 1752 (Prince) and 1755 (Dodington), we are given an authentic taste of what being shipwrecked was really like - through the ages, where further reports include the Méduse (1816), San Francisco (1853), USS Squalus (1939) and even the Kursk (2000) - to name but some.

The key to this excellent product is undoubtedly the remarkable degree of research which went into each of those 16 chapters. It is only from such a thorough and painstaking examination of minute detail that any author is able to provide the reader with a full and accurate description of what actually happened. This is supported, at the end of each chapter, by an extensive bibliography and "Notes" which reveal those sources. These include everything from national archive references from the relevant country, to books, newspapers and personal accounts. The equally exhaustive "Notes" contain anything (and everything) of relevance to that particular chapter such as an explanation of a ship type, or ASDIC or a description of what happened in later years to a central character.

From Chapter 2, we learn how Clive of India might have sailed on the ill-fated Dodington but, instead, travelled to India in the Streatham. The revelation of this defining moment from history serves to underline the value of all that research.

One might almost describe this as a book with no "margins" because the text fills every single page from top to bottom and side to side providing the reader with excellent value for money. In a word, this book is complete. It is also a job well done.

NM

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Come Hell and High Water, August 1, 2008

By 

Annie Onamouse (Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Come Hell and High Water: Extraordinary Stories of Wreck, Terror and Triumph on the Sea (Hardcover)

I'm only part way through this book but I'm on the edge of my seat. Great value for the $ also.