Customer Reviews

The Prize of All the Oceans: Commodore Anson's Daring Voyage and Triumphant Capture of the Spanish Treasure Galleon

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I have to confess, I have the original accounts referred to in this book, both the principal work and the ancillary books. And I have read Mr. Williams book on the Great South Sea. He is somewhat scholastic and his scholarship gets in the way of the story a bit, but what a story ! We have never known the thrill that these adventurers experienced, the fears, the unknown, the injury and death. We just do not know their world. It's a great book of a great adventure. I thank Mr. Williams for it.

Williams, Glyn, The Prize of All the Oceans: The Dramatic True Story of Commodore Anson's Voyage Round the World and How He Seized the Spanish Treasure Galleon, New York: Viking1999

"Commodore George Anson's voyage of 1740-44 holds a unique and terrible place in British maritime history. The misadventures of this attempt by Royal Navy ships to sail round the world make a dramatic story of hardship, disaster, mutiny and endurance. Only one of Anson's squadron, the flagship Centurion, completed her mission. The other vessels were wrecked, scuttled, or forced back in shattered condition. Out of more than 1,900 men who sailed from Spithead in September 1749, almost 1,400 died, most from disease or starvation. There were circumstances of particular horror about he departure from England, for crammed on board Anson's ship as soldiers were hundreds of disabled veterans from past wars, almost all of whom died before the ships reached their destinationi of the South Sea." Preface

Review by pete saussy: excellent explication of a tortuous web of accounts and incidents, profusely illustrated with drawings and maps from the original accounts. If you thought the disaster at sea stories about the Titanic and the Perfect Storm were horrific, imagine four years of the torture! Of interest to South Carolinians, Anson had been Naval station commander at Charleston prior to his long voyage and quite a property owner of what is now Ansonborough. He started a long tradition of naval involvement in development of the holy city

I found The Prize of All the Oceans to be well written and nicely researched book. George Anson's voyage around the world which resulted in a captured of a major Spanish treasure ship haven't been told in such details in a long time. I believed the author did good justice to this subject. This book recounts this amazing story of a four year journey where the British fleet of six became one and over 80% of the original crew didn't make it back to England thanks to dieases, mutiny, the elements of mother nature and callous disregards by the British naval authorities who outfitted this mission. By all regards, this voyage should have been considered as a total disaster for the British Navy and its leader should have been court-martial and shot on the deck of his own flag ship. But one single act redeem this voyage and its commander, the captured of the rich and legendary Spanish galleon. This book tells the story of such voyage and the men who sailed it. Its also a story of George Anson, one determined commander who probably realized that he was falling into the pits of hell unless he can redeem himself and what was left of his men by peforming one major task which will correct all the wrongs that have happened so far.

Its pretty amazing to read a story like this, where the human ignorance, the sea and the elements were the true enemies instead of their human opponents. Also considering that there isn't too many books written during this time period on naval affair, I would say that this book should interest any one who got any interest in the world of wooden ships and iron men.

Anson's famous (and mostly disastrous) voyage, told in detail. An excellent exposition of many aspects of the Royal Navy 50 years before Trafalgar; mutiny, scurvy, provisioning, fearful conditions. Good for anyone who like O'Brian or Forester.

Though most of us flinch or wince at the thought of 'cracking open the history books' no one should be apprehensive to read this excellently written narrative of a little known piece of maritime history. I hadn't heard of George Anson, the Spanish Treasure Galleon or any other of the details that are covered in this book but that didn't prevent me from an early fascination with it. I had only briefly read portions of the opening chapters while in a bookstore and wasn't able to purchase it because I had committed to purchasing other books already. It made an immediate impact on me and quite naturally made my reading list; someone surprised me at work a few short months later by bringing this in for me to read. It took me only a few days to absorb this harrowing and dramatic British naval tale; in fact I was quite upset that it was so short a read! Not since my reading of Larry McMurtry's 'Lonesome Dove' have I been so disappointed to get to the end of a book and find there was no more reading left.

Filled with high adventure, heroic journeys, unconscionable suffering and considerable heartbreak 'Prize' is gripping to the very end. Each of the seven ships in the squadron has a story worth recounting and Williams manages to fit each ships' tale within his book. My personal favorite portion of 'Prize' is the chapter titled "The Missing Ships" which details the loss of three of them, and in particular I found the story of the Wager the most compelling. If the author had only taken to tell the saga of this singular ship and it's crew and miseries it would have been worth reading for it alone. Their story of shipwreck, survival, mutiny and reclamation is of mythical proportions but incredibly it is all too true.

Eminently readable Williams has crafted a terrifying account of a naval squadron of British ships hopelessly undermanned, ravaged by disease and starvation and beaten severely by incredible sea storms, that somehow defy all odds and manage to accomplish their lofty and seemingly out of reach goal. Though the cost is high - Anson loses nearly two-thirds of the crew - the author prevents us from becoming one-dimensional in our thinking and keeps us intrigued through his expert analysis and interpretation of all the historical documents still in existence. Williams was even fortunate to have uncovered a diary kept by one of the squadron's officers that helped to illuminate some areas of contention that had long been a source of squabbling among historians. Twenty years in the making, 'The Prize Of All The Oceans' is almost certain to be classified the definitive account of this page in history. The author's research is faultless and unquestionable as you'll note by the inclusion of many footnotes as well two appendixes. Not just recommended reading but a must for anyone who reads; this is a book that will thrill any reader and live in their imagination long after they have finished it.

Although its tone is rather academic, this book is plotted like a novel. Williams digs deep and wide to find material about Anson's incredible journey. Some events of the voyage of his fleet seem scarcely credible in hindsight: the use of invalids as troops, the death toll from scurvy, the series of wrecks and rescues.

If you didn't already know from the title that Anson actually succeeded in capturing the fabled Manila galleon -- though not where or when he anticipated -- you'd never predict it from the chronicle of disasters that preceded.

Many of the survivors of Anson's voyage -- by which I mean officers, because the toll about the folk on lower decks was extraordinary -- went on to become prominent naval heroes in the later eighteenth century, and he himself never looked back from this success.

I have read a good bit of age-of-sail nautical history, but this was the first book I have read about this time period (most books are about the period of about 1775-1815) and I found it to be very interesting as well as exciting. In spite of the fact that Anson's ship was able to capture the Manila Galleon, for which Anson gained fame and fortune, this voyage was, for the most part, a terrible tragedy. Anson and some of his men are only able to survive this ordeal through toughness, hard work, luck, and just a grim determination not to die. The most tragic aspect of this voyage was the fate of the sick and disabled men that were put on these ships with the expectation that they could be used as an army to conquer parts of South America. That plan was so unrealistic that it is amazing that it was actually tried. The conditions on board the ships on their way to the South Pacific were absolutely horrifying. One of the ships becomes wrecked on the west coast of South America and enough drama ensues as they fight to survive to fill a whole book by itself. The battle against the Manila Galleon was not quite as exciting as I hoped it would be, however. In conclusion, as with many dramatic true stories, this voyage was exciting to read about, but it would have been hell on earth to experience.

For myself, I have a high standard for my reading: I want to be a different person on the last page than I was on the first. As John Adams said, Everything should be done with reflection. So, if you can't manage even a modicum of personal growth from your reading, the time could have been spent equally productively twittling your thumbs. The Prize of All the Oceans by Gwyn Williams, though bargain-priced from most sources, is illuminating on multiple levels. Besides providing stirring examples of courage, weakness, incredible hardship, inspired leadership and mindless bureaucracy, Williams also demonstrates how to write a gripping and moving history book. I would recommend The Prize of All the Oceans to anyone that did not sail aboard one of Commodore Anson's ships around the world to capture the treasure-ladened galleon that oscillated annually betwixt Manila and Acapulco in the mid 18th century: they already know the story.

This is the sort of book I find hard to put down.

From the very beginning, the reader finds themselves constantly amazed that Anson made it ten miles from Britain, let alone circumnavigated the globe, achieved the goal of siezing the Manila galleon and, for good measure, ransacked a city or two in faraway South America.

Anson lost over 70% of his men, the remaining ones hardly fit to work, he lost most of his ships for one reason or another however he never lost hope and this, ultimately, led to him capturing the Prize of all the Oceans.

A thoroughly enjoyable, well-researched book from Mr Williams.

This book is a historical account of an amazing naval voyage from the 1740s. The British sent out a fleet of six ships in secret to go after the Treasure ships that yearly sailed east from Mexico across the pacific. The journey took four years during which almost everything that can possibly happen at sea happened to the crew. Even the crew gradually changed and by the third year at sea, 80% of the men that had set out were no longer on the ships.

What made the voyage special was that against all odds, they eventually found the spanish treasure ships and landed a historical haul. The ship held 1.3 million pieces of eight and thousands of pounds of sliver. The book also covers the ship's careful return with the treasure to England, the national acclaim that all received when they returned and the decent of everything concerning the money into a long legal battle.

Williams blends a great deal of history and research into a good narrative story. It has all the qualities that make for good history in book form. I dont think there is anything particularly new in terms of the scholarship, but williams does a great job in putting everything together into a comprehensive story of the voyage and its aftermath.