Customer Reviews

Schooner Sunset: The Last British Sailing Coasters

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

 

 

This is a superb book, if you are after deep understanding of sailing coasters. The detail in the descriptions is second to none, coming as it does from someone who worked on these ships and at the same time had a strongly intelligent interest in them. Strangely the book was not published in the author's lifetime, because apparently publishers were put off by the tremendous detail. But it is especially the technical guts, the many illustrations, the thread of autobiography and the understated, straightforward style that makes this book a true classic. The only fault is that there is no hardcover edition - there should be a proper collector's binding for this fine work. I have this book in my 'inner circle' of books on ships and shipbuilding, as it is one of the brilliant ones.

I well know the beauty of the American Gloucester fishing schooner. But here is the story of the functional merchant British craft from across the pond. The fellow who wrote the book sailed as a crewman on the schooners. If you are a modeler or want to know how things were really done and why then get the bloody book before it goes out of print. Nice photos, illustrations and plans.