Product Description

The names William Bligh, Fletcher Christian, and the Bounty have excited the popular imagination for more than two hundred years. The story of this famous mutiny has many beginnings and many endings but they all intersect on an April morning in 1789 near the island known today as Tonga. That morning, William Bligh and eighteen surly seamen were expelled from the Bounty and began what would be the greatest open-boat voyage in history, sailing some 4,000 miles to safety in Timor. The mutineers led by Fletcher Christian sailed off into a mystery that has never been entirely resolved.

While the full story of what drove the men to revolt or what really transpired during the struggle may never be known, Penguin Classics has brought together-for the first time in one volume-all the relevant texts and documents related to a drama that has fascinated generations. Here is the full text of Bligh's Narrative of the Mutiny, the minutes of the court proceedings gathered by Edward Christian in an effort to clear his brother's name, and the highly polemic correspondence between Bligh and Christian-all amplified by Robert Madison's illuminating Introduction and rich selection of subsequent Bounty narratives.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #467099 in Books
• Published on: 2001-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780140439168
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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About the Author
William Bligh (1754-1817), was an English admiral and master of the H.M.S. Bounty.

Edward Christian (1758-1823) was the elder brother of Fletcher Christian, the leader of the mutiny.

R. D. Madison is professor of English at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis. He has edited several volumes of military and naval history, including the Penguin Classics edition of Thomas Wentworth Higginson's Army Life in a Black Regiment and Other Writings.

Customer Reviews

More interesting than the fictional accounts
This book is a collection of early documents relating to Fletcher Christian's mutiny against William Bligh in 1789 on the HMS Bounty. The editor claims to have gathered together for the first time "the relevant texts and documents" related to this famous event that has intrigued readers for 200 years. In all, ten documents whose publication dates range from 1790 to 1870 are included. The first four documents make up the body of the book and consist of a series of published statements by William Blight and responses by Edward Christian, Fletcher's brother. Fletcher Christian died on Pitcairn Island and never put his story in print. These four sections are followed by six Appendixes. The first Appendix contains a transcript of Bligh's orders and a botanical description of the breadfruit that the Bounty went to Tahiti to obtain. The remaining five Appendixes are narratives of the lives of those who stayed on the Bounty after the mutiny.

All of these early texts are preceded by a delightful and informative Introduction by the editor that relates the early lives of both Bligh and Christian and discusses their relationship leading up to the mutiny. It describes the mission of the Pandora to seek out the Bounty and bring back any mutineers they can find. Also covered is the trial and disposition of those sailors brought back from Tahiti. Lastly, the Introduction goes on to summarize the history of Bounty documentation and scholarship, from Bligh's first published account right on through the famous fictionalized Bounty trilogy by Nordhoff and Hall. The Introduction is followed by a one page listing of suggested further readings.

The first section of the book is Bligh's 1790 account of the mutiny and subsequent voyage of he and 18 crew members in the ship's 23 foot boat. He quickly recounts the details of the mutiny on the first four pages and then spends the remaining 62 pages on his heroic and epic voyage across 3,600 miles of the South Pacific that took about a month and a half. Bligh depicts himself as a dedicated leader who saved the lives of all but one crew member in this fascinating and arduous journey.

The second section of the book is the proceedings of the court martial of those brought back to face charges of mutiny, published in 1794 by Edward Christian in an attempt to exonerate his brother. This text consists of a written statement by Bligh, a series of interrogations of the Bounty crew regarding the events of the mutiny, and an Appendix by Edward. A picture of Bligh as a tyrant emerges from this testimony. It is 86 pages long and somewhat repetitive, but still an interesting document to read. The 20 page Appendix at the end of is Edward Christian's attempt to show that his brother had cause for his actions. Although he does not try to justify his brother's actions, he tries to show the state of desperation that his brother was driven to by Bligh's actions. Bligh was at sea when this was published and, when he returned home, he published in 1795 "An Answer..." to the statements of the Appendix which is included as the third section of this book. To this Edward Christian wrote and published a "Short Reply..." that is the fourth section of this book. This interchange in writing between Bligh and Edward Christian is wonderful to read because it presents both sides of the story in a very balanced and fair manner. Without having Fletcher Christian to defend his own actions, this set of documents is the next best thing we have to a fair presentation of both sides of the case.

The above documents alone would have made a wonderful and enlightening book. The editor goes on to present in the Appendixes documents that tell the story of those men who followed Fletcher Christian to Tahiti or Pitcairn Island. The first Appendix is a copy of Bligh's orders to go to Tahiti and a description of the breadfruit he was to bring to Jamaica. The second Appendix is an 1870 retelling of a journal kept by one of the sailors who was taken by the Pandora from Tahiti as a mutineer. It tells of the harsh treatment these 14 received aboard this ship and how four died when the ship sank. The next two Appendixes are accounts written by crew members of a ship that visited Pitcairn Island 19 years after the mutiny in 1808. They tell the story of the crew that landed there with Fletcher Christian and their history and families. By this time only one of the nine members of the original Bounty crew that landed on the island remained alive. The last two Appendixes are the story of one of the Tahitian women who married a Bounty crew member and the story of the last surviving crew member himself.

Altogether these various documents pieced together tell what we can know of the Bounty mutiny. They make fascinating reading, more interesting than the fictional accounts. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in tales of the sea.

An Amazing Book
What an amazing book. Using the original source materials--Bligh's diary, the transcript of the Bounty Court Martial, Fletcher Christian's brother's defense of the mutineers, and other materials--the Editor R.D. Madison has put together a book which is impossible to put down. Indeed, the book leaves the reader wishing it were twice as long. Madison refuses to take sides in the Bligh v. Christian debate, and lets the record speak for itself. Since the record is contradictory and nobody is unbiased, the effect, in cinematic terms, is more like "Roshomon" than either of the two Bounty movies. William Bligh comes across as an incredibly brave man with an indomitable will--yet he has a tendency to whine, and worse, he stoops to securing affidavits which do not even pass the smell test. Fletcher Christian comes across as a 23-year old hothead who lets the men talk him into leading a mutiny--and can't control the situation after the mutiny. Christian petulantly refuses to have dinner with the Captain on the eve of the mutiny. Clark Gable, he clearly ain't. The moral world of the Bounty is painted entirely in shades of gray; the men of the Bounty are imperfect and all too human.

Not only is the reader treated to a great detective story, but it is a story with an absorbing and instructive sequel. The book ends with a contemporary account, first published in the 1830's, of the subsequent history of Pitcairn's Island as told by the last survivor of the Bounty, "John Adams" (an alias). Adams described a harrowing descent into mayhem and murder by the mutineers who made it to Pitcairn's Island along with their native friends. The disputes began with a dispute over--you guessed it--who would possess a native woman. Except for Adams, Fletcher Christian his gang were all killed, along with the native men. In the end, John Adams sets up a harmonious society based on Biblical principles.

I have been scratching my head for two whole weeks since finishing this book, pondering its meaning. And that is a high recommendation, indeed.

Mostly a Disappointment
This is my first review. I feel that some of the 'rave reviews' I read for this volume did not adequately describe several flaws that I feel need mentioning.

I bought this book because I wanted to read the contemporary accounts of the Bounty mutiny to gain an understand of both sides of the issues involved, and to make a personal decision on what happened and why. This edition was touted as allowing me to do just that. However I found that the editor, in his introduction, tries to do some of my thinking for me. I feel that, in a book of this sort, the editor should not be telling us his version of the story, particularly at the beginning of the book. Mr Madison may well believe that Captain Bligh was the villian in this tragedy with Mr Christian the poor sensitive victim, but I wish he would keep it to himself and limit himself to background and supplemental material.

Another disappointment is that apparently, the chapter titled "Minutes of the Proceedings of the Court-Martial held at Portsmouth, August 12, 1792." is not the real minutes at all, but a partial transcript provided by Edward Christian (Fletcher's brother). I'm not sure I understand why the actual court transcript was not available and what is missing in the version we have. I do know we have to rely on a version published by the 'defendant's" brother. Is that really conducive to getting an objective picture?

That said, the book is still interesting and does give the reader a fairly comprehensive picture of the events of that spring morning in 1789.