The Mutiny on Board H.M.S. Bounty

Depending on your mindset when you read this collection, this can be a great analytical read on the most infamous mutiny in western naval history. The most important point to understand about this collection is that it is meant to illustrate the power of language. The accounts in the book are from many of the people either directly involved in the Bounty mutiny or were closely affected by it. When reading the different accounts, the reader will see how each author utilizes rhetorical strategies to sway the reader to sympathize for their agenda. It is from this use of rhetoric that the reader can see the types of people these men truly were. Captain Bligh uses facts and exact and minute details to recall the events before and after the mutiny. It shows he is a very astute and analytical thinker who was perhaps out of touch with his crew. From Edward Christian we can see the type of fire and passion that he and his brother (Fletcher, the initiator of the mutiny) possessed. The develop of these people based on simply their own writing is quite astounding. In all, these primary writings are a good source for historical analysis and also important to document the use of rhetorical strategies in written language.

In The Mutiny on Board HMS Bounty is about man named William Bligh who as a boy of only 16 starts sailing on British ships. The events that happen to this man happen mostly on the South Seas. William eventually becomes a captain of a vessel called the HMS Bounty. He never expected the most dastardly dead that men can do on a ship would happen to him especially by the one man he trusted most Fletcher Christian. Christian was an officer that Bligh had taught everything to he was going to be his successor. Evidently Fletcher Christian wanted to be the successor earlier than planned. As I started reading The Mutiny on Board HMS Bounty I thought that Bligh was a tuff commanded that treated his men very harshly. As I read on though, he may not have treated them harsh enough to keep them from committing mutiny. They committed the worst crime a sailor can commit out on the open seas. A crime that is punishable by death. If he would have treated them more severely when they took extra food and water that he ordered them not to take they may not have committed what they did. "I found necessary to punish Mathew Quintal, one of the seamen, for insolence and mutinous behavior" (William Bligh 40). William Bligh is the only captain that I know of that could captain a rotten, smaller vessel that barely fits all eighteen of his men, fight off hostile natives and eventually make back to England. He also managed to keep his men's spirits up when the times were really tough. He even gave away part of his rations to keep his men healthy. "Come back, man! You'll be killed!" (Bligh 164). One part of this book that bothered me the whole time until the very end was, "Why did then men of the Bounty commit mutiny and leave the captain with the mostly skilled workers when they new if the men that were set adrift made it back home they would be hung when found by the English government. "When we were put of the Bounty, we had only enough food for five days. The mutineers must have decided that we could find shelter only at the Friendly Islands" (Bligh 234). I think readers learn a lot from this book. Not only is it a great book it teaches readers that if you believe in what you want to achieve anything can happen. The men on the little raft believed and they made it to the English settlements and eventually made it all the way back to England which was a wonderful achievement. These men believed in there leader (William Bligh) and he came through for them by leading them to safety and only losing six men.

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 i

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.

I have the 1980 hardback edition. It is without a doubt one of the best books on the subject of the bounty. The illustrations are great.