The Mutiny on Board HMS Bounty (Great Illustrated Classics)

This book like the 1984 film dispels the myth of the evil Capt Bligh and the heroic and dashing Mr. Christian. William T Bligh was the greatest naval officer in history. The mutiny itself was not shocking in as much as Bligh's command of it's open launch and the 2600 mile journey he made in it with his loyal officers and men. Such a feat would be incredible today given the size of the Bounty's launch and the meager food and water given to them by the mutineers.

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.

You are going to buy this book, of course you are. How can you not, for it is the actual book written by the notorious Capt. Bligh himself. If you are the least bit interested in the voyage that became the Mutiny on the Bounty and its aftermath, you've got to get to it. This book is fascinating not so much because of the description of the mutiny because Captain Bligh surprisingly has very little to say on the subject. No, you'll find this fascinating stuff because it allows one a glimpse into life in the South Pacific hundreds of years ago, and how miserable a castaway crew can become. You will also be able to form your own opnions about the sort of man Captain Bligh was. It is an interesting and challenging task to do so, however, because the man is careful to conceal most of his personality and emotions behind a rather dry and unimaginative journeyman's description of this adventure. Actually, it is this mechanical and rather bloodless recitation of facts surrounding what was a most terrifying and terrific adventure that clues one in that Captain Bligh, despite being an extraordinary seaman was certainly obtuse and even a bit of a creep (pompous ass, at the very least); at least he made my skin crawl at times. He also caused me to marvel at his many skills and tenacity (orneriness?), and even he was unable to completely suppress his emotions and allow himself free rein to personalize a few of the incidents that occured along the way. Few people could have accomplished his feat, that is to sail more than one thousand miles across the ocean in a small wooden boat filled with a hopeless and starving crew always teetering on the brink of disaster. It's also funny that Bligh turned up in all sorts of places around the globe in his life time and one finds him sprinkled throughout history. Did you know, for instance, that he commanded a ship under Lord Nelson in at least one of that man's most famous battles? He also accompanied the famed Captain Cook on one of his famous voyages which is how he got the job on the Bounty. I've ranked this only four stars because the book is really not a joy to read, Captain Bligh's skills most certainly lay in the nautical world. In this day and age, he probably would have found a ghost writer to lively up his self. Yet, this book is essential grist for the mill of Bounty hunters.