There's a new biography of George Washington out by a female historian named Alex Coe. It's entitled "You Never Forget Your First", which gives you a flavor of the writing--not dull, for sure. I like what I've read so far. The man apparently survived all kinds of diseases--small pox, TB, dysentery--and had terrible dental problems. Like somebody like Captain Cook, you have to admire the sheer determination and stamina of the man.
There's a thick book by Bullock called "Hitler and Stalin"--a comparative biography--which I never finished. He says Stalin admired Hitler and his ruthless political savvy, and might have considered him as a junior partner. I doubt Hitler would have made a separate peace with Stalin--given what happened in 1941, Germany would have been reduced to a puppet state (as East Germany was). I did read something I have never forgotten about the coming of World War II--the dictators never understood that democracies are unpredictable. It is unthinkable that in 1945 the West would have made a deal with Hitler (or that Stalin would have allowed it--he had been wary of that all through the war). But it is true that nobody, not even in the United States, knew what "Give 'em Hell" Harry Truman ("the shopkeeper", as Stalin put it) was like. People found out.
Do college freshmen buy books? Or read them?Or know what they are?
As I remember it, he ended up an Admiral!
I got to see Harry Truman in person back in the early 1960's.
There was an article in the WSJ called "Mr. Truman's Excellent Road Trip". Apparently he drove from Missouri to Washington to give a speech soon after Eisenhower entered office. No secret service--he drove himself (simpler times). He stopped in Pennsylvania for gas and a coke--it was hotter than hell. The gas guys were thrilled. One of them said, "Mr. President, Jim here is a REPUBLICAN!" "Aw, it's too hot to give anybody hell."
Part of Bligh`s problems on the Bounty were down to the fact that he had obtained command despite his relatively lowly origins and that he was despised by Christian who considered himself a " gentleman". Bligh was probably far from perfect, but nevertheless a very able man.
He and his loyal offices were cast adrift in a long boat (they had a sail, I believe). He navigated them to safety--superior seamanship. Christian was later killed on Pitcairn's island by some of the inhabitants, wasn't he?
By one of his own mutineer cohorts!
Only six years to late!
I kind of remember that. Wasn't Barbara involved somehow? Masquerading as Eva?
The real fault was with the Admiralty. The voyage was to transplant "breadfruit" from Tahiti to the British sugar plantations in the West Indies. American independence had cut off food supplies there and the British government feared the African slaves would starve and interrupt the profitable slave trade. The renowned botanist Sir Joseph Banks (who had sailed with Captain Cook and discovered the bread plant - Bligh was on the same voyage and watched Cook bludgeoned to death by natives in Hawaii) recommended a voyage for the purpose. It was only after (mad) King George ordered it that the voyage was started. The navy bought the collier Bethia, built in the Hull shipyard, and more or less converted it to a navy ship. Since they disliked the mission, they under-equipped it. As it was rated by the Admiralty as a cutter, the smallest category of warship, its commander would be a lieutenant rather than a post-captain and would be the only commissioned officer on board. Nor did a cutter warrant the usual detachment of Marines that naval commanders could use to enforce their authority. Bligh assumed the prestigious Bounty appointment on 16 August 1787, at a considerable financial cost; his lieutenant's pay of four shillings a day (£70 a year) contrasted with the £500 a year he had earned as captain of Britannia.- a merchant boat.
Fletcher was shot in the neck by one of the Tahitian native men who had been kidnapped by the mutineers along with Tahitian women (the former to be servants, the latter to be...well, you can guess) over a sexual dispute.
Nah, we all know he really escaped to south America
Pitcairn Island is still a troubled place
And there have been more recent trials. It's one of those weird relics of the British Empire that's forgotten most of the time - note it was only when a British policewoman visited the islands and picked up a seriously nasty scent of what was going on that the FCO was reluctantly stirred into action. The constitutional position of the islands is murky, it took the Privy Council to decide that English Law applies there and can bring offenders to justice.
en.wikipedia.org
