Product Description
Get a length up on the competition with cutting-edge technique, training, and racing information. Let the top rowing coaches and scientists in the world steer you to ultimate success, starting with sound training and racing principles and adding increasingly advanced instruction, drills, and insights all the way to the finish.

Rowing Faster is the most comprehensive and detailed guide for achieving excellence in the sport. Inside you’ll find the following advice:

· Techniques, drills, and progressions used by World and Olympic champions to master every phase of the stroke · Tests to assess your rowing fitness and workouts to develop an aerobic base, increase anaerobic threshold, improve VO2max, and build rowing-specific strength and power · A rowing periodization plan to sequence all the training components into a complete training program to maximize boat speed for 1000 meters, 2000 meters, and head racing · Racing plans and tactics that have been proven successful at the highest levels of competition

Cut through the water faster than ever. Rowing Faster will boost your speed and performance to the highest level. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Rowing Faster
This book is not made for rower athlete, is more dedicated to rower coaches. Is has too much technical information tat athletes are not familiar with.

Worth Buying, But Not Perfect
This book is fun to read and has a lot of useful tips.I'd recommend it for anyone who's into rowing.I'm basically a beginner (1 year of rowing), so it was useful for me, but there was plenty of advanced stuff, as well as information for coaches and coxswains.

However, I have two criticisms of this book.First, it's essentially a compilation of essays about rowing, so it lacks unity or a coherent order to it.Thus, it's not as navigable as, say, a "Rowing for Dummies" book would be if they made one.Second, many of the chapters are heavily laden with scientific detail about physiology and the bodily functions that are occurring when you're rowing.Reading that stuff was very complicated, and also unnecessary - I'd rather have more practice and training techniques and less of the science behind why they work.

Aside from those criticisms, the book was good.It offers some helpful tips, although I had the feeling that I had to skim through a lot of other stuff in order to get to the tips I wanted.And, of course, no book is going to make you a good rower - that can only come with practice.

I wish someone would write a better rowing book because I think there's a lot of room for improvement.But among the rowing books out there, this is one of the best.

extremely informative, but not for beginners
Unfortunately, I just returned this book because I didn't find it very useful to me personally.Despite what that says about me as a rower, I feel that the description of the book "great for beginners to the elite" is a bit misleading.While the book addresses some issues with beginners, it's really talking to beginners [who will eventually become elite rowers].

The book reads a lot like a physics or math book.It has a ton of charts, graphs, and things dealing with physical fitness that you wouldn't know unless you saw a specialist to have testing done.It's a very dry read but makes for a good reference book.

Many of the authors talk about "the ideal" rower, being so-many feet tall with 6% bodyfat, along with other ideals.While this is fine, the bulk of the text has an undertone that suggests "if you don't meet these ideals, you're going to suck at rowing."The book often refers to your first "years of training" as if you're wasting your time if you're only doing this for a year or two.

Each chapter is written by a different person, so there's not really a lot of chronology.There's nothing really wrong with this, but it refers back to the book seeming a lot like a textbook.

Rowing is a tough sport, and there's no "you can do it!" or "great job!" encouragement for beginners in this book.Think of it as a text version of a coach.In fact, the book seems to be geared more toward coaches, and less toward individual rowers.

Nothing I've said is explicitly negative, just not what I was looking for in this book.I have to say it's jam packed with information, much of it technical, about this great sport.This would make a great reference book for a coach, team captain, or SERIOUS rower.

If I were to sum it up in one sentence, the book says "This is what rowing is, this is what rowers have to do to be awesome, take it or leave it."

Amazing
This book is not for novices, it's for the already advanced rower, who wants to significantly improve their speed, and technique. It goes into complete detail on every major subject pretaining to rowing, from race prep. months in advance, to the race itself, this book covers it all.

Rowing Smarter
This is the definitive book on the current state of the art in rowing both on the water and on the erg.But it won't teach you how to row. Only how to think about things to improve and how everything fits together.The only other product out there today that comes close to this, and is really an excellent companion piece, is Xeno Muller's interactive DVDs. ... Read more

Product Description
Taking on the challenge of coaching the poor-but-humble mens' varsity crew at UC Santa Barbara requires a special sort of person - Olympic gold medalist Brad Alan Lewis is the man for the job. Or is he? Yes, he'd won the gold at the Olympics, but he'd never coached a college crew - not even a novice team. Mountain lions, rattlesnakes, icy roads, crazed bass fishermen - they all conspired to make Lewis's challenge even more... challenging. Read 'Wanted: Rowing Coach' and find out if he survived. Actually, since it's an autobiography of sorts (thinly veiled fiction) you can pretty much assume he survived. Nonetheless, read 'Wanted' and find out how much fun, excitement, adventure Lewis and his crew had along the way. Several Class 7 rowing/life lessons included at no extra charge. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Wanted Rowing Coach
I enjoyed Brad Lewis's account of his coaching experiences at UCSB. People who are familiar with rowing and do some coaching would enjoy it the most. He has a great sense of humor.Wanted:Rowing Coach

For the rower
As a rower myself, I greatly enjoyed reading this book.It gave me a bit of insight into a coach's mind and into how I think about rowing.I don't know how someone without knowledge of the sport would feel reading this book because it doesn't give one great specifics about some rowing terms, but nothing one could not look-up.In that respect, it doesn't delve into lots of rowing terms so I don't think the non-rower would be overwhelmed.It was a fun read, written like a diary of the events of the day for a coach and his thoughts on what to change, how to understand his rowers, and how to make the most of a season.I don't know who edited this because there were a handful of grammatical errors that you will notice, but it really doesn't take away from the reading.

Lots of rowing nuggets here!
Brad's book is a great read for rowers and crew coaches. He uses his excellent writing skills to combine a good story with lots of practical useable rowing drills and inspirational sayings. I would have loved having him as a coach. With all his superhuman coaching efforts, it was too bad his results were not better!

Wanted: Rowing Coach
The story is a good one, particularly if you are looking for a crew to coach, but I found the book so poorly written I couldn't read it all.A good story deserves more attention to the writing than Mr. Lewis provided. Where were the editors?

Another superb contribution to sports literature
Thanks again to Brad Alan Lewis for this entertaining and illuminating look at the sport of rowing, and athletics in general. This is a fitting post script to Brad's earlier work, Assault on Lake Casitas, which is one of the best books on high level athletics ever written. ... Read more

Product Description

In the midst of the standard, dreary midlife crisis -- complete with wine-tasting courses, yoga classes, and a failed attempt at a first novel --forty-year-old Barry Strauss falls unexpectedly and passionately in love with rowing, a sport in which a twenty-seven-year-old is a has-been.

Strauss, a professor of classics and history, writes about the unanticipated delights of an affair that, like so many others, begins as a casual dalliance and develops into a full-blown obsession. Drawn to the sport in part because of his affinity for Greek antiquity, he develops a love for old boathouses, a longing for rivers at dawn, a thirst to test himself, and, ultimately, a renewed sense of self-reliance -- as someone who had experienced sports humiliation as far back as Little League suddenly finds himself bursting into athleticism at an unlikely age.

From the awe-inspiring feats of the war-bound Greek triremes with their crews of 172 men rowing on three levels to the solitary pride of finishing a first race in which he gets stuck in the weeds and has to be fished out, Barry Strauss shows us why "there is nothing -- absolutely nothing -- half as much worth doing as simply messing about in boats." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (19)

No longer on my bookshelf
I didn't like it. I didn't empathize with the author. I didn't like his writing style either, but cannot remember the specifics. I didn't find the book a pleasure to read. I read on, hoping for something interesting to happen, but as I turned to the last page, I realized too late that nothing would.

Captures the essence well
For anyone involved with rowing at any level the author does a good job of capturing the spirit of the sport.The imagery in the beginning is enough to hear the oars dripping and the riggers clanking at each catch.That magic dispels as the book rolls into history and descriptions of coaching styles - the point at which I personally lost some momentum.All in all a wonderful departure from the day to day drudgery we plow through.

A philosophical memoir of learning to row
Strauss has given us a surprising and unique rowing memoir here. In part a blatant excuse to write about a subject of his infatuation, rowing in ancient history, the book doesn't spare us some of Strauss' own trials and tribulations in his attempts and ultimate success in learning to row. All in all, this makes for quite a nice read, mixing personal experience and interesting historical tidbits exceedingly well.

The chapters are each ostensibly about something specific, with simple names to go with them ("The Practice", "The Beginner", "The Coach", "The Greeks", "The Race", "The Return"), and make for nice thematic musings. In the first, Strauss gives an illustration of typical solo sculling, bringing in the mystique of the water. Why scull? "Because it's beautiful. Because it's challenging. Because it's escapist," he answers, and we can relate. In "The Beginner", he combines a discussion of both famous and less-well-known rowing-related art with tales of his beginning steps at learning to row. It's an interesting mix: the technical and mechanical description of the boat and the stroke, and the cerebral experience of pondering visual art. "The Coach" continues on with the process of learning, delving into more philosophical aspects of coaching, teaching and learning in general.

By the time we get halfway through the book, we already know that Strauss has learned pretty well. He gives us a bit of an intermission with "The Greeks", a lovely chapter exploring rowing in ancient Greece. What makes this such a nice chapter is that he unashamedly gives us a very personal account of this history--his own opinions and reactions, intertwined with his desire to have come from tough rowing stock. The next chapter, "The Race" gives us an account of his first race in a single scull, where his ego got "carved into three parts". This is a self-effacing tale of embarrassment, injury, and pushing oneself too hard, and the consequences that come from all that. In "The Return", Strauss gives us more detail on the multi-layered pain of injury and turns it into a good thing. He was forced to abandon rowing for some time, but picked up swimming in the process; he made me want to wander over to the pool. But this chapter is ultimately about getting back into the water in a scull, which he does, with us cheering him along.

In closing, if you are the least bit interested in rowing as anything other than pure exercise, you will enjoy this book. You'll get a nice basic history of the sport--if more history books were written this way, there would be more fans of history. But you'll also get an enjoyable account of someone going through all the stages (painful or not) of learning to row and then rowing both recreationally and competitively. If you are a rower, Strauss' account will resonate throughout your own experiences, whereever you are in the process. And if you have not yet started learning to row, don't be surprised if you find yourself signing up for a class.

Going Forward Backwards
Author Barry Strauss is not the first intellectual who did not succeed in sports as a child or start out as a Little League star, but he didn't let that stop him from becoming proficient in a difficult sport as an adult.Combining his personal narrative about his athletic achievement with interesting facts about rowing from ancient to modern times, Strauss has written an interesting and delightful book not only about crewing but about himself.

Nice contemplation on rowing; good history on ancient sport
From time to time you run across one of those books that wanders gracefully from one topic to another, all the time circling around a central theme. John McPhee's "Oranges" is like that, and so is "Rowing Against the Current." Mr. Strauss, a classics scholar himself, is perfectly poised to write a book about rowing. His background in classics gives him a special vantage point from which to appreciate the ancient sport of rowing and its survival into modern times.

Be warned, this is not a book for everyone. If you're looking for a book on rowing techniques or how to improve your stroke, look elsewhere. The subtitle says it all: "On Learning to Scull at Forty." This is an intensely personal memoire about one man's experiences taking up a new sport in middle-age (although some of us might regard him as a mere spring chicken).

But for those looking for a book that ranges from a description of what it's like to take out a narrow shell with a twelve-inch wide seat on a river at dawn to a comparison of the status of rowers in ancient Greece and Rome, this book is highly recommended. Think of it as a fireside book -- something to curl up with on a cold night. And if you like it, then move on to David Halberstam's "The Amateurs." Enjoy. ... Read more

Product Description
A sport of lyrical grace, enigmatic appeal, and Herculean effort, rowing is a pastime and a passion that inspires its devotees to a lifetime of dedication. Although it was once perceived as a blue-blooded activity limited to a privileged few, more and more people--including Olympic athletes, students from public and private schools, and casual gym-goers looking for an effective new workout--are taking to the rivers, lakes, and harbors to experience the beauty and health benefits of rowing.

Experienced rower and journalist D. C. Churbuck recounts the colorful history and lore of rowing from its beginnings on England's historic Thames to its modern incarnation. Churbuck covers shell design, sculling, collegiate rowing, training, international competition, and a history of the famous rowing clubs and their luminaries. A fully illustrated, step-by-step guide transforms the novice into a competent rower. Now completely updated, The Book of Rowing, which includes black-and-white photographsand line drawings throughout, is a practical tool for the experienced rower, a richly detailed history for the enthusiast, and an excellent resource for anyone interested in starting out at the sport. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

excellent
As a parent of a new rower, I found this book to be very informative. You will learn the unfamiliar terms your rower uses and come to understand just what their training on the water (where you can't necessarily see)entails. The history of the sport, boat design and types of races are explained. So much information in an easy read.

A superbly organized and presented resource for rowers
Now in an new and completely updated edition, The Book Of Rowing by rowing expert D. C. Churbuck presents just about everything any aspiring rower wanting to successfully engaging in this strenuous yet highly enjoyable sport and pastime needs to know. From sculling to off-the-water workouts to rowing clubs, international rowing, the Harvard-Yale Regatta and more, The Book Of Rowing is thoroughly "reader friendly" and enhanced with a bibliography, a glossary, a list of rowing teams and organizations, more than 60 black-and-white photographs, a list of races and regattas and more. The Book Of Rowing is a superbly organized and presented resource for rowers of all skill and experience levels -- and highly recommended reading for rowing enthusiasts past and present!

Fantastic Book
Such a great book. The history lesson alone makes it all worth while but even an experienced rower will find things to learn. Well written and an easy read. Looks like it's hard to find but give it a shot. I just found it at one of those sidewalk stands in New York and was looking to pick up a copy for an old college friend. Guess I'm stuck with a used copy for him.

Good part of a rower's bookshelf
Praise to Overlook Press for getting this back in print. I have the hardcover first edition from 88, and it is one of the best designed books on my shelf. Unlike the usual blood and glory books on the sport:Halberstam and Kiesling, this one gets the job done in explaining a prettyopaque sport to the layman as well as the novice. Good history for the avidoarsperson too.

Good, basic overview of the sport
This is a classic overview of a classic sport, written from a ground-up perspective for the complete novice as well as experienced rowers looking for a good history. Churbuck takes the reader from the basic and mechanicsof rowing to the history and traditions of the sport. There is some goodhow-to advice from rowing machines to sculling.

Great demonstrative andhistorical photography and line art. It is good to see this book back inprint. ... Read more

Product Description
In this wise and thrilling book, Criag Lambert turns rowing--personal discipline, modern Olympic sport, grand collegiate tradition--into a metaphor for a vigorous and satisfying life.Amazon.com Review
Some sports--the solitary ones, in particular--are simply moreprone to mysticism and mystery than others. Golf,certainly. Long-distance running, of course. Fishing. Climbing. Eachhas a literature that confronts the essence of its lonely pursuit andexplores the way the solitude and self-discipline these sports demandgrow the spirit and fill the competitor. Lambert's graceful reflectionon rowing is a lovely addition to the genre, part memoir, partnarrative, part celebration of a relatively arcane endeavor, andutterly provocative. The superficial journey here is over water; thereal one is internal. "Like Einstein," he writes, "we wish to knowGod's thoughts. We shall attempt to pry them loose with an oar. Theraw elements of the sport are our teacher: the wind and the water, theboat and its oars, our own bodies and minds." Given those elements,it's no surprise that the education is a profound one. The surprise ishow accessible and appealing it turns out to be. --JeffSilverman ... Read more

Customer Reviews (27)

What does Carlos Casteneda have to do with Rowing?
Lambert is well informed about the people and places of the New England rowing scene through the 60's 70's and 80's. These were the years that Harvard's Coach Harry Parker transformed the sport, producing teams of highly consistent, superb performance. CRASH-B, the ergonometer competition was started during these years. And the Craftsbury Common Sculling Center trained thousands of people, who otherwise would not have rowed. There is much here about learning and practicing the sport as an adult. Where the book wanders from its purpose is in the attempt at mysticism. We are treated to quips about zen buddhism, tai chi, and the conclusion references the central metaphor from Carlos Casteneda's fictional shaman "Don Juan".These are presented as if they were received wisdom.

There is unquestionably something elegant and poetic about the sport, captured since the 19th century in the paintings of Thomas Eakins and observed by most anyone who has watched crews, doubles and single sculls emerging from the morning mists of the Charles River. To dress this up with vague references to eastern religion, and the alleged words of an imaginary Yahqui shaman undermines Lamberts serious purpose. This said, the book offers direct observation of many of the critical years of the recent development of the sport in New England, and is worth reading if only for that reason. It is a sport with much quiet beauty and few have written, not just about the method of rowing, but the context of the community of rowers.The silent company of these people is one of the principle reasons to row. And this Lambert captures nicely.

A sculler and a scholar and so much more
Every so often I find a book that actually opens my eyes.Craig Lambert's "Mind Over Water" is one of those books.When I was first given it, I wondered what a memoir about rowing would have to say to me when the closest I'd ever gotten to rowing was riding in a glass-bottomed boat one summer in childhood.Within the first three pages, I understood.And I was hooked.It's hard to call a meditative memoir a page-turner, but this one is.I hated putting the book down, so hungry was I for Lambert's next graceful thought, his next provocative insight, his next flash of wicked humor.Yes, this little gem of a book is about the fascinating world of rowing and rowers, it's about feats -- both large and small -- of heroic and brilliant athleticism; but it's really about so much more.It's about the stuff that makes us alive.

A guide to life.
This is a beautiful piece of work that brings life down to earth (water).
And in this life, everyone wins. Everytime.

LAME!
Over the top and over writen! I couldn't read more than half of it. I'll never get those hours back!
I know I never want him in my boat, if he talks the way he writes!

not for athlete
This will be a short review. To use an example visit the sample extract that is offered on this web site. The author mentions a double head. He builds it up as something mythic and impossible. This is a joke. Six miles is nothing. Just nothing. Its a warm up for some. Sports writing is not easy but effort should be made to represent the true hardships of a sport, because if you fake it you also fake the joy that can be derived from the sport. Rowing is tough and you learn a lot about yourself from it but limiting it to oh its really cold in the morning and the hagiographies of US olympians is boring and misguided.I suggest Lambert visit a few more boat clubs. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (4)

Covers very well all aspects not directly related to rowing
I think one of the greatest contribuition of this book is that it covers so many aspects that the athlete must care about outside of water and that are as important as rowing techniques. It covers methodolgies to become disciplined, to analyze progress, enhancement and assiduity. Covers very well the practices that should be taken in gym (weight work and stretching) focused on rowing, as well as very interesting and easy to understand physiological aspects of human body during the practice. The book obviously covers very well the rowing techniques and competition strategies.

indispensible...
I ama rowing coach and instructor.I find this book to be anindispensible tool for athletes and coaches alike.Form the basics of thestroke to training for "high performance rowing," this bookcovers it all in depth.Everyone who rows should read this book.Buy itfor your boathouse and pass it around!

Probably the best book on rowing currently in print
John McArthur is coach at a UK rowing club and has written a book for those who aspire to excellence in the sport.The book is up to date in areas of rigging, physiology, technique and training.What is more,McArthur explains the "why" and the "how" behindrigging and physiology - something usually skipped.This is not a bookwhich will help beginners directly, but it will inspire and inform thebeginner as well as the elite athlete.And I guess that's what I likedmost about it: treating rowing as a form of athletic endeavour and givingthe intelligent and committed rower enough information to enable him or herto understand every aspect of the sport and so to come to an informed,sensible position which suits their capacities and aspirations.

A good look at competitive, on-water rowing...
This book is primarily for those who row on water, rather than those who use an erg indoors, as I do. That being said it's a great book, crammed full of important and relevant information.

It has detailed tips onimproving technique, comprehensive explanations of what kind of training todo to achieve a certain goal, description on how to write a trainingprogram, and competiton strategies. It gets very specific in several areasregarding strength, endurance, power, and how to increase all of these.There are charts and graphs, diagrams and photos, the works!

I only wishthe author had given more focus to erg rowing, but even without that thisis an excellent resource for anyone who rows, whether on land or on thewater. ... Read more

Product Description
Jill Fredston has traveled more than twenty thousand miles of the Arctic and sub-Arctic-backwards. With her ocean-going rowing shell and her husband, Doug Fesler, in a small boat of his own, she has disappeared every summer for years, exploring the rugged shorelines of Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Spitsbergen, and Norway. Carrying what they need to be self-sufficient, the two of them have battled mountainous seas and hurricane-force winds, dragged their boats across jumbles of ice, fended off grizzlies and polar bears, been serenaded by humpback whales and scrutinized by puffins, and reveled in moments of calm.

As Fredston writes, these trips are "neither a vacation nor an escape, they are a way of life."Rowing to Latitude is a lyrical, vivid celebration of these northern journeys and the insights they inspired. It is a passionate testimonial to the extraordinary grace and fragility of wild places, the power of companionship, the harsh but liberating reality of risk, the lure of discovery, and the challenges and joys of living an unconventional life.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (29)

Meditative and Thoughtful
If you are looking for an adventure book--something along the lines of "Into Thin Air," this is probably not the book for you.There's not much "high drama" in "Rowing to Latitude," as John Freeman of the "Wall Street Journal" states and whose review is placed prominently on the front cover of the trade paperback version of this book.

If you are looking for a more meditative, thoughtful book with the occasional kayaking/canoeing misadventure tossed into the mix, this is the book for you.Be prepared for a little environmental preaching by Fredston. I would have cut those sections if I had been the editor,but overall I found Jill Fredston's book to be engaging and I would recommend the book to other readers.

rowing to lattitude
I just finished this book and can not believe the reviews that call it "flat" and "disappointing".This is a memoir not a travel guide---though I would use it as one if I was going on the same adventrue.One would have to have the warmth of a fish to not be moved and touched by this beautiful, poetic writing; so discriptive I felt I was there.The history woven in and out added another level of depth.Her love of the power and beauty of nature and the love between husband and wife is palpable.My only complaint is it ended too soon.Definitely one of those books I wanted to continue on and definitely one of the most memorable books I've ever read.Jill's candid honesty, intelligence and humble approach connects the author beautifully to the reader and stirs up a desire to know her personally.

An excellent read
I loved reading about the authors unfolding love of rowing adventure as she explores isolated places.

Expecations fall flat
This book is a great disappointment.It's set outdoors, with the exciting theme of rowing all along the arctic coasts.Sounded like it would be great.

Unfortunately, one coast comes across as very much like the others.Despite encounters with whales underneath the boats and foraging bears, there is little excitement or wonder.The author speaks of long days of meditation.Yet none of this comes across.Rather, the impression is long days of boredom.

I am left with feeling I know the author no better than before I started reading her book.The story sounded so promising, but it fell flat.

A MUST READ
She is an amazing writer...very in tune with herself and her natural settings.Adventerous and fun!A must read for anyone who loves Alaska, paddling, or just a coming into your own kind of reader! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

BEST CREW BOOK - PERIOD
If you're new to crew and want a book that will inspire and educate you start here!Great Book, I've given at least 5 of them away as gifts.Great for the young rower just getting started.

You can almost smell the sweaty socks
"The Shell Game" is a nice companion to "Mind Over Water" and "The Amateurs." Where "Mind Over Water" deals with single sculling, "The Shell Game" recounts Stephen Kiesling's personal history of rowing in eights, focusing especially on the Yale-Harvard race, the Henley Royal Regatta, and the preparations and selection camp for the national team for the ill-fated 1980 Olympic Games. Along with "The Amateurs," "The Shell Game" and "Mind Over Water" seem to make up a perfect trio of personal odysseys in the sport of rowing. Of the three, "The Amateurs" is certainly the best written (after all, David Halberstam, need one say more?), but "The Shell Game" and "Mind Over Water" let you peek directly into the minds and hearts of devotees of this weirdly fanatical sport.

Focused on three specific events as it is, "The Shell Game" provides a look into a rarefied world of rowing races, from the hidebound tradition of Henley to the grueling trials at the U.S. Olympic selection camp, from the etiquette of international racing to the mechanics of testing athletes to determine not only their racing abilities but even their rate of oxygen exchange.

As with any memoir, there are those who will find the more personal passages a tad cloying, but overall it's a delightful book. Kiesling provides a particularly nice chapter ("The Set") on the tragic dichotomy of the physical and the intellectual that began in ancient Greece and still haunts us today. If ever there were an argument for their reunification, this would surely be one of the best. Definitely a keeper for future re-reading.

Great book for all
I'm a rower in high school, and I've read this book.I must admit it is a great book.Stephen's story about rowing at Yale against all other teams including their arch rival, Harvard.It reminds my of my school.La SalleHS and St. Jose Prep are huge rivals and it shows at all the games.Irecommend this book to all who have been involved in the sport, and eventhose who never have seen a race.Its a great book!

reflections from the Yale Boathouse
Rowing is among the most anonymous of sports. In the prestige categories there are legends and myths, but these are little known or acclaimed outside its community.. It retains its Brahmin character; despite becomingmore accessible in recent years, it still has the aura of Groton, Exeter,St. Paul's preps and the Ivy League. The first Yale - Harvard contest washeld in 1852, predating any other intercollegiate athletics. Kiesling takesyou into the world of the 8's, in futile preparation for the boycotted 1980Olympics. A house scholar and varsity member at Yale, Kiesling gives you agrasp of the cult like devotion to this sport, the fraternal but bitterlycompetitive atmosphere for places on the boat, the almost complete physicalimmersion, beyond exhaustion, in preparation for regattas-- and the littleacre of hell and glory (or agony) of the races themselves. This type ofathletic intensity is, if not unique, uniquely exhibited in Crew-- membersstrive to exceed their limits, to match and challenge that of their crewmates, to uphold its traditions. This is a young man's book;his sharpopinions reflect a young man's attitudes born of singular personalchallenges-- which moderate with maturity. It is agood book on rowing,and a great book on the competitive spirit.

Effectively portrays the ups and downs of rowing
I reccomend this book for anyone who has ever rowed, or has ever wondered what it would be like to row.He makes the reader feel the drastic ups and downs which go along with this addicting sport.I received my copy as agift from another rower, and I have continually passed my copy on to myteammates and coaches. A must-have for any oarsman. ... Read more

Product Description
Finally, a comprehensive guide to constructing of beautiful wood strip rowing crafts. This style of construction is renowned for producing sophisticated hull shapes. Construction techniques can be mastered by the hobby builder. Over 835 clear color photos and detailed text take the reader through every step required to create two different, elegant boats for both sport fishing and sculling. The wooden parts are made with ordinary woodshop tools, materials, and standard working techniques. Fiberglass and epoxy can be applied successfully by the first-time user. Finishing methods help builders show off their craftsmanship to best advantage. This book introduces rowers to the delights of constructing their ideal boat. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

The Holy Grail: 10 Stars!
Its all in the title.No other book on strip building that I have seen (of the many) begins to compare with this volume; it is spectacular!There is a mountain of material available on creating a strip-built hull, but scant little on the difficult woodwork needed to finish one, e.g. building and installing gunwales, etc.This book changes all that. The photos with excellently-written descriptions of the processes depicted are plentiful and invaluable, especially in light of them being used to describe two separate possibilities: (1) the steps to complete a narrow hull (the pulling boat, Liz) as a whole and, (2) similar steps to complete a wider hull (the Rangeley Lake rowing boat) in two halves, similar but different methods, both covered in detail.The author adds a lot of detailed tips on the epoxying process which, if there is one potential point of unrecoverable failure in building a hull, careless epoxying is it.And, at long last, a builder that explains lofting as the fairly simple process it is as opposed to comparing it to neurosurgery or the like and scaring off nearly every potential builder new to it.I know people who made decisions on buying plans strictly on whether or not lofting is required.The boats used to demonstrate the steps aren't your run of the mill "two sheets of plywood and a weekend between you and your 8' pram" designs, but beautifully-detailed, yet doable, projects that, if you're willing to take your time, build carefully, and take it as a labor of love, will reward you with awe-inspiring results that will allow you to seriously claim to be a boat builder.I am so impressed with this book, I could go on and on, but you get the picture.Being able to "Look Inside This Book" (especially the Table of Contents) would probably increase sales.

Impressionante
Foi o melhor e mais completo livro sobre construção de barcos que eu já li. Otimamente ilustrado e bem impresso .
Uma referência para construção amadora, com todas as dificuldades e prazeres de fazermos um barco nós mesmos. Com esse livro e o The Gougeon Brothers in Boat Constrution, você será capaz de fazer qualquer barco em contrução amadora, tanto no metodo de strip planking como em stitch and glue(costure e cole). Recomendo fortemente

strip boat book
Build the Liz from instructions from this book.The book does demand that you have some previous experience in strip building and design.She assumes that the reader is somewhat familiar with the terms used but does explain them well.The photos are the best part.Clear, concise and the captions below each are very helpful.Wish there was a soft cover edition.Got a lot of glue and epoxy on some of the pages.The book is worth a second and third read.Would like to have a cup of coffee with this lady.She sure has her act together.

wood strip rowing craft
This has to be the best book on the subject I have seen!
In saying this it still lacks in technical drawings and explanations.
This publication excels in photograhic splenduer and the sheer quality of manuscript production, it is a magnificent publication and the actual full glossy pages are easy to see and read. If a picture tells a thousand words, this book would be a million pages without them!
The author knows the subject absaloutelyand concisley, and demonstrates all techniques she discusses with exactness.

Super "how-to" book on stripwood boat building
Susan's books on stipwood boat building are the best I've read.She takes you through the entire process step-by-step with lots of sound advice and many pictures.In this, her second book on the subject, she takes the reader through the steps in building two classy looking row boats.The processes she describes are equally applicable to other row boat designs such as the Whitehall Pulling Boat I am currently building.To be sure, I probably would not have tackled this seemingly difficult project without her excellent guidance as contained in this work.I have not been disappointed with this book or her previous book on canoe stripwood construction.If you are thinking of building such a craft, these are the books to buy. ... Read more

Product Description
STUCK IN A corporate job rut and faced with an unraveling marriage at the age of thirty-six, Roz Savage sat down one night and wrote two versions of her own obituary -- the one that she wanted and the one she was heading for. They were very different. She realized that if she carried on as she was, she wasn't going to end up with the life she wanted. So she turned her back on an eleven-year career as a management consultant to reinvent herself as a woman of adventure. She invested her life's savings in an ocean rowboat and became the first solo woman ever to enter the Atlantic Rowing Race.

Her 3,000-mile trial by sea became the challenge of a lifetime. Of the twenty-six crews that set out from La Gomera, six capsized or sank and didn't make it to the finish line in Antigua. There were times when she thought she had hit her absolute limit, but alone in the middle of the ocean, she had no choice but to find the strength to carry on.

In Rowing the Atlantic we are brought on board when Savage's dreams of feasts are nourished by yet another freeze-dried meal. When her gloves wear through to her blistered hands. When her headlamp is the only light on a pitch-black night ocean that extends indefinitely in all directions. When, one by one, all four of her oars break. When her satellite communication fails.

Stroke by stroke, Savage discovers there is so much more to life than a fancy sports car and a power-suit job. Flashing back to key moments from her life before rowing, she describes the bolt from the blue that first inspired her to row across oceans and how this crazy idea evolved from a dream into a tendinitis-inducing reality. And finally, Savage discovers in the rough waters of the Atlantic the kind of happiness we all hope to find. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (59)

Row On!
I read Rowing the Atlantic last spring, in response to an increasing interest in ocean adventure stories, and an overall passion for the oceans and the way we, as humans, relate to them.I found Roz's story compelling and fascinating.Most striking to me was her resourcefulness in solving challenges, both practical and psychological.

On the practical side, Roz was determined and creative in overcoming the many pitfalls that marked this journey.Upon reading her blog written during her Pacific Ocean Crossings, I witnessed and was inspired by the same fierce determination and creativity.Both accounts of her rowing adventures have left me astonished at her abilities to focus and to be unrelenting when she has a goal in mind.

On the psychological side, I saw a more vulnerable, complex person behind the warrior-like mentality of the ocean rower!Her self-disclosure, reflections and obvious sensitivity describe a woman of very many dimensions and extremes.I appreciated her introducing us to her annoying crew mates of Mr Doubt, etc., and explaining how she solved the challenges that they posed to her.I think we all tug these characters around, and it was refreshing to read how she finally pitched them overboard.

The gap that is evident in this story - the one between a strong, courageous and determined woman, and a woman of very human frailty and complexity - is the part of Roz's story which left me wanting to know more.

She is planning now to do an Indian Ocean crossing, this time with a clear environmental mission, and I wish her all the best in her Odyssey.Row on!

A Book Well Named
This book was a page-turner for me. I appreciated the honesty with which Roz presented her challenges on the trip. I certainly travel with my "Misters" (though I had never given them such distinct identities as does Roz) from time to time. For those who have critiqued this as an adventure book (which it is, in part), the other part is memoir. I found she did a smooth job of inserting pieces of her life into her travels. While rowing solo for 100+ days, there is certainly time for the mind to travel back and reflect on life as well. I'm inspired by her tenacity and ability to find the lessons in her journey.

Really enjoyed this!
Maybe it's because I'm going through my own post-divorce life-explorations, but I thoroughly enjoyed this true story of a one-woman mission to row across the Atlantic. Roz Savage is an excellent storyteller, with a good eye for including just enough details to be interesting and thorough, but not so many as to bog the reader down. Her honest assessment of her time in the boat, as well as surrounding circumstances, show her as entirely and wonderfully human. I was cheering for her the entire time--go Roz!!!

getting others to fund "finding yourself"
I guess it's nice to get a "friend of a friend" to give you $10,000 to row across the atlantic (yeah with no strings attached, right!) or to use the settlement from a divorce (caused by your own infidelity) to fund this, but despite some clear courage and self-reflexive and insightful thinking, this still just turns out to sound like some trust-fund kid who doesn't know what to do with their life. Ok in your 20's. A bit more pathetic nearing your 40's.

Needs more shark...
When Roz Savage realized she was bored with her career and marriage, she decided to take a little trip to clear her mind. Hey, we've all been there. But in Roz' case, she picked up the oars, got into her rowboat and rowed thousands of miles across the stormy, shark-infested Atlantic. Alone.Okay, it helps that she was a champion rower in college, but even so, Roz is clearly an overachiever.

Surprisingly, her voyage is not all that exciting, and I'm not in love with Savage's writing style. She refers to personality traits by giving them names like Mr. Self-Deception and Mr. Denial. She also frequently lapses into dialogue that sounds suspiciously like motivational speaking. No surprise there...Ms. Savage used the voyage to jumpstart a career in this field.

Aside from regularly getting soaked by waves, having to subsist on cold food and the eventual destruction of all her little luxuries...stereo, stove, phone...the trip is pretty smooth. Now my feeling is, if one is going to row from one spot to another and write a book about it, include at least one horrifying encounter with a shark. Or better, sharks.The ominous gray shadow just under the surface...you see it followingyou.Soon there are others.Suddenly one breeches the surface, it's mouth gaping open with row after row of razor sharp teeth just inches away from you. Separated by nothing more than some fragile wood, you cower in the boat, but the sharks sense that there is prey...now that's what I wanna hear. Not a lament about not being able to phone mom because the telephone got wet.I love adventure books, this one is just okay.For some real excitement, try reading Keep Australia on Your Left.Plenty of excitement and sharks. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Keep Rowing
Former Olympic medalist in rowing Cracknell and television reporter Fogle give a gritty account of their journey in the Atlantic Rowing Race. Describes themany challenges they faced in preparing for and then during the journey. The boys often behave like narcissistic brats but did manage to make themselves appear human, even likeable at times. It was worth reading if you have any interest in ocean rowing. Good adventure story. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (3)

For hard core rowing historians only
I'm a bit of a rowing geek, so I enjoyed this book.The background on rowing at the start of the 20th century, and the tradition of Navy crew and the Glendon family, inform anyone interested in the history of US rowing. The facts are quite well researched and interesting.

The writing disappointed me.Ms. Saint Sing tries too hard to make nearly every subtopic epic and amazing.Her language is often superlative without any real support in context or description for the superlatives.It's a good story, but I prefer rowing narrative that is more understated and lets the reader come up with his or her own emotions and conclusions.

For some examples of that kind of narrative, David Halberstam's The Amateurs is widely acclaimed and my favorite rowing book.Dan Boyne's historical works, including The Red Rose Crew and Kelly: A Father, A Son, An American Quest, are very fine works as well.Boyne conveys subtle points of rowing culture as well as broader points of social history without the grand overstatement of Saint Sing.

"The Wonder Crew," Great Read
The Wonder Crew magnificently covers the story of the coach and crew of the US Navy Academy in the early 20th century, their commitment to perfection in the art of rowing, and their pursuit of excellence in the 1920 Olympics where they upset the old order.The book is masterful and the story affirms how coaches, teachers, mentors often have an impact far beyond their immediate sphere.

This book is a MUST!
The Wonder Crew is simply put--a great read.It is well written, historically interesting, and brings together politics, sports, WWI and WWII.The Golden Age of Sports is at its best in Saint Sing's masterfully written book.Rowers will love it and anyone just looking for something new and different will like it too! ... Read more

Product Description
". . . original and provocative . . . Martha Nell Smith convincingly answers those who continue to ask why Dickinson did not publish more while she was alive. The author also offers a revisionist interpretation of the relationship between the poet and her sister-in-law, Susan Gilbert Dickinson, whose role in both the poetic process and subsequent publication of Dickinson's work she contends is much more significant than critics to date believe."--Belles Lettres ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Outing Emily
This book is part of the new movement to out nineteenth-century figures such as Emily Dickinson and Abraham Lincoln, due to a profound misunderstanding of nineteenth-century culture and the sexual mores of that time.

There was no stigma attached to deep interpersonal relationships between friends of the same sex at that time in history, and to attach sexual undertones or overtones to these relationships is to attach a lurid agenda to innocent relationships.

Low self-image has driven this coterie of authors to attempt to justify their own perceived self-loathing by outing innocent public figures such as Dickinson and Lincoln.


Who is next, we wonder? Jesus? He did hang out with a bunch of guys after all.

Outing Emily
This book is part of the new movement to out nineteenth-century figures such as Emily Dickinson and Abraham Lincoln, due to a profound misunderstanding of nineteenth-century culture and the sexual mores of that time.

There was no stigma attached to deep interpersonal relationships between friends of the same sex at that time in history, and to attach sexual undertones or overtones to these relationships is to attach a lurid agenda to innocent relationships.

Low self-image has driven this coterie of authors to attempt to justify their own perceived self-loathing by outing innocent public figures such as Dickinson and Lincoln.


Who is next, we wonder? Jesus? He did hang out with a bunch of guys after all.

Fascinating.
At times a bit cumbersome, but overall this is a nice introduction into re-reading Emily Dickinson.

The intended audience, no doubt, is a reader well-versed in Emily Dickinson who is willing to explore the poet with no preconceived notions. In a sense, therefore, it may be most enjoyed by those who have just begun their investigation and study of Dickinson.

The author has gone back to the original "manuscripts" of the poems and letters written by Emily, and noted how they have been edited, censored, and manipulated by those entrusted to publish Emily's writings after her death. The author makes a convincing case that Emily's relationship with her brother's wife, Sue, was much more profound than others have suggested; and, that the "editors" of Emily's poems worked hard to suppress evidence of this relationship.

Ms Smith did not want this study to be another biography but it would have been helpful to learn a bit more of some of the individuals she mentions. Specifically, I have in mind, Kate Anthon, whom Ms Smith states received passionate letters from Emily. I do not recall seeing the name Kate Anthon in Cynthia Griffin Wolff's biography of Emily, and she is not listed in the index of Wolff's biography.

Without question, this book needs to be read as an academic study, and will take several re-readings to get the full impact.

This appears to be Ms Smith's first full-length book regarding Emily and the beginning of her own use of technology in studying the humanities. Ms Smith is a founding director of the Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities. She is now a recognized Dickinson scholar with several books on Emily Dickinson published and more in progress.

I am very new to Emily Dickinson but it appears that reading Martha Nell Smith is imperative for those with more than a passing interest in the poet. My gut feeling is that Harold Bloom would not be happy with Ms Smith's hypotheses but I may be wrong. I would think he would be pleased with the scholarship.

For more, go to Martha Nell Smith's website.
... Read more

Product Description
Joanne Wright wanted to go the Olympics. An amateur athlete, she had taken up the sport of rowing those long skinny boats and found that she was good at it. She also quickly learned that there were no rowing events for women in the Olympics. Why? Because the governing body for rowing in the United States viewed it as a man s sport and they would not sanction U.S. women to compete in international competitions. When the International Olympic Committee considered the addition of women s rowing to the Olympic program the various countries were asked if they would send a women s rowing team. The response from the US governing body for rowing had always been No because the men thought that women not only could not, but should not row. Joanne set about changing their minds. In 1963 she, Ted Nash an Olympic Gold Medalist training in Seattle Washington, and Edwin Lickiss, a dedicated coach of young rowers in Oakland California teamed up to form the National Womens Rowing Association (NWRA) to literally become their own governing body for women s rowing. By 1966 they organized and ran the first regatta to pick national champions even though at the time there were less than nine clubs and colleges available to race. This is Joanne s story of how three people communicating without the help of the Internet started new rowing programs, encouraged colleges to add women s crew programs, provided a venue for those colleges with intramural women s crews to start competing against one another, and proved to existing men s clubs that they should welcome women to their ranks of competitors. The 1976 Olympics in Montreal held the first rowing events for women. The United States team came home with a Bronze and Silver medal. ... Read more

Product Description
Tip of the Blade: Notes on Rowing is a collection of over 100 articles by sculling coach, Marlene Royle; each piece offers a hands-on, practical approach toward improving your understanding of rowing. The topics covered in nine chapters include: flexibility, breathing, posture, core strengthening, coordination, skill acquisition, aerobic conditioning, recovery, sweep and sculling technique, rhythm, stability, bladework, drills, self-coaching, mental training, event planning, starts, sprinting, head racing, marathoning, rigging, erging, and coaching. Whether you are a trainer, competitive sculler, or recreational rower, this anthology has valuable information to help you develop your technique, methods, and results. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Tip of the Blade
This book covers its subject very thoroughly, but it would have been better with illustrations in some cases.

pithy little pieces of advice
Just getting into it -- rather I'm finding that I'm jumping around as the topics interest me. . . and they all do.Engaging essays. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
Learning to lead others is the critical skill for today'smanagers. Every day, you are challenged to lead-to get others to workat your direction towards your organizations goals.

Get Everyone in Your Boat Rowing in the Same Direction offersproven, easily understood, step-by-step instruction in how to getothers to follow you. Whether you have to lead, hope to lead, or needto create change in your organization, the advice it offers isinvaluable. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Bought the book. It was ok
The book was ok. It is helpful to those who has no business experience what so ever. I will not help you at all if you are already experienced with the business world. Basically teaches you to have a vision and constantly motivate your people. Join a MLM if you want to learn it first hand.

Solid information to get everyone on the same page
One of the biggest problems in business is getting everyone pulling in the same direction.The larger the organization, the more diverse the goals and aims of the different departments.This is a delightful book that gives some great ideas to make sure everyone is pulling in the same direction.

The book presents five principles which any business needs to follow to ensure that its people are all pulling together.

The first question to ask is "What is important here?What are the values of the individuals? The business?"

The second question to ask is "Where is the busines headed?You must create a common vision based on shared values."

The third question to ask is "What do we stand for?Who are we?"You need to concentrate your focus.Trying to stand for too many things means you stand for nothing.

To be successful you must learn to fall in love with risk.Most managers shun risk.No risk no reward.You need to learn to view risk as a positive force.This certainly doesnot advocate taking foolish action.But learn to understand risk.

To be successful you must learn to motivate people.The leader cannot mandate a vision. A leader must get everyone in the business to buy into the vision.

The book is easy to read.It is well written and contains lots of examples.

It would be helpful to read periodically to keep the ideas fresh.

Get Everyone in your boat rowing in the same direction
This book is a must have for any leader in a new role or new enviornment.
It is a quick read that keeps you engaged from the first page.There are many great thought starters and exercises to get your team inspired and motivated.I would highly recommend this book!

Important Messages Said Simply
Books about vision and mission are usually excursions into the ether of fine thoughts and noble thinking. I appreciated how Boylan reduced these concepts to very practical concerns and actions that once expressed willget an organization effectively pointed in the same direction.This is abook I recommend to anyone who needs to get an organization from here tothere, when the group is unclear about which "here" and which"there" is intended.

Boylan's ideas can be put immediately into practice.
Leadership isn't a commodity, but a process - one that Bob Boylan lays out clearly, step by step, so that almost anyone can follow it and put it immediately and successfully into practice in their own organizations. ... Read more

Product Description

At dawn on April 28, 1789, Captain William Bligh and eighteen men from HMS Bounty were herded onto a twenty-three-foot launch and abandoned in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Thus began their extraordinary journey to Java. Covering 4,162 miles, the small boat was battered by continuous storms, and the men on board suffered crippling illness, near starvation, and attacks by islanders. The journey was one of the greatest achievements in the history of European seafaring and a personal triumph for a man who has been misjudged by history.

Captain Bligh's Portable Nightmare reveals Bligh's great mapmaking skills, used to particular effect while he was exploring with Captain Cook. We discover his guilt over Cool's death at Kealakekua Bay. We learn of the failure of the Bounty expedition and the myths that surround it, the trials and retributions that followed Bligh's return to England, his successes as a navigator and as a vice-admiral fighting next to Nelson at the Battle of Copenhagen.

Combining extensive research with dazzling storytelling, John Toohey tells a gripping tale of seafaring, exploration, and mutiny on the high seas, while also dismissing the black legend of the cruel and foulmouthed Captain William Bligh and reinstating him not just as a man of his times but as a true hero.Amazon.com Review
Ignore the silly title; this book is a gem. Subtitled "Fromthe Bounty to safety--4,162 Miles Across the Pacific in aRowing Boat," it tells the little-known story of what happened toCaptain Bligh after the Bounty mutineers herded him and those18 other crewmen who refused to go along with the mutiny into a23-foot-long boat and set them adrift in open ocean. And it is acontinually amazing tale. John Toohey writesvividly but unpretentiously, bringing to life Bligh's youthful servicewith Captain Cook, an experience of mapping the South Seas that servedhim well when he eventually came to be marooned, as well as hisBounty experience. Navigating by the stars, bailing franticallyas storms filled the tiny vessel with water, and eating the fouleststuff imaginable (when a booby was foolish enough to perch on the edgeof the boat, they carved it up, discovering "to their joy"half-digested flying fish and squid in its stomach that they also ate"greedily"). You end up agreeing with Toohey that crossing the Pacificin a small boat under these incredible conditions constitutes "one ofthe greatest achievements in the history of European seafaring," andthat Bligh himself--poor, maligned "sadist" Bligh--was actually athoroughly decent and even heroic figure. It is a book out of theLongitudeschool, but a superior example of the type. Captain Bligh'sPortable Nightmare could just resurrect the man as a neglectedhero. --Adam Roberts, Amazon.co.uk ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Captain Blighs Portable Nightmare
Good book. An excellent retelling of Blighs amazing nautical journey to safety after being set adrift from The Bounty.

An enjoyable read
It's rare that I give 5 stars for a book review but this, in my opinion, has earned it. I'm a self-confessed Bounty-phile, sucking up all the literature that she has to offer and this was no exception.

William Bligh must go down as one of the most maligned persons in history. This from a man who acted as second in command to Cook in his early 20's, became governor of Australia and, as this book explains, sailed over 4000 miles from memory in a 23 foot boat losing not a single man during the voyage.

Toohey starts us with the happenings at Keakekua Bay, Hawaii the day Cook was murdered. This, according to Toohey, stayed with Bligh all his years and coloured his actions thereafter. Sections of the book contain dialogue between the men in the boat; this has to be guessed at obviously but Toohey makes a decent stab at it.

This wil not take you long to read but will provide some valuable information on an oft-neglected area of the whole Bounty lore.

A rehash of old material
This is simply a rewrite of what has already been published many times. William Bligh published a full account in 1792 with the full title, "AVoyage to the South Sea Undertaken by Command of His Majesty for thePurpose of Conveying the Bread-Fruit Tree to the West Indies in HisMajesty's Ship the Bounty Commanded by Lieutenant William Bligh and anAccount of the Mutiny on Board H.M.S. Bounty and the Subsequent Voyage ofPart of the Crew in the Ship's Boat, from Tofoa, One of the FriendlyIslands, to Timor, a Dutch Settlement in the East Indies."That bookwas republished in 1961 with a shortened title, "The Mutiny on BoardH.M.S. Bounty."I am sure that there are copies in various librariesand private collections.Nordhoff and Hall published a fictionalizedversion, and that seemed to lead to a spate of books in the 1930's aboutthe life of Vice Admiral William Bligh.The story is well known, and thereis little to add.Bligh's problems came mainly from inexperience coupledwith his own brash way of addressing people.He took command of the Bountyat the age of 33, and it was his first command of a Royal Navy vessel. Prior to that he had been a ship's master, with a very short period as alieutenant.He was on his own far from the fleet. His skill as a navigatorsaved the crew members in the ship's boat (although many died from illnessafter reaching Batavia, a well known fever port).

Did not compare well to fictionalized 'Men Against the Sea'
While this book was nicely written and a quick read, I did notparticularly enjoy it. While the story of Bligh and his men and theirjourney across the South Pacific is truly one of the most amazing storiesof sea survival ever to occur, this book tooled thru so much of the journeyso quickly that I never got the sense of its scope or its heroic nature. Ialso agree with comments of other reviewers that it did not convey Bligh'sgreat leadership abilities well. In that regard the fcitionalized 'MenAgainst the Sea' (Nordhoff and Hall) did a much better job. If anything,this telling made me more understanding of the resentment of the men in theboat (as opposed to those who stayed behind after the mutiny) againstBligh, while the novel made it clear that the same qualites of control andrigor which resulted in the mutiny are also the major reasons that Blighand his men survived the journey. I would heartily recommend the entireMUTINY ON THE BOUNTY trilogy for those who are interested in the Bountystory over this somewhat factual account.

pretty good
Faint praise, but I like my narrative history to be beautifully written, to tell me things that I never knew, and to open my mind to new ways of seeing the world.For my money, the five line description of Bligh'svoyage that appears incidentally in Diana Muir's Bullough's Pond gives usall the essentials.Of course, Muir is in the midst of another story.For all his defense of Bligh and his undoubtedly virtuoso navigationalskills, Toohey fails to convince that he was a great leader.The plainfact is that British captains almost routinely led sullen, ill-educated,ill-clad, ill-housed, ill-fed men on nearly unendurable journeys and gotthem home again without mutiny.Bligh's men rebelled twice.How great acaptain can he have been? ... Read more

Product Description
This new colour edition of Bill Sayer's comprehensive guide to the sport of rowing and sculling has been completely revised, updated and expanded. British rowing has undergone many changes in recent years and has enjoyed some spectacular international successes. Levels of skill and professionalism are increasing all the time and new developments in training and equipment all go towards further increases in performance. This new edition takes into account these changes and incorporates recent research findings and experience that underpin improved training methods and nutritional advice. Bill Sayer offers invaluable instruction to maximize the athlete's efficiency, strength and endurance on the water. He surveys the basic equipment, the rigging and design of boats and their oars and sculls, the principles and practice of training - including the special requirements of women and juniors and the significance of environmental factors, nutrition and psychology.The body of the book deals with different techniques required for rowing and sculling, illustrated by new sequences of photographs, and offers advice on steering and coxing and the special challenges of both head-of-the-river and regatta racing. With the aid of over 120 of his own colour photographs, diagrams and tables, Bill Sayer aims to provide every enthusiast, whether beginner or experienced competitor, with the information they need for greater success in the sport. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Informative book
Helpful so far I haven't finished reading yet, but I have picked
up some good information. It would be helpful to you to have some
knowledge before you read. ... Read more