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The Bounty: The True Story of the Mutiny on the Bounty by Caroline Alexander
The Bounty set sail for the islands of the South Pacific in 1787 and two years later the crew mutinied. Captain Bligh and his officers were set adrift in a long boat and the mutineers eventually settled on Pitcairn Island. Legend has it that Captain Bligh was a cruel leader and put his crew in unnecessary danger. In her book, The Bounty, Caroline Alexander (whose previous book was The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition) turns that conventional wisdom on its head. Based on her research, she retells the story of The Bounty's vogage and how orders from his superiors affected some of Bligh's decisions, and she also details Bligh's miraculous navigation of the long boat to safety. Once he had returned to England, Bligh was demonized by the mutineers' families in an attempt to explain the causes of the mutiny. Caroline Alexander has attempted to set history straight by re-creating the story of this fateful voyage that has passed into legend. Receiving mostly positive reviews, The Denver Post says, "All in all, The Bounty is a wealth of historical documentation, public record and narrative acumen. A breath of fresh, salty, sea air tossed upon the landlocked head of the unquestioning public."
