An assured, absorbing history of a disaster.
The history of an infamous shipwreck.
In 1956, in dense fog, the Italian ship Andrea Doria sank off the coast of Nantucket, within miles of its destination at the port of New York. King and Wilson (Twilight of Empire: The Tragedy of Mayerling and the End of the Habsburgs, 2017, etc.) bring to their brisk, vivid narrative the prodigious research that marked their history of another maritime disaster, Lusitania (2015). But where the 1915 attack on a British liner by a German U-boat, killing all aboard, affected international hostilities, the sinking of the Andrea Doria did not even dent the fortunes of the liner industry. Most passengers and crew were rescued; later, many took other ocean voyages. Nor did the ship itself, which boasted beauty, modernity, and a special brand of Italian glamour, have the significance of the Titanic, which seemed a microcosm of social strata and aristocratic hubris. Passengers on the Andrea Doria included a few hugely wealthy Americans, traveling first class, returning from extended European holidays, while some Italians who boarded in Naples found themselves in claustrophobic accommodations. Most, though, were simply well-off. There were several clergymen and two actresses, one the wife of Cary Grant. The authors offer lively biographies of select passengers and crew, setting the stage for the drama that occurred at 11:11 p.m. on July 25, 1956, when the Swedish liner Stockholm, with an inexperienced seaman at its helm, smashed into the Andrea Doria’s starboard side, “demolishing all in its path” and causing “a horrible cacophony of death and destruction.” The authors masterfully evoke the anguish that ensued as passengers—panicked parents and frightened children, among them—crawled across the dangerously listing ship and perilously descended into lifeboats. Within hours, several rescue vessels arrived, including another luxury liner. The authors’ recounting of the aftermath of the disaster—investigation, litigation, and the lives of many survivors—though informative, seems anticlimactic in comparison to the tense drama of the event.
An assured, absorbing history of a disaster.Pub Date: April 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-19453-4
Page Count: 352
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
A fine summation of O’Connor’s long scholarly career that should be of wide interest to students of American history and...
A learned and literate history of the Athens of America.
O’Connor (Civil War Boston, 1997, etc.) offers a straightforward narrative of the city from its founding in the 17th century to the present. The organization is chronological, although O’Connor occasionally skips about to treat important themes such as religion and race and ethnicity. The somewhat old-fashioned year-by-year presentation is by no means stodgy, for the author believes that the history of Boston can be seen as one of conflict—whether between Separatists and Anglicans, Protestants and Irish Catholics, or blacks and whites. In every era, such conflicts have spilled out beyond Boston’s confines to influence the nation as a whole. “The basic tenets of Puritanism,” the author notes, “may have been confined to a relatively tiny segment of the New England seacoast during the first half of the 17th century, but they were to have an impact on American society and culture that would extend far beyond their immediate geographical surroundings.” O’Connor gives attention to topics that have received too little attention in standard histories, including the curious flowering of proto-hippie freethinking sects and cults in the 1820s and ’30s—a many-faceted movement, he notes, that coalesced in abolitionism, much to the chagrin of the city’s conservative ruling class. He downplays the role of “great men” (focusing instead on larger issues of race and class), and he notes that the city’s neighborhoods (and, thanks to busing, its schools) are now populated by a variety of minority groups who constitute a “minority majority” and reflect decades of “white flight” from the urban center.
A fine summation of O’Connor’s long scholarly career that should be of wide interest to students of American history and social issues.Pub Date: May 4, 2001
ISBN: 1-55553-474-0
Page Count: 291
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2001
Highly detailed and as exciting as the best Patrick O—Brian novel, this is one of the best accounts of the great British admiral’s dazzling achievements, from the deputy director of England’s Royal Naval Museum. Published to commemorate a pivotal year in the “Nelson decade” (the period from 1795 to 1805, of which the bicentennial is currently being marked), this brief account looks at the period that solidified Nelson’s position as Britain’s chief hope in maintaining her position as the world’s leading maritime power. The author combines outstanding scholarship with narrative skill to capture the excitement of such events as the evacuation of Elba, the Battle of Cape St. Vincent, the blockade of Cadiz, and the attack on Tenerife (in which Nelson lost his arm). White also debunks many of the myths that have surrounded Nelson over the years, such as his supposed disobedience at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent—a “disobedience” that saved the battle and won an earldom for Sir John Jervis, the commanding admiral of the British fleet at St. Vincent. Illustrated throughout by period paintings (unfortunately not in color), the book utilizes boxed sidebars to present new information on Nelson and his battles. This varies in importance, from done-to-death topics like who really cut off Nelson’s arm to such really juicy bits as the revelation that a former Nelson mistress, Adelaide Correglia, spied for him during his blockade of the Italian port of Leghorne (Livorno). Written with sweep and excitement, capturing the spirit of Nelson by looking at one memorable year, this will be a treat for any naval history fan.
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-7509-1999-X
Page Count: 176
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1999
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