Book #38 for 2022: The Ship Asunder by Tom Nancollas
The Ship Asunder: A Maritime History of Britain in Eleven Vessels by Tom Nancollas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I was looking forward to reading this book, having enjoyed Tom Nancollas' first book, Seashaken Houses.
To best explain the purpose of this book, I will quote the author himself:
"Each of (the book's) chapters revolves around a ship-fragment from a specific period of Britain's seafaring history. Each is, symbolically, all that remains of this particular kind of vessel or time. A few of these are in museums, because of their age and rarity, but most are not; I'm most drawn to artifacts which must fend for themselves ...
"Through their stories it is possible to see a wider narrative of the ascendancy, decline and fall of seafaring Britain - as our attitudes to and dependance on the sea begin to change, as the prestige of ships and their coastal berths begins to dim, as the last of the sea drains out of the country, leaving only residue in an empty vessel".
The book is set out in a logical order, starting with stories of Mediaeval seafaring, and finishing in the 20th Century, with its author pondering whether there is any future for using ships for industry in Britain. At one point, he even points out the fact that use of aircraft is a natural successor.
All of the chapters feel that they have been very well-researched, and they are full of anecdotes (often humorous) about the author's own visits to the sites he describes in the books, as well as his own musings. The best chapter for me went into great detail about the horror of the slave trade, with stories about captives jumping off boats because they would rather drown than end up in a lifetime of slavery.
I did have to re-read a few sections to make sure I hadn't missed anything, but overall I really enjoyed this.
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