5 comments about Before the Wind: The Memoir of an American Sea Captain 1808-1833.

1. Charles Tyng tells a most exciting real life tale which is better than the fiction which movies are made of.
   To think of the hardships of a rather rebelious little boy from his mother dying who overcame to become a most successful gentleman is a profile in courage and chivalry. Tyng honestly overcame more by the time he was 15 than most people do in their entire lives.
   This would make a most telling movie, but for now this is the perfect diary of life almost unknown from 1812 in America.
   A 5 star enthusiastic review.



2. While Charles Tyng's brothers became wealthy as doctors, lawyers and land-based businessmen, Charles (due to his poor study habits) was forced to pursue the much more dangerous and uncertain vocation of sailor and sea-merchant. This is definitely no dry account of business deals. This story is about Charles' struggles against cruel and incompetent superiors, ferocious storms at sea, mutinous and violent crews, pirate attacks, shark attacks and, for good measure a bout with cholera. If even half of Tyng's account is true, he was very, very lucky to live to old age. Tyng was obviously a man who was very curious by nature and so he was able to describe in detail many aspects of the people, places and operations that he witnessed (such as whale hunting, sugar processing, and opium smuggling). Most of it is very interesting because it paints a piture of a world very different from our modern world. Tyng himself is likable, for the most part, although he definitely was a bit of a rogue; he pulls a few pratical jokes on people that adds some humor to the story. I only give it four stars because there were a couple short dry patches in the book. Overall, though, very enjoyable.



3. If you're not already into this stuff, it will put you to sleep.

   If on the other hand, like me, the mere mention of the days of tall ships fills your lungs with salt air, gets your sea legs in motion, and gives you a faraway thrill, then this becomes the definitive life story of every sailor who ever went to sea.

   And this guy has been through it all: pirates, mutinies, shipwrecks, storms, cruel officers, exotic foreign shores, wars (on both land and sea, including the American revolution and the China traders), sharks, starvation, marriage (that ultimate adventure), disease, and even "haunted" ships.

   Beautifully written in the eloquent style of a man who had been an illiterate cabin boy and eventually educated himself with distinction, it even chronicles the effects that his life at sea had upon the way his family saw him and the business world dealt with him, and contains vignettes about minute aspects of life back then that I'd never been aware of.

   What a find!




4. A delight to read, Tyng's memoir only disappoints by ending too soon. For anyone who has read Morison's Maritime History of Massachusetts or my own recently published BULLOUGH'S POND and wondered what merchant shipping was really like, Tyng has the answers. But you can enjoy this book even if you bring no questions to the table, as long as you enjoy a good adverdure story well told. Diana Muir



5. I came across a reference to this book when checking the book reviews of another amazon.com reviewer. It is an autobiography of Captain Charles Tyng, covering the early part of his life and, in particular, his career in as a merchant mariner from the time he was 13 to the time he was 31. It was taken from a hand written manuscript which he wrote 45 years after the last event detailed, and not published until 120 years after his death after being found by one of his descendents. He started as a ship's boy, shortly after the end of the War of 1812 on a voyage to Canton, China; rapidly rose to a ship's captain by his own initiative, family connections, and matters of chance; and established his early fortune by the private trading allowed to ships' captains, trading in things as exotic as live monkeys, parrots, bird nests, and other commodities. He had an eye for potential profit. The book details the harsh life of merchant sailors, with miserly ship owners often giving them insufficient food and low pay (if they did not try to steal even that), and bad treatment from some sadistic ships' officers. Captain Tyng managed to become a ship owner at an early age, and was a successful merchant brokering cargo by the time he was 31 (the ending point of the tale). The last chapter covers a conflict in Charleston, SC, between the State and the Federal Government about 30 years before the Civil War when South Carolina passed the Nullification Act, refusing to pay duties on imported goods, and President Jackson sent a frigate to Charleston to enforce the customs and General Scott to restore order in the city. The book is the manuscript pretty much as written and has a few flaws as a novel, e.g., excessive repetition of the phrase, "I can't remember his name," some repetition of descriptions, and a lot of short digressions. It is an interesting historical account providing details of the U.S. merchant service during the early 19th century including shipwrecks, pirates, mutinies, connivery, etc., as well as extensive details of the merchantile business of that era when it was possible to make large profits on a well placed investment. There are some side details such as the U.S. and British business of smuggling opium into China.

No comments about The Life of John Ledyard, the American Traveller: Comprising Selections from His Journals and Correspondence.

No comments about Susquehanna Squire: The Story of William Lloyd.

No comments about Voyages Of Samuel De Champlain.

No comments about Voyages Of Samuel De Champlain.

No comments about When You Lunch With the Emperor.

1 comments about John Muir: Family, Friends, and Adventures.

1. Every year since 1980 California's University of the Pacific has hosted the John Muir Institutes, reaching top scholars of his work: John Muir: Family, Friends And Adventures gathers essays from those who participated in the 2001 institute, surveying his associates and professional relationships, his friendships, and his major influences. Chapters provide plenty of quotes from letters and source materials in the process of providing a scholarly overview of Muir's life.

No comments about In Search of Captain Cook: Exploring the Man through His Own Words.

No comments about Into the Abyss: Diving to Adventure in the Liquid World.

5 comments about Spy On The Roof Of The World: Espionage and Survival in the Himalayas.

1. I read this book sometime ago and was thrilled and captivated by it! I could not put it down. It was so unusual and so interesting - a view point of the Chinese by a Scotsman (who worked as a spy for the Indian army that he loved and respected, in addition to climbing the treacherous Gurla Mandhata, which had been his lifelong mountaineering ambition as a member of the Scottish Himalayan Club) who suffered being captured, imprisoned and tortured by them. All of this and subtly funny throughout! I could not put the book down until I had finished reading all of it! Tellingly, this adventure cured the author of his mountaineering passion.
   
   I highly for recommend it as a movie worth producing by Hollywood or Bollywood - within the next 5 years. I predict that this will be a blockbuster unlike any other!



2. This is the best book I have ever read, on any topic. My husband and I had to move to a new house with two extra bedrooms and a finished basement - just so we could accomodate all our books. So I don't say lightly that this is the best book I have ever read.
   
   This is a great survival story, but, more than that, it is an amazing human drama. Other reviewers have done an excellent job of describing the plot, so I'll just say that Sydney Wignall's writing is clear, detailed, and emotionally charged. This book is amazingly powerful.
   
   Read this book!



3. A truly amazing story with right dosage of travelogue, high altitude mountaineering, History of India, Nepal, China & Tibet's along with the behind the scenes patriotism of Indian army and of self centered Nehru & Menon. A must read for who truly believe in the cause of Tibet's Liberation!



4. This book goes into the period just after the Chinese 'liberation' of Tibet and the war with India due to their land grabbing.
   The author has written out of personal experience, and his lack of writing skills must be excused. Sometimes the narrative might get kinda boring, but the work has to be read as a historical gem rather than an interesting story.
   Goes into good detail about the crimes committed by the Chinese against the Tibetans.
   A very good read.



5. As a Indian I was naturaly drawn to read an account of a brit mountaineer who was engaged in a spying operation for the Indian army...

   The feat of endurance is graphically elucidated by the author and is replete with descriptions of the freezing cold and the hardy spirit of the mountain people