The Hard Way AroundThe Hard Way Around
the Passages of Joshua Slocum
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Book, 2010
Current format, Book, 2010, 1st ed., Available .Book, 2010
Current format, Book, 2010, 1st ed., Available . Offered in 0 more formatsA masterful biographer now offers a thrilling, definitive portrait of one of history’s most legendary icons of adventure.
In 1860, sixteen-year-old Joshua Slocum escaped a hardscrabble childhood in Nova Scotia by signing on as an ordinary seaman to a merchant ship bound for Dublin. Despite having only a third-grade education, Slocum rose through the nautical ranks at a mercurial pace; just a decade later he was commander of his own ship. His subsequent journeys took him nearly everywhere: Liverpool, China, Japan, Cape Horn, the Dutch East Indies, Manila, Hong Kong, Saigon, Singapore, San Francisco, and Australia—where he met and married his first wife, Virginia, who would sail along with him for the rest of her life, bearing and raising their children at sea. He commanded eight vessels and owned four, enduring hurricanes, shipwrecks, pirate attacks, cholera, smallpox, a mutiny, and the death of his wife and three of his children. Yet his ultimate adventure and crowning glory was still to come.
In 1895 Slocum set sail from Gloucester, Massachusetts—by himself—in the Spray, a small sloop of thirty-seven feet. More than three years and forty-six thousand miles later, he became the first man to circumnavigate the globe solo, a feat that wouldn’t be replicated until 1925. His account of that voyage, Sailing Alone Around the World, soon made him internationally famous. He met President Theodore Roosevelt on several occasions and became a presence on the lecture circuit, selling his sea-saga books whenever and wherever he could. But scandal soon followed, and a decade later, with his finances failing, he set off alone once more—and was never seen again.
Geoffrey Wolff captures this singular life and its flamboyant times—from the Golden Age of Sail to a shockingly different new century—in vivid, fascinating detail.
A masterful biographer now offers a thrilling, definitive portrait of one of history's most legendary icons of adventure.
In 1860, sixteen-year-old Joshua Slocum escaped a hardscrabble childhood in Nova Scotia by signing on as an ordinary seaman to a merchant ship bound for Dublin. Despite having only a third-grade education, Slocum rose through the nautical ranks at a mercurial pace; just a decade later he was commander of his own ship. His subsequent journeys took him nearly everywhere: Liverpool, China, Japan, Cape Horn, the Dutch East Indies, Manila, Hong Kong, Saigon, Singapore, San Francisco, and Australiaùwhere he met and married his first wife, Virginia, who would sail along with him for the rest of her life, bearing and raising their children at sea. He commanded eight vessels and owned four, enduring hurricanes, shipwrecks, pirate attacks, cholera, smallpox, a mutiny, and the death of his wife and three of his children. Yet his ultimate adventure and crowning glory was still to come.
In 1895 Slocum set sail from Gloucester, Massachusettsùby himselfùin the Spray, a small sloop of thirty-seven feet. More than three years and forty-six thousand miles later, he became the first man to circumnavigate the globe solo, a feat that wouldn't be replicated until 1925. His account of that voyage, Sailing Alone Around the World, soon made him internationally famous. He met President Theodore Roosevelt on several occasions and became a presence on the lecture circuit, selling his sea-saga books whenever and wherever he could. But scandal soon followed, and a decade later, with his finances failing, he set off alone once moreùand was never seen again.
Geoffrey Wolff captures this singular life and its flamboyant timesùfrom the Golden Age of Sail to a shockingly different new centuryùin vivid, fascinating detail.
In this compelling account, Wolff, author of A Day at the Beach and The Duke of Deception, presents the life story of Joshua Slocum, a 19th-century sea captain. Using extensive primary materials, including letters, journals, and newspaper accounts, Wolff describes the risks and adventures of Slocum's life and career, the celebrity that came with a solo circumnavigation, the tragedy of losing his wife and three of his children, and his eventual, mysterious demise. Includes a bibliography; not indexed. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
A dramatic portrait of the legendary sea commander traces his rapid rise from an uneducated Dickensian childhood in mid-19th-century Nova Scotia to the leader of ships that experienced high-danger adventures including a first documented solo journey around the world. By the award-winning author of The Duke of Deception. 50,000 first printing.
A portrait of the legendary sea commander traces his rapid rise from an uneducated childhood in mid-nineteenth-century Nova Scotia to the leader of ships that experienced high-danger adventures, including the first documented solo journey around the world.
In 1860, sixteen-year-old Joshua Slocum escaped a hardscrabble childhood in Nova Scotia by signing on as an ordinary seaman to a merchant ship bound for Dublin. Despite having only a third-grade education, Slocum rose through the nautical ranks at a mercurial pace; just a decade later he was commander of his own ship. His subsequent journeys took him nearly everywhere: Liverpool, China, Japan, Cape Horn, the Dutch East Indies, Manila, Hong Kong, Saigon, Singapore, San Francisco, and Australia—where he met and married his first wife, Virginia, who would sail along with him for the rest of her life, bearing and raising their children at sea. He commanded eight vessels and owned four, enduring hurricanes, shipwrecks, pirate attacks, cholera, smallpox, a mutiny, and the death of his wife and three of his children. Yet his ultimate adventure and crowning glory was still to come.
In 1895 Slocum set sail from Gloucester, Massachusetts—by himself—in the Spray, a small sloop of thirty-seven feet. More than three years and forty-six thousand miles later, he became the first man to circumnavigate the globe solo, a feat that wouldn’t be replicated until 1925. His account of that voyage, Sailing Alone Around the World, soon made him internationally famous. He met President Theodore Roosevelt on several occasions and became a presence on the lecture circuit, selling his sea-saga books whenever and wherever he could. But scandal soon followed, and a decade later, with his finances failing, he set off alone once more—and was never seen again.
Geoffrey Wolff captures this singular life and its flamboyant times—from the Golden Age of Sail to a shockingly different new century—in vivid, fascinating detail.
A masterful biographer now offers a thrilling, definitive portrait of one of history's most legendary icons of adventure.
In 1860, sixteen-year-old Joshua Slocum escaped a hardscrabble childhood in Nova Scotia by signing on as an ordinary seaman to a merchant ship bound for Dublin. Despite having only a third-grade education, Slocum rose through the nautical ranks at a mercurial pace; just a decade later he was commander of his own ship. His subsequent journeys took him nearly everywhere: Liverpool, China, Japan, Cape Horn, the Dutch East Indies, Manila, Hong Kong, Saigon, Singapore, San Francisco, and Australiaùwhere he met and married his first wife, Virginia, who would sail along with him for the rest of her life, bearing and raising their children at sea. He commanded eight vessels and owned four, enduring hurricanes, shipwrecks, pirate attacks, cholera, smallpox, a mutiny, and the death of his wife and three of his children. Yet his ultimate adventure and crowning glory was still to come.
In 1895 Slocum set sail from Gloucester, Massachusettsùby himselfùin the Spray, a small sloop of thirty-seven feet. More than three years and forty-six thousand miles later, he became the first man to circumnavigate the globe solo, a feat that wouldn't be replicated until 1925. His account of that voyage, Sailing Alone Around the World, soon made him internationally famous. He met President Theodore Roosevelt on several occasions and became a presence on the lecture circuit, selling his sea-saga books whenever and wherever he could. But scandal soon followed, and a decade later, with his finances failing, he set off alone once moreùand was never seen again.
Geoffrey Wolff captures this singular life and its flamboyant timesùfrom the Golden Age of Sail to a shockingly different new centuryùin vivid, fascinating detail.
In this compelling account, Wolff, author of A Day at the Beach and The Duke of Deception, presents the life story of Joshua Slocum, a 19th-century sea captain. Using extensive primary materials, including letters, journals, and newspaper accounts, Wolff describes the risks and adventures of Slocum's life and career, the celebrity that came with a solo circumnavigation, the tragedy of losing his wife and three of his children, and his eventual, mysterious demise. Includes a bibliography; not indexed. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
A dramatic portrait of the legendary sea commander traces his rapid rise from an uneducated Dickensian childhood in mid-19th-century Nova Scotia to the leader of ships that experienced high-danger adventures including a first documented solo journey around the world. By the award-winning author of The Duke of Deception. 50,000 first printing.
A portrait of the legendary sea commander traces his rapid rise from an uneducated childhood in mid-nineteenth-century Nova Scotia to the leader of ships that experienced high-danger adventures, including the first documented solo journey around the world.
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- New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2010.
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