by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall
Based on true events starting in 1787 when the Bounty sailed from England to Tahiti to pick up breadfruit trees to bring to the West Indies to provide cheap food for slaves.
Mutiny on the Bounty:
Captain Bligh was so mean, distrustful, cruel, accusatory, greedy, swindler. He accuses Fletcher Christian of stealing 2 of his coconuts and pushes him over the edge. Fletcher decides to abandon ship and has a middle of the night conversation with Roger Byam – really Midshipman Heywood – that greatly affects Roger Byam’s life, because Bligh overhears only the last words, “You can count on me, sir.” – referring to giving a message to Christian’s family in England. Well, the next morning, Christian cannot leave on his little raft because there is no wind and, at that moment, he decides to mutiny. He puts Bligh and 18 others on the “launch” of the Bounty and sails away, back to Tahiti to drop off those who didn’t participate in the mutiny or those who wanted to stay on Tahiti. Roger Byam did not participate in the mutiny and he stays on Tahiti, marries a beautiful Tahitian princess and has 1 child. Then, an English ship, the Pandora, comes to Tahiti and he goes to the captain and is promptly arrested and put in chains, along with all the other English seaman on Tahiti, some of which are guilty of mutiny, some are not. They are treated poorly – on the way back to England, the Pandora sinks in a reef (New Holland, Australia) and they take 2 boats of survivors and make it back to England after an arduous time. Then, the trial, which is very interesting. Only one person (Tinkler) can prove Byam is innocent because he overheard the entire conversation between Byam and Christian – but he was believed lost at sea. Turns out he is alive! And his testimony saves Byam who goes on to become a captain in the English Navy. What an incredibly exciting, perfectly written book! Tahiti and its people are so beautiful – like Eden. Bligh is so despicable. Deserved to be mutinied!
Men Against the Sea: This is the true story (fictionalized account) of Captain Bligh and the 18 seamen who didn’t mutiny who were set adrift on the Bounty’s launch. They didn’t have a chance of survival – the islands (not Tahiti) were full of unfriendly natives – even cannibals – they were overloaded and did not have enough provisions – and their boat, though well-built, was very small (23′ long). They made it, all except one person killed by natives on the 1st island they stopped at. They made it, mostly due to the leadership skills of Captain Bligh, the monster turned good leader. It was excellent, too! 3600 miles from the island of Tofua to Timor.
Pitcairn’s Island: This is the story of the mutineers on the Bounty and their search for an undiscovered island on which to live out the remainder of their lives. They are led by Fletcher Christian. There were 9 Bounty men, with 9 Tahitian wives, 6 Tahitian men with 3 Tahitian wives. This is the most painful book because they find their Garden of Eden, Pitcairn’s Island, a perfect uninhabited island with lots of fresh water and lots of food where they can live their remaining days in peace. There is no way boats can come ashore. They make it part way with the Bounty but it gets stuck and they have to take canoes the rest of the way. Well, due to lust, alcoholism, and prejudice, the Garden of Eden becomes a sin-filled place and all of the men, except 2 seamen – Alex Smith and Edward Young – end up murdered.
Edward Young dies a natural death but not until he has the chance to teach Alex Smith to read and write using mostly the Bible. Alex is so sad when Edward Young dies that he is ready to throw himself off the cliff. He sees 3 sleeping children (he knows them – there were 18 children born there) at the top of the cliff and they melt his heart. He feels God made sure they were there to prevent him killing himself and vows to teach them to read and write. First he asks the Tahitian women, his wife and the others – the childrens’ mothers – and he tells them about Jesus. They all come to believe and finally, they have their Garden of Eden back.
All three books were so wonderful – couldn’t put them down. Bligh’s evilness and the seamen’s evil on Pitcairn were most painful – why do we ruin what could be Paradise?!!!