Joshua Slocum: The Captain Who Sailed Around the World by Quentin Casey

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Joshua Slocum: The Captain Who Sailed Around the WorldThis book is part of the “Stories of Our Past” series published by Nimbus. The look and feel of this book is very polished. It is only a little over 120 pages, but Mr. Casey manages to condense a full lifetime of Captain Slocum’s adventures and trials into these few pages. There are plenty of colour and B&W illustrations throughout the book, printed on good high quality paper.

The target audience for this book would be the general reader, perhaps even young adults. In fact, it kind of reminds me of the “How and Why Wonder Book” series of illustrated books that were popular with young people back in the 60’s and 70’s (see: https://www.pinterest.com/rastin/how-…) I still have my How and Why Wonder Book of WWII, in fact.

Many years ago, I read Captain Slocum’s Sailing Alone around the World and found it fascinating reading. Fascinating not only for the feat itself (he was the first person to sail around the world alone) but also for it’s engaging sense of adventure and the Captain’s writing style, which was very good considering he left home at a very young age to go to sea.

However, I always had this vision of him retiring to a quiet shore life after attaining fame and (some) fortune from his globe-encircling trek. This was not the case, as this volume by author Quentin Casey well describes.

Mr. Casey includes a bibliography at the end of various books he used in his research and freely quotes from throughout each chapter. With a cover price of $15.95, this would make a nice gift for anyone with an interest in Maritime/Nautical history. I would definitely enjoy examining the “Stories of Our Past” series of books further.

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James M. Fisher is the owner and editor-in-chief of The Miramichi Reader. He began TMR in 2015, realizing that there was a genuine need for more book reviews of Canadian literature. It has since become Canada’s best-regarded source for the finest in new literary releases. James has been interviewed about TMR on CBC Radio and other media sites. James works as a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Technologist and lives in Miramichi, New Brunswick with his wife Diane and their tabby cat Eddie.