Rating: 
Summary: It really is the true story
Review: I (like many others I am sure) believed "Captain" Bligh to have been a cruel, unjust man and therefore thought that the loss of the ship Bounty was essentially his own fault. In short, I watched too many movies. This book gave me an unexpected and a realistic take on what really happened on board his majesty's ship Bounty from the time it left England until years after the last of the mutineers had died. I found it most interesting that even though we have court martial documents and letters of correspondence to prove other wise, Captain Bligh is still remembered as "the villian". Anyone who has even a little bit of interest on this subject should read this book. I am now reading it for the third time and still can't put it down.
Rating: 
Summary: Enthralling, Exciting (4.2 on a scale of 1 to 5)
Review: "The Bounty" is a well-researched piece of history that translates into an exciting and enthralling story. Alexander delves into the facts and the myths of the famous "mutiny on the bounty."
For those not familiar with the story: in the 1790's a british ship, captained by a William Bligh, was seized by its crew led by a Fletcher Christian. Bligh and some crew numbers were cast overboard in a small craft in the middle of the South Seas, basically left to die. Amazingly, they survived and made it to mainland. Christian and company returned to the paradise of Tahiti. Some crew members stayed there (and were eventually captured and brought back to England for court martial) while Christian and company (with the addition of some beautiful Tahitian women)sailed on to Pitcairn Island.
History and Hollywood have embellished the story: Bligh was pure evil, Christian pure nobility. The crew wanted to return to Tahiti where they had found true love.
Alexander debunks most myths. Bligh certainly was tough; however, no more so than most captains of his era. Christian was impetuous, likely borderline mad, and had been drinking heavily the night before the mutiny. Most interesting, Christian's family--and that of a fellow mutineer and Christian relative Peter Heywood-spent a tremendous amount of time and resources in the future decades defending their relatives' reputations and reshaping the story into the present day myth. (They were then helped by Hollywood.)
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Alexander captured the tension of the mutiny and subsequent court martials brilliantly. I feel (like other reviewers) that she had a bit of bias towards Bligh (thus the four stars) and I almost wish she had just written it from his perspective.
Still I would recommend this book to those who love historical stories, seafaring books (e.g., "Master and Commander") and just plain old good yarns.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining history
Review: A man commits a crime. When the community finds out, he is condemned. Then, the man and his family do a little spin control, and suddenly, he turns out to be a hero (or at least a victim) to a large segment of the population and the victim becomes the villain. We see it in the news all the time today, but it is hardly a new phenomenon; as shown in The Bounty, the criminal-as-wronged-individual is a centuries-old idea.
The Bounty is part history, part true crime story. Set in the late 18th century world of maritime trade and warfare, The Bounty tells the story of the most famous mutiny in history. As in a true crime story, the actual act takes a mere few pages, but it is the central act in the tale. The events leading up to the mutiny and the actions taken afterward by both sides fill up the rest of the book.
The myth of the Mutiny of the Bounty has Captain William Bligh as the villain and the mutinous Fletcher Christian as the hero (how could a man named Christian be anything less than heroic?). Bligh's name has become synonymous with tyrannical behavior, yet The Bounty shows that there was nothing exceptional about his behavior: in an era when ships' captains were tyrants, Bligh was no saint, but he may have actually been a little better than average. In this book, the sympathies are definitely with Bligh, especially after he and his loyalists are abandoned on a small craft and must undergo a harrowing trip over 3000 miles of mostly open water. That Bligh was pivotal in almost everyone surviving this trip makes Bligh the true hero in this book. Fletcher Christian, on the other hand, often comes off as an irrational or just an ingrate.
Well-documented, The Bounty is both entertaining and educational. The only thing I would have liked to have seen was an epilogue dealing with the various movies and books that have been about this event. Nonetheless, this is a very good book and a worthwhile read for those interested in this subject.
Rating:
Summary: Lifting the Lid on Bligh
Review: Alexander's work is astounding. A result of enormous research and careful study.
No stone is left unturned in this account of the Bounty mutineers and how Bligh's precarious character was used to secure their pardons. Debunks many of the popular myths of Bligh as a draconian slave-driver and re-examines the complicity of the mutineers.
A must for any student of the subject and a jolly good read to boot.
Rating: 
Summary: A Bounty Primer
Review: As others have noted, this book seems to be weighed down by thousands of tiny details, all vying to make an equal contribution to the story as a whole. If you are a first-time explorer into the world of 'Bounty' or you are just looking for yet another rousing telling of a high-seas adventure, this is probably not the book for you. Having read almost everything I could get my hands on dealing with Pitcairn's Island, after first being exposed to the Hollywood version of this piece of history, I found the book enlightening and intriguing. What Ms Alexander has crafted is somewhat akin to the modern version of the DVD extras we commonly see included with deluxe version of some feature films - sort of a "The Making Of..." if you will. It was only after reading this book did I gain a greater understanding of the motivations and implications behind the various actions taken by the many players involved. To be fair, the numerous characters one is introduced to are hard to keep track of and Ms Alexander's penchant for constantly using phrasing that says something along the lines of "this seemingly innocent action/remark will have an unforeseen impact later on" does get tedious. Especially since one can hardly keep track of all these telling instances. The many personal documents and letters referenced are not presented in any judgmental way. Ms Alexander presents the information and simply offers opinions or conjectures on how each piece may weigh into the subject at hand; thus allowing the reader to draw his/her own conclusions. A novel way to present a piece of true history, I think. Hollywood will never be able to do justice to this story, but with the aid of this book, one can enjoy the tale and then come back to this reference work and gain the deeper meanings.
Rating:
Summary: A reassessment of Captain Bligh
Review: Caroline Alexander attempts to correct popular history and resurrect the reputation of the commander of HMS Bounty, the infamous Captain Bligh, the "celebrated navigator who first transplanted the Bread Fruit Tree from Otaheite to the West Indies." The mutiny on the Bounty in the year 1789 is one of the most famous of stories and Bligh the most infamous of villains. Was he really a villain?The author says no - although she does not paint him in the most attractive of colors. He demonstrated a "relentless perfectionism, an unwavering and exacting adherence to the strictest letter of the laws of his duty." But he was also a navigator of enormous skill, took great pains to ensure the health and welfare of his men, and was very sparing of the lash - by comparison with many of his contemporaries. The motivations of the mutineers are unclear, although they certainly had to do with the seductions (female) of Tahiti and the hardships of life aboard a small ship on a big ocean. Although there is much confusion in a plethora of similar names (Huggan, Hayward, Heywood, etc.) this is a thorough history of all the events of the Bounty story: the voyage to Tahiti, the idyllic five months on the island, the mutiny, the amazing sea voyage of Bligh and his loyalists in a small launch, the hunt for the mutineers, the trial of those captured, the later life of crewmembers of the Bounty, and the discovery many years later of one surviving mutineer on tiny Pitcairn Island. "The Bounty" is a well-written, fascinating, and authoritative account of a trivial but enormously interesting event. The author persuades me that Bligh has been unfairly maligned by history - although he will likely remain secure in his position as one of Hollywood's favorite villains.
Rating:
Summary: Good but occasionally bogged down
Review: Caroline Alexander has written a very compelling and readable account of the Bounty mutiny, complete with an account of the heroic open water navigation feat of Capt. Bligh, and a detailed account of the court-martial trials of the surviving mutineers who were captured and tried in England. Of course little can be written about the aftermath of the mutiny among the Pitcairn survivors, since sources of information do not really exist, and likewise any author would have a hard time getting into the heads of Fletcher Christian and his shipmates to study exactly what caused the mutiny. I believe the author did as well, on those subjects, as anyone could ever hope even though the reader ultimately wants a little more information.
What I found curious in this book was the excessive number of pages devoted to Peter Heywood, his trial, and in particular the endless stream of letters between Heywood and his somewhat wacky sister leading up to his trial. I think the author found Heywood particularly fascinating since he was a gentleman and an officer, unlike many who were brought back to Europe. So much attention had been devoted to Heywood, and so little attention had been given to some of the other mutineers, that when the trial commenced I lost track of the other defendants and start confusing them.
Captain Bligh is a complex character, and I thought Alexander did a good job portraying Bligh's inherent courage, his skills as a captain, his sense of duty, his attention to detail and yet his stubborn inflexibility. It was this last characteristic which may have pushed Christian and some of the others over the top after a lazy sojourn in Tahiti. The author also points out that due to the size of the Bounty, and the space needed for transporting the precious breadfruit plants (which were to be used for feeding slaves in the colonies by the way), Bligh did not have marines on board who would assist him in promoting discipline and keeping order.
All in all this was a very good book, and required reading for anyone wanting to know more about the Bounty mutiny. Had the author presented a little more information about the other mutineers, and devoted a little less space to Peter Heywood and his family, I would give it 5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Setting the Record Straight
Review: Caroline Alexander's entertaining, impeccably researched book may finally lay to rest the popular notion-fostered primarily through fiction and film-that Captain William Bligh was a sadistic, seafaring monster. "The Bounty" does justice to a man who certainly had his faults as a leader, but who happened to be a brilliant navigator who genuinely cared for the health and welfare of his crew. "The Bounty" is a judicious, well-balanced account of the mutiny that occurred on that ship in April 1789. For more than 200 years, people have discussed the events surrounding the mutiny, including the question of who was to blame for the insurrection-a bloodless event, yet one that ultimately resulted in the loss of many lives. The mutiny generated an astonishing chain of events, including William Bligh's heroic, perilous open boat voyage; the mutineers' attempts to settle in the South Pacific; the Pandora's pursuit and capture of the mutineers, followed by shipwreck and a second open boat voyage; a suspense-filled court-martial; and a tale of murder and redemption on Pitcairn Island, where descendants of the mutineers still live today. Ms. Alexander handles all of these elements with great skill, and her interpretations are solidly based on primary materials, notably contemporary accounts of the people and events. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Unputdownable.
Review: Caroline Alexander's history of the Bounty is a magnificent synthesis of deft narrative and thorough, patient scholarship.
The chapters describing the court-martial kept me up until the wee hours. Alexander's description of the captured mutineers' ordeal, sourced from, and coloured by, a mind-bogglingly vast pile of primary sources, is a gripping account of what it would be like to have your life depend on the opinions of 12 British naval officers at the end of the 18th century. That the mutineers' hopes and fears, as they passed daily beneath the yardarms from which three of them would eventually be hanged, mattered so much to me that I lost sleep over them is a testament to the author's art.
Anyone offering a postmodernist rant against this type of history should be smacked on the side of the head with Alexander's 450+ page book.
Alexander uncovers the elaborate webs of allegiance and interest that underscored the Bounty's mission, her crew, their mutiny, the court-martial, and the various smear campaigns that followed. This last in particular amazed me, I had no idea that so many of the Bounty's crew had published their own accounts of the mutiny.
The author also reveals the important roles various women played in events. Apart from the "seductions of Tahiti," as Alexander puts it, I had never known that women were such an integral part of the Bounty story. In her final chapter, Alexander mentions that there were frequently women aboard British men-of-war, though they weren't usually listed in the ships' books. O'Brian knew this and wrote women onto ships in various tomes of his Aubrey-Maturin series, though the film "Master and Commander" leaves them out of the picture.
Alexander gives particular attention to Peter Heywood, a midshipman in his teens when the mutiny happened, and who stayed with Christian aboard the ship. He was captured, tried, found guilty, sentenced to hang, pardoned by the king, and went on to live a life of penitence. His story made me ponder how quickly people had to grow up back then - the consequence of Heywood's teenaged passivity was a death sentence from 12 battle-scarred British Naval officers.
Although the book is sympathetic to Bligh, it is not at Christian's expense nor uncritical of the captain abandoned in his launch. My allegiance shifted back and forth as Alexander presented new information about each man, as well as introducing their families, friends, and foes.
History, character study, sea yarn, this is an unputdownable book.
Rating:
Summary: An extremely thorough review of the Bounty Mutiny
Review: I gave this book four stars only because it was too thorough, and thus really long for an audio book. Beside that, it was a very good read. The facets of the book are very interesting, in that it touches on multiple aspects that could be books on their own. For example, the treatment of the mutiny court-martial could make a good "Law and Order" episode or movie. The open boat trip makes for a study in survival.
Although some reviewers criticized the focus on Thomas Heywood, I find it interesting to understand the power to revise history. Indeed, the concept of "spin" is an old one. It is amazing how a convicted mutineer could get off scott-free with the right friends and the right spin. It's almost the equivalent of pardoning Squeaky Fromme because she was young and stupid.
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