The Bounty: The True Story Of The Mutiny On The Bounty
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The Bounty: The True Story Of The Mutiny On The Bounty
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3.84 of 5 stars
Surely this exhaustingly-researched, enthralling and enthusiastically-written tome is the last word on the most famous of all seafaring mutinies,... read full description

reviews

Dec 14, 2011
Saxton B. Little rated it: 4 of 5 stars
My husband and I decided to listen to Caroline Alexander’s The Bounty after listening to Bligh’s daily log account of the infamous Mutiny on The H.M.S. Bounty. We were hoping to clear up some questions we had regarding Bligh and his character. If you’ve ever watched any of the movies that depict the mutiny, you can’t help but come away with a bad taste in your mouth for Bligh. He is portrayed as the villain and Fletcher Christian appears to be justified in his rebellion.

Alexander’s bo More...
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Aug 09, 2011
Andrew rated it: 4 of 5 stars
The Bounty is a truly amazing work of scholarhip; Ms. Alexander seems to have read every scrap of information regarding the mutiny and the subsequent lives of all persons involved. She lays out the problems with the voyage, the petty dictates of a class conscious society, the trials of men at sea with nowhere to go to get away from those they dislike, and how the trivial becomes paramount due to this closeness. For all these reasons, the book should have five stars.

But...

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Aug 31, 2009
Mom rated it: 3 of 5 stars
urely this exhaustingly-researched, enthralling and enthusiastically-written tome is the last word on the most famous of all seafaring mutinies, that of shipmate Fletcher Christian and against Lieutenant Bligh on the Bounty. More than 200 years have gone by since the ship left England after dreadful weather kept it harbored for months, on its mission to transport breadfruit from Tahiti to the West Indies. The mutiny in Tahiti left the mutineers scattered about the paradisiacal islands and found More...
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Apr 05, 2009
Janellyn51 rated it: 5 of 5 stars
Read in January, 2006
review: The Mutiny on the Bounty has always been one of my top 5 favorite books and I've read socialogical studies about Pitcairns Island and other odd bits and pieces. I suppose of the three films made, The Bounty, the last, is the closest to the actual relationship between Bligh and Christian. I don't know why no one has taken the story on to life on Pitcairn. For some reason it's Pitcairn that's always intrigued me the most. This book, is really interesting, I t More...
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Mar 27, 2011
Ken rated it: 5 of 5 stars
This is an informative and interesting presentation of Bligh’s mission on the Bounty and the events which followed. The book lends particular focus on how the Haywood and Christian families “spun” the tale after the fact to make the mutineers seem more “noble” and Bligh more “evil”. As far as I can tell, it’s a straight-up, honest and well-researched account of what really happened.

However, it does seem to me that the book spends proportionally too much time on the court martial and Pe More...
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Oct 31, 2010
Oliver rated it: 3 of 5 stars
The Mel Gibson/Anthony Hopkins film "The Bounty" from the 80s was on TV a few weeks ago and I flipped it on while getting ready to take a nap. I hadn't seen it in years. All I remembered was Mel Gibson and Liam Neeson being pretty young in it, Anthony Hopkins shouting a lot and it having a cool 80s soundtrack by Vangelis. I fell asleep after the attempted rounding of Cape Horn and woke up about an hour later as The Bounty left Tahiti. For some reason I was a little intrigued by the More...
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Jul 28, 2009
John and Kris rated it: 4 of 5 stars
If I ever own a boat the name will be: Bounty’s Launch.

Alexander’s The Bounty is an excellent and thorough read about all that makes the Mutiny on The Bounty still intriguing today.

On the morning of April 28, 1789 Lieutenant William Bligh’s H.M.S. Bounty was taken in the South Pacific, near Tahiti, by a band of mutineers led by Master Mate, Fletcher Christian. Bligh, in just his night shirt, was forced into the small, 23-foot launch, weighed down with eighteen loyalists a More...
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Dec 30, 2011
Caroline rated it: 5 of 5 stars
Like most people, I'd heard of the story of the mutiny on the i>Bounty</i>, of Captain Bligh and Fletcher Christian, and the colony on the Pitcairn Islands - but I never knew very much more. This was a wonderful read; I honestly could not put it down; and I felt I learned much more than just about the mutiny itself, about Tahiti, and navigation, and the history of the British Navy.

I'd always assumed that Bligh was a tyrant and Christian somewhat justified in rebelling against More...
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Jun 14, 2010
Jared rated it: 3 of 5 stars
I don't enjoy sailing. My interest in history generally begins with Franklin Delano Roosevelt and proceeds forward. And yet, I have now read not one, but TWO books dealing with 18th-century British sailors (Captains Cook and Bligh). The book on Cook was a travel novel, taking the reader along the path of Captain Cook in both the historical and current sense. But The Bounty deals from a purely historical perspective, interweaving sailors' journals, letters, and even court martial transcripts More...
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Jul 05, 2011
William rated it: 4 of 5 stars
The Mutiny on the Bounty is one of those 'household name' events in history which everyone thinks they know all about.

This book shows how false those apparent certainties are. Caroline Alexander relies almost entirely on primary sources - Blight's journal, the letters of Nessie Heywood (sister of one of the men accused of mutiny), to build up the picture in the reader's eye of the events leading up to the mutiny and beyond. She underplays the ambiguities in all this but as she cons More...
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Dec 15, 2011
Carol rated it: 4 of 5 stars
My husband and I decided to listen to Caroline Alexander’s The Bounty after listening to Bligh’s daily log account of the infamous Mutiny on The H.M.S. Bounty. We were hoping to clear up some questions we had regarding Bligh and his character. If you’ve ever watched any of the movies that depict the mutiny, you can’t help but come away with a bad taste in your mouth for Bligh. He is portrayed as the villain and Fletcher Christian appears to be justified in his rebellion.

Alexander’s bo More...
0 comments like (1 person liked it)
Oct 18, 2011
Barbara rated it: 3 of 5 stars
Let me first say I am very attracted to this 200+ year old story of the Bounty. The recreation of the "true" story of the Bounty redefines the heros and villians of the story. Of course history and hollywood has glamorized the Fletcher Christian character (Clark Gable, Marlon Brando, Mel Gibson) and demonized Capt. Bligh. The true story lies somewhere in between and the facts about what happened to all of those involved is interesting. The included illustrations and portraits were More...
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Jan 01, 2012
Frederick rated it: 3 of 5 stars
The story of the mutiny on the British ship Bounty near Tahiti in 1789. It is the classic story of Fletcher Christian, Captain Bligh, tropical paradise, breadfruit trees, etc. The story is told in tremendous detail, including discussion of the aftermath and the fates of all the participants in the affair. The story especially focuses on the story of Peter Hayward, an officer and protege of Bligh's who may or may not have participated in the mutiny. Hayward was captured in Tahiti and brought back More...
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Aug 02, 2009
Eddie rated it: 3 of 5 stars
Yet another nautical history book. I've known the general background of the Bounty and seen several Hollywood versions, but have never read an actual book about it.

Not surprising most of what I knew was wrong; Captain Bligh was really Lieutenant Bligh, Mr. Christian was his protege and had they sailed together before, while Bligh not have been the most pleasant of men, he wasn't that bad compare to his contemporaries and was a very skilled navigator. Most important we don't really kn More...
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May 25, 2008
Walt rated it: 2 of 5 stars
Well-written, but surprisingly inaccurate in several important events.
4 comments like (1 person liked it)
Jan 21, 2012
Rosemary rated it: 5 of 5 stars
Caroline Alexander's for this book has been extremely thorough and the result is not only an excellent read but a redressing of the historic wrong, instigated during his lifetime by the families of those mutineers with money and influence and perpetrated since by Hollywood and world wide media. Actual court records and journals and letters from mutineers and loyalists alike are used in this most enlightening book and yet the content is anything but dry. Once started it is something you just hav More...
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Mar 09, 2011
Sanya rated it: 5 of 5 stars
When I got my Kindle (thanks, honey!), I realized I needed to hit the public domain shelves pretty hard if I was going to keep from blowing the grocery money on books. I grabbed William Bligh's own write up of the Mutiny on the Bounty.

I'd always pictured... you know, a Bad Guy. Nice Mr. Christian having to stand up to evil, etc. You can imagine the double take I did after reading the Lieutenant's own version. Thus I picked up The Bounty, and proceeded to have my mind blown.

Ev More...
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Nov 11, 2010
Jenny rated it: 5 of 5 stars
The story of the mutiny on The Bounty is so compelling that it's no wonder people are still talking about it 200 years later. I first heard about it when I saw the Mel Gibson version of the film back in the 80s and later, the even better version starring Brando. In each of those version, Fletcher Christian is portrayed as the sympathetic hero, suffering under the tyranny of Capt. Bligh. What I loved about Caroline Alexander's book is that I feel I got a more accurate (and very thorough) pictu More...
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Aug 10, 2010
Lorien rated it: 2 of 5 stars
I was really excited to continue my obsession with seafaring adventures and open boat journeys. This book, while well researched, gets so bogged down in the details of every person ever connected with any part of the story, that you never get a clear idea of what is going on. Perhaps if you were already familiar with the story of the Bounty (which I am not) and you really want to know extensive details like the biographies of the 12 Sea Captains who sat on the Court Martial of the mutineers, thi More...
0 comments like (1 person liked it)
May 20, 2010
Xirxe rated it: 2 of 5 stars
Caroline Alexander hat es sich zur Aufgabe gemacht, jede noch so kleine Information, die in irgendeiner Art und Weise mit der Meuterei auf der Bounty zu tun hat, herauszufinden und in ihrem Buch festzuhalten. Diejenigen, die einen oder auch mehrere der zum Teil berühmten Filme zu diesem Thema gesehen haben, werden von der Fülle an neuen, auch recht überraschenden Details verblüfft sein.
Doch genau dies wird zum Problem der Hörbuchfassung: Jede Person, die in irgendeiner Form in der fraglich More...
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Mar 17, 2009
Ralph rated it: 3 of 5 stars
“All our experience with history should teach us, when we look back, how badly human wisdom is betrayed when it relies on itself” ~Martin Luther

Warning: the following review contains historical facts that may be considered spoilers if you desire to read this book without previous knowledge of the events.

I love to read books about people and events that I know little to nothing about. I had certainly heard of Captain Bligh and the Mutiny on the Bounty, but that was the e More...
0 comments like (1 person liked it)
Oct 08, 2008
Josephus rated it: 4 of 5 stars
An interesting look into redcoat-era naval culture (the redcoats are coming! The redcoats are coming!), although the historical documentation forces it to take Captain Bligh's side and the side of the court martial, with little good insight into the piratical mutineers' point of view. Such is the documentation, I suppose. In the end, she makes a pretty strong case for Bligh's reputation as a tyrant being way overblown.

It was diverting to see how the relatively small story of the Bou More...
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Apr 11, 2008
Maria rated it: 3 of 5 stars
More than two centuries have passed since Master's Mate Fletcher Christian mutinied against Lieutenant Bligh on a small, armed transport vessel called Bounty. Why the details of this obscure adventure at the end of the world remain vivid and enthralling is as intriguing as the truth behind the legend.

In giving the Bounty mutiny its historical due, Caroline Alexander has chosen to frame her narrative by focusing on the court-martial of the ten mutineers who were captured in Tahiti an More...
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Mar 04, 2008
Nancy rated it: 5 of 5 stars
I expected this book to be excellent simply by virtue of having been written by Caroline Alexander, whose previous work, The Endurance, was outstanding. If you haven't read that one and you are interested in Shackleton, I strongly suggest you find a copy and read it.

The Bounty is another one of those marvelous histories, which although documented (sources for each chapter are given at the end & thus there are no footnote encumbrances), reads likes a novel. I literally could not put More...
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Mar 06, 2008
Alex rated it: 5 of 5 stars
THE BOUNTY: THE TRUE STORY OF THE MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY BY CAROLINE ALEXANDER: So I finally finished The Bounty which turned out to be a really great book about the mutiny on the Bounty, with Fletcher Christian and Captain Bligh, and much mass. I actually prefer these types of history books that give you so much more information than you could ever expect, like Krakatoa by Simon Winchester. So it wasn't just a book about the mutiny on the Bounty, but also about the lives of each of the crew, wher More...
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Dec 25, 2011
Susan rated it: 3 of 5 stars
Most of this book is kind of dry, but the author has to set the stage for her assertions near the end of the book. Captain Bligh & Fletcher Christian were caught at a time of change. The American Revolution had just past & the French Revolution was just after the mutiny. The ideas of man and where he fit into the world were changing. The idea that man could have individual thoughts & rights was just taking hold.
I found this an interesting take of "the other side" of the story.
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Apr 05, 2011
Marilyn rated it: 3 of 5 stars
Interesting, well-researched retelling of the story of the Bounty. I'm not sure I agree with all of the author's conclusions but I can see the foundation for them and the work appears sound to this non-expert. It is good to see Bligh put into the context of his time and also good to be reminded of how very young he was (mid-30s). I don't have a dog in this fight but I do know how difficult it is to know the truth of what happened yesterday, let alone three hundred years ago.
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Feb 07, 2011
Jww rated it: 3 of 5 stars
The Bounty starts off very well and works hard to tell the true story of Captain Bligh and Christian Fletcher, a story in which the former was unfairly maligned by friends and family of the latter. Bligh, who succeeded in taking 12 men across 3,600 miles of south Pacific ocean in an open 22 foot leaky boat, was an able and by all accounts fair seaman. The book is very well documented--no one reading the text can deny that the author did her homework. This is both its strength and its weakness. T More...
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Feb 07, 2010
Jane rated it: 5 of 5 stars
A departure for me and I loved it. Caroline Alexander's research makes me feel like a plebeian imbecile. She is wicked smart. I admire people who work hard to set the record straight and I love when phonies are found out. As a child, one of her favorite games to play had to be "connect the dots." I do hope the success of this book allowed her to leave the library once in a while to get outdoors, enjoy the sunshine, and eat a hot dog.
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Dec 17, 2009
Marion rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Here's what I learned from this book: there is no way in hell I would've ever been a shipman on any boat before the times of Carnival cruiselines. The hardships these men faced, particularly after the mutiny (and later disasters at sea on the return to England), I mean the hardships. What's great about this book, aside from the absolutely compelling story of the Bounty, the Pandora (sent to retrieve the mutineers), and old John Adams on Pitcairn Island is that it does seem to paint a fair por More...
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