The Speedwell Voyage: A Tale of Piracy and Mutiny in the 18th Century

by Kenneth Poolman

This tale of real-life adventure on the high seas brings readers back to 1718, when the 22-gun privateer Speedwell set sail under the command of George Shelvocke. With authentic period detail and rich characterizations, Royal Navy veteran Kenneth Poolman recounts mutinies, sea battles, piracy, storms, and shipwrecks, recreating the epic voyage that inspired the classic "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," and will thrill readers who love the romance and drama of the sea.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Maritime

180 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 1, 1999

Reviews

[Kani · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of dry, unless you like lists of what ships passed and what ships had nothing on them and factual ocean going writing. But the depiction of life at sea and what a chance it was...

[Alexis T · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh goodness, I have read my fair share of maritime history over the years and this was the most difficult to get through by far. I thought it would be extra cool to read one written by a real veteran of the Royal Navy, but I am guessing he was a better seaman than writer. I can tell he is passionate about the source material and certainly did his research, but it came off as more listing a summary of the captain’s log and less telling of a story. I kept reading because it was an interesting story, I think it could have been at least, but it was more of a chore to get through than anything. I was confused and lost most of the time; there was a lot of extraneous information and it was not easy to pay attention. The writing was unclear and the sentences seemed to get lost along the way.

1 extra star only because there was a guy named Blowfield Coldsea who got shot in the groin and I thought that was funny (although from the writing it’s not clear his fate so I am sorry if he succumbed to his wound).

[QOH · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is, bar none, the worst book of naval history I've ever read. It's one of the worst books I've ever read, period. It's dry and dull, though it recounts one of the wildest and most exciting sea adventures ever. And even though it does have some useful information in it, extracting it would be so painful that I wouldn't recommend trying. There are a few illustrations in the book, but I'm not sure what purpose they serve. Some were so bad I couldn't figure out what was being represented.

I wanted to dismiss the book as one of the last works of a dotty old man (although I have no idea if the author is alive or dead; the jacket tells me he wrote 24 other books, which I hope are better than this one). You know, the sort of old guy with his belt hitched up to his man-boobs who likes telling sea tales?

The more I thought about it, the more I started to feel sorry for that old guy. I even toyed with not writing a review, out of respect for the man's relations, who might one day google his name -- except there are nasty, racist comments and completely random ravings about socialism and trade unions in the book.

For that, I'm willing to take the chance that the author's relations will hate me. I'm sorry, Poolmans everywhere, but this book absolutely sucks. Everyone else, beware.

[Sandra D · Rating 1 out of 5]

Chapter One was a chore to decipher; Chapter Two was better, but not by much. I didn't make it past Chapter Three.

[Austin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this story