The War with Cape Horn,

by Alan Villiers, Adrian Small (Illustrator)

Book by Villiers, Alan John

Genres: Nautical

338 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Mr. Alan Villiers was an Australian who had won considerable fame for himself as a result of his voyages in sailing-ships. Mr. Villiers preferred the excitement and the danger of small sailing-ships to the comfort and the safety of the modern ship.

Reviews

[Peter Roach · Rating 5 out of 5]

1971 edition
Among the best books describing sailing and the men who sailed around Cape Horn on the Clipper ships and Barques at the turn of the century (1860-1930). The book pretty well covers the history of the period, the technology of the ships, and the men who did it.

[Emg · Rating 3 out of 5]

2 stars for his assumption that his readers were conversant with sailing terms; 4 stars for the humor and outspokenness. It's a book that I wish I read before I went to Tierra del Fuego. it was much more informative than any other reading I had done before my trip.

[Gene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Villiers was the man who knew sailing ships, but the crews were in his heart.

He is eloquent on the life and hard times of the last deep water sailors.

The genesis of this book is quite interesting. Villiers had occasion to examine the official logs of sailing ships from about 1895 to 1910. These were the Ships' Articles which the crew signed when joining the ship. Events were logged by the Captain, and these were only retained because they had a vital statistic on them. (Numerous deaths, several births, one wedding.)

Villiers spends quite a bit of time on the ships and Masters of the Flying P line of Hamburg. These were well founded ships, well run. The sailing ships were mostly four masted barks, and the two legendary five masters, the Potosi and Pruessen. One of the great stories found in the book tells of Captain Pieneg sailing the Pitlochry up to one of the great piers (Blackstone?)tacking and back out to sea as the people on the pier cheered! What a sight!

Villiers was a fine old seadog and a fine historian. His books are worth your time.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extemely interesting, contains all you should want to know about square riggers and the way they were handled

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

A review of much of the maritime history of Cape Horn including the accounts of an assortment of voyagers, including the author's own experience in rounding the famous cape.