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DEMON OF THE WATERS: The True Story of the Mutiny on the Whaleship Globe
by Gregory Gibson
Back Bay Books, June 2003
308 pages
$14.95
ISBN: 0316738670


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

DEMON OF THE WATERS: THE TRUE STORY OF THE MUTINY ON THE WHALESHIP GLOBE recounts the 1823 (or 1824 depending on the source) uprising, which resulted in the murder of the three officers on board. Samuel Comstock was not the average Quaker boy. He had a way with women and did not appreciate the rules forced upon him by others. Samuel dreamed of becoming a king on an island full of native peoples. This dreamed would normally be unattainable; however, whaling and ships were vital to the economy of Nantucket. Now if there was one thing Samuel hated more than his Quaker background, it was whaling and whale ships. Regardless of his hatred, he joined the crew on two ships. The second ship was the Globe. Samuel's evil intentions became apparent early on; yet, his mutiny and the murderous attacks were still a surprise.

The basis of this book was a manuscript written by Samuel's younger brother William. William was part of the Globe ship crew and while he worshipped his brother, he was not part of the uprising. William was also one of the members who had escaped and found their way back home. This manuscript was lost until Gibson stumbled upon it during one of his book hunting adventures. Gibson also had found a journal written by Augustus Strong, an aspiring author, who had been a member of the Dolphin. The Dolphin was the ship that went after the mutinied men in order to bring them to justice. These two manuscripts provided a first-hand look at the entire event.

DEMON OF THE WATER was well organized. Although there are some tangents within the text, it would be almost impossible to successfully provide the information in any other manner. The juxtaposition between the history of whaling and this specific experience was vital in explaining how Samuel was able to incite the man to follow his lead.

There are two very important things to be aware of regarding this book. While the book is based on the experiences of two participants, this does not imply that the incidents and characters are fleshed out. The book does not truly provide a sense of character for Samuel and the other men. This is not a fault of the author but merely a problem due to lack of information. Neither Augustus nor William could provide information on the innermost thoughts of Samuel. The other thing to look out for is that the book is about whaling; hence, animal lovers might be uncomfortable about reading the book. DEMON OF THE WATERS does not go into too much depth regarding the actual slaughter of the whales. In addition, it is easy to skip those paragraphs without losing the heart of the story.

DEMON OF THE WATERS successfully helps the general reading people informed about historical events. Anyone interested in mutinies, historical ships or whaling should read this book. While not 100% informative about all of these topics, this book does provide a useful overview of them.

DEMON OF THE WATERS: THE TRUE STORY OF THE MUTINY OF THE WHALESHIP GLOBE is Gregory Gibson's second book.

Reviewed by Sarah Dudley, September 2003

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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