Mutiny, Mayhem, Mythology

Mutiny, Mayhem, Mythology

Bounty's Enigmatic Voyage

Alan Frost

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Format: paperback
ISBN: 9781743325872
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.30722/sup.9781743325872
Publication: 26 Sep 2018
Publisher: Sydney University Press

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In 1789, as the Bounty made its return voyage through the western Pacific Ocean, disgruntled crewmen seized control from their captain, William Bligh. The mutineers set Bligh and the eighteen men who remained loyal to him adrift in one of the ship’s boats, with minimal food and only four cutlasses for weapons.

In the two centuries since, the mutiny and its aftermath have become the stuff of legend. Millions of words have been written about it; it has been the subject of novels, plays, feature films and documentaries. The story’s two protagonists – Bligh and his mutinous deputy, Fletcher Christian – are cast as villain and hero, but which is which depends on which account you read.

In Mutiny, Mayhem, Mythology, Alan Frost looks past these inherited narratives to shed new light on the infamous expedition and its significance. Returning to the very first accounts of the mutiny, he shows how gaps, misconceptions and hidden agendas crept into the historical record and have shaped it ever since.


Tags: Alan Frost, Aotearoa, Australasia, Australia, Australia and New Zealand, English, Geographical discovery & exploration, Geographical discovery and exploration, HISTORY, Maritime history, Maritime History & Piracy, Pacific Ocean, Professional and scholarly, Sydney University Press

Alan Frost is professor emeritus of history at La Trobe University. His previous books include Botany Bay: The Real Story, The First Fleet: The Real Story, The Voyage of the Endeavour and The Global Reach of Empire.

List of figures
List of plates
List of tables
Preface

Introduction: the troubled history of Bounty’s story

Part 1: History’s shrouds and silences
1. A serious affair to be starved: the resentment of sailors when not properly fed
2. A soul in agony: Fletcher Christian’s torment
3. Somewhere between sea and sky: the enigma of Fletcher Christian’s death

Part 2: The making of Bounty’s story
4. Discovering nature: the rise of British scientific exploration, 1660–1800
5. Information and entertainment, image and archetype: the cardinal points of the exploration narrative
6. Men who strove with gods: James Cook, William Bligh, Fletcher Christian

Conclusion: the enduring intrigue of Bounty’s voyage

Acknowledgements
References
Index

‘...indispensable for anyone with a genuine interest in understanding the truth.'Michael Pembroke‘Frost's scholarly account is an extremely helpful contribution to studies about the mutiny.’Ross Fitzgerald'By returning to the original sources and subjecting them to detailed and careful forensic analysis Frost sets a standard in research which future writers in this field should follow.'Neil Radford'What gives credibility to Alan Frost's contribution is his well-deserved reputation for exhausting all possible sources, subjecting them to withering scrutiny, and criticising predecessors who have not, in his view, been sufficiently diligent and/or rigorous. It is a process that he has refined over a lifetime of fruitful scholarship. The product is, as usual, engaging and provocative.'Granville Allen Mawer

‘Professor Frost has looked closely at the primary sources surrounding Fletcher Christian. He argues that we do not know enough about Christian to assess why he mutinied. Similarly, he demonstrates that no one can know for sure what happened on Pitcairn Island in the first 10 years because all the
sources are suspect … This book will, as the author hopes, open up the field for further studies based on a firmer grasp of the sources'

Paul Brunton

there have been innumerable books written and movies made about the subject. Most have sympathised quite strongly with the leader of the mutineers, Fletcher Christian, against the Captain of the Bounty William Bligh. Frost is much more even-handed. Using a psychological and literary
approach, he analyses the many available documents and some more he has discovered, to put the mutiny into realistic perspective ... Your reviewer has read many books on the Bounty and seen the movies. Frost’s book is the most objective and informative of all.'

Neil BairdFrost wades through the overwrought and overwritten history of the story to examine the known facts critically, identify the disputed points, and sketch out the unknown aspects of the voyage. Through this process, he has successfully shed new light and under- standing on this well-worked topic ... Frost very effectively makes an essential contribution to understanding. He shows that the Bounty story is more than just the known and unknown facts of the voyage and its context, but also includes how the reading public has understood it as encompassing a powerful, imaginative myth.John B. Hattendorf

Format: paperback
Size: 210 x 148 mm
Illustrations: Four maps, 7 colour plates
Copyright: 2018
ISBN: 9781743325872
Publication: 26 Sep 2018