Potomac Books - After the Bounty: A Sailor's Account of the Mutiny, and Life in the South Seas

	Potomac Books, Inc.

	F O R M E R L Y B R A S S E Y ' S , I N C .

A firsthand account of the mutiny on the H.M.S. Bounty and its aftermath

After the Bounty

A Sailor's Account of the Mutiny, and Life in the South Seas

Edited by Donald Maxton

270 pages; 6" x 9"; 5 Maps; 27 Illustrations

Clothbound

$29.95 $23.96

978-1-59797-371-7

Table of Contents

Introduction

Press Release

Description:

In 1787, the Royal Navy ship H.M.S. Bounty, captained by William Bligh, set sail for Tahiti in search of breadfruit plants. Soon after leaving Tahiti, Master’s Mate Fletcher Christian led a successful revolt, setting Bligh and eighteen of his men adrift. In his journal, fellow mutineer James Morrison recounts the Bounty’s voyage from his perspective as the boatswain’s mate, placing considerable blame for the mutiny on Bligh’s irascible personality and style of command. This event, however, simply introduces Morrison’s remarkable journey through the South Seas.

A born storyteller, Morrison presents compelling tales after the Bounty mutiny, beginning with ringleader Fletcher Christian’s two bloody, ill-fated attempts to establish a refuge on the island of Tubuai. Morrison then recounts his eighteen month sojourn on Tahiti, where he constructed a seaworthy schooner and closely observed every aspect of the island and its way of life. He also includes the subsequent arrival of H.M.S. Pandora, which was charged with bringing the mutineers back to England for trial, and his imprisonment in the horrific “Pandora’s Box.” Morrison once again faces peril when the Pandora sinks on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, where thirty-one of the crew and four prisoners perished.

Although Morrison did not actively participate in the Bounty insurrection, he had remained with Fletcher Christian’s party, which was enough evidence for condemnation once back in England. While imprisoned, Morrison began composing his journal. He was released—King George III granted a pardon—and soon after wrote the second half of the journal, which he filled with detailed descriptions of Tahitian life, culture, and natural history. Morrison’s journal is an invaluable resource for naval historians and an enthralling tale for the general reader.

About the Author(s)/Editor(s)

Donald A. Maxton has worked in the field of corporate communications and public affairs for twenty-five years. He has written articles on New Jersey history, health care, and has authored The Rahway Valley Railroad and The Mutiny on H.M.S. Bounty: A Guide to Nonfiction, Fiction, Poetry, Films, Articles, and Music. He lives in New York City.

Reviews/Endorsements:

“[This book] can be expected to add richly and pervasively to general knowledge of that historically and historiographically conspicuous incident.”
-- Mariner’s Mirror

“It’s a curiously, entertaining and instructive for age-of-fighting-sail or Herman Melville enthusiasts.”
-- Naval Review, August 2010

“[Morrison’s] stories of adventure after the Bounty mutiny makes for a powerful historical journal packed with nautical adventure and perfect for any nautical history library.”
-- The Midwest Book Review, June 2010

“After the Bounty makes a most important contribution to the literature of the Bounty saga. Through its publication, Morrison’s enlightening account of the Bounty mutiny becomes available to the general public for the first time in three quarters of a century. This book is a ‘must have’ for any Bounty literature library.”
-- Herbert Ford, director, Pitcairn Islands Study Center

“What a monumental undertaking! Donald Maxton’s passion and perseverance in pursuing his goal is topped only by his impeccable scholarship and thorough knowledge of his subject. Kudos and ‘Huzzah for Otaheite’ and for Maxton!”
-- Éva Wahlroos, contributor, researcher, and collaborator on English-Tahitian/Tahitian-English Dictionary and Mutiny and Romance in the South Seas: A Companion to the Bounty Adventure

“At long last we have here a complete ‘Everyman’s Morrison,’ prepared by an established, devoted authority on the Bounty, and for the first time making available to a wider audience a readable and useful modern version of one of the great classic sources to our knowledge not only of the Bounty affair but also of late eighteenth-century Polynesia.”
-- Rolf E. Du Rietz, author of Bibliotheca Polynesiana and Peter Heywood's Tahitian Vocabulary and the Narratives of James Morrison: some notes on their origin and history

“Written with a novelist’s eye for detail, a participant’s firsthand knowledge, and a literate seaman’s plain-spoken clarity, pardoned mutineer James Morrison’s account of the Bounty mutiny and its aftermath is an engrossing illustration of humanity at its best and worst. A true seafaring odyssey, After the Bounty leaves the reader with the sense of being present at the events described—it superbly conveys the rich reality of life at sea, the strident clash of cultures, and the exceptional experiences that change, and even end, lives. Above all, the journal is an extraordinary look at the complexity of human behavior, an intimate, sympathetic account of the Tahitian people, and a reminder of the epic dangers and discoveries that make adventure what it is.
-- Benerson Little, author of The Sea Rover’s Practice and Pirate Hunting

“Donald Maxton has brought James Morrison out of the shadows by publishing for the first time an accessible edition of his lively and absorbing journal, one of the treasures of the Mitchell Library, Sydney. The journal is a primary source for the Bounty story and the only contemporaneous account of events after the mutiny. This publication is an essential work for all those interested in the world of William Bligh, Fletcher Christian and the Tahitians before the onslaught of the Europeans.”
-- Paul Brunton, senior curator, Mitchell Library, Sydney