Bibliograph

Off the deep end, a history of madness at sea, Nic Compton

Type

Label

Off the deep end, a history of madness at sea, Nic Compton

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references (pages 263-273) and index

Illustrations

illustrationsplates

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

Off the deep end

Nature of contents

bibliography

Responsibility statement

Nic Compton

Sub title

a history of madness at sea

Summary

In the 18th century, the Royal Navy's own physician found that sailors were seven times more likely to suffer from severe mental illness than members of the general population. On the no man's land of the high seas, beyond the rule of law, and away from any sight of land for weeks at a time, often living in overcrowded and confined spaces, where anything that goes wrong could likely be fatal, the incredible pressures on sailors were immense. The ever-present fear drove some men to faith in God and superstition, and drove others mad. But that didn't stop as boat technology improved and seamanship evolved in the modern era. Off the Deep End is the first detailed study of the effect on sanity that the vastness, loneliness and inestimable power of the sea has always had on sailors' sanity, confusing the senses and making rational thought difficult. Eminently readable, it explores accounts that span the centuries, from desperate stories of shipwreck and cannibalism in the Age of Sail, to inexplicable multiple murders, to Donald Crowhurst's suicide in the middle of the 1968 solo Golden Globe Race, leaving behind two rambling notebooks of mounting neurosis and paranoia. Of interest to readers of maritime history, psychology, sociology and behavioural science, as well, of course, as to sailors of all types and experience, this unique and fascinating book offers insight and analysis - a thoroughly absorbing read about the effects of the cruel sea on the human mind

Table Of Contents

1.Here Be Dragons -- 2.The Curse of the Beagle -- 3.Plagues of the Sea -- 4.Into the Void -- 5.Rum, Lunacy and the Lash -- 6.The Real Moby Dick -- 7.Adrift -- 8.Ships of Fools -- 9.The Lorettes of New York -- 10.Murder, Mayhem and Madness -- 11.Shelter from the Storm -- 12.In Which We Serve -- 13.Adrift Again -- 14.The Pilot of the Pinta -- 15.Hearing Voices -- 16.The Maddest Race -- 17.Taxi Driver -- 18.Mind Games -- 19.Diving Deep -- 20.Cabin Fever -- 21.The Silent Killer -- 22.Healing Waves -- 23.Tough Love

Target audience

adult

Classification