Jenny Higgins (1) (1976–)

There are some books that are meant to be the second book you read on a subject. You shouldn't start with them, but they are a great supplement after you have finished book #1.

In the case of the Newfoundland Sealing Disaster, in which about a hundred men were left on the pack ice off Newfoundland for two nights in a freezing blizzard without much food or appropriate equipment and many died or were permanently maimed, the first book you should read is Gary Collins's Left to Die: The Story of the SS Newfoundland Sealing Disaster or, failing that, Cassie Brown's Death on the Ice: The Great Newfoundland Sealing Disaster of 1914. (The Brown book is a Newfoundland classic, but it's older; the Collins book is more thorough and a little more accurate, while the Brown book plays up the human interest side somewhat at the cost of objectivity.) Jenny Higgins's Perished is much less complete; it won't tell you the whole story of the disaster.

But once you know the story, there is a tremendous amount of "added value" here. Think of it not so much as a history but as a scrapbook, gathering material from the tragedy. It includes photos on almost every page -- there aren't a lot of photos of the events of that spring of 1914, but what there are are almost all here, and they include all the principals, both ships and men (Westbury Kean, the captain of the Newfoundland; his father Abram Kean, captain of the Stephano, whose psychopathic desire to kill more seals no matter how many men died along the way resulted in the tragedy; George Tuff, who led the men on the ice and was not morally strong enough to stand up to Abram Kean; Robert Randell, the captain of the Bellaventure which brought home most of the bodies and survivors; many others; also the Newfoundland, the Stephano, the Bellaventure, and other ships, plus photos of the seal hunt). There is a reproduction of the Newfoundland's log for the relevant days. There is a reproduction of one of the sealing "tickets" that let men work in the hunt. There is the diary of William Coaker, a politician who was on the seal hunt that year to inspect conditions and learned a lot more than he bargained for. It is a tremendous gathering of material.

And the printing quality is excellent, and the writing generally clear and straightforward even if there isn't a lot of it. For those interested in the Newfoundland disaster -- or indeed the Newfoundland seal fishery in general -- it is a book of great value. (Which is good, because it's an odd size and shape -- it may not fit well on your shelves.) Just be sure you know what you're getting into before you splurge on this beautiful but somewhat incomplete book.… (más)