Reading

When we had travel agencies I always recommended books for people taking cruises: You get so much more out of a voyage if you understand some of the historical background. Now that I’m lecturing on ships, people are always asking for a list of these recommendations. Some of these books can get a bit tedious at times, but in the end you will be rewarded with an appreciation of the areas you are visiting.

*Are “required” reading! Others are “extra credit.”

Europe

*Ken Follett, PILLARS OF THE EARTH – Historically based novel that will give an appreciation of how cities developed, the importance and building of city walls and cathedrals, even Oprah liked it.

Alaska

*Janet Dailey, THE GREAT ALONE – Historically based novel set across the ages in Alaska: gives a good sweep of “the great land”.

Caribbean

*James A Michener, CARIBBEAN – An epic historically based novel that will help you appreciate the complex and interwoven history of the islands.

Herman Wouk, DON’T STOP THE CARNIVAL – A fun read set in pre-“Little Switzerland” St. Thomas, in the days before 10 cruise ships and 20,000 passengers descended each and every day. The most memorable characters, including the Governor and his mistress, were based on real St. Thomians! Will help you appreciate the complex interactions of life in the Caribbean.

Mexico

*James Michener, MEXICO – More than just tequila, beaches and condos . . . another epic Michener book.

Panama

*David McCullough, THE PATH BETWEEN THE SEAS – “The” definitive history of the construction of the Panama Canal. A little tedious at points. As the Captain of the ZUIDERDAM once told me, while he was reading McCullough, “It puts me to sleep.” If you get through the first 200 pages, you will be hooked.

Douglas Galbraith, THE RISING SUN – No, it’s not about Japan. “The Rising Sun” was the name of a Scottish ship that established the first settlement in Panama with high hopes of digging a canal by hand! Based on actual notes of the expedition’s clerk who was one of the few to survive, this is a fantastic historical novel and amazingly is a “first book.”

Matthew Parker, PANAMA FEVER – Another version of “The epic story of one of the greatest human achievements of all time – the building of the Panama Canal.” Of the three books – McCullough, Green, and this one, this, in my humble opinion, is the most interesting read. If you are only going to read one, this would be my recommendation.

Julie Green, THE CANAL BUILDERS – The newest “groundbreaking history of the Panama Canal offers a revelatory workers’-eye view of the momentous undertaking and shows how it launched America’s Twentieth-Century empire.” Heavy on the sociology of the social stratification during the building of the Canal. Helped me understand the genesis of some of the issues we still face in Panama.

Amazon

Mark J. Plotkin, TALES OF A SHAMAN’S APPRENTICE – A classic about the rich pharmacopia of rain forest jungle plants and their use by Indigenous peoples of the Amazonian rain forest.

Candice Millard, RIVER OF DOUBT – After he left the White House, Theodore Roosevelt would set out to explore an unmapped tributary of the Amazon, almost loosing his life in the process. 

Adrian Forsyth and Ken Miyata, TROPICAL NATURE – A collection of fascinating essays about “life and eath in the rain forests of Central and South America.”   When I read this I gained a great deal of insight into what was going on in the rain forests all around me in Panama.

Italy

Edward Bulwer-Lytton, THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII – A classic, and a “must read” if you are visiting Naples and Pompeii, told from the perspective of the Roman aqueduct engineer.

African Slave Trade

These books were suggested by Dr. Latifah Chinnery, a former professor at City College in New York, who sailed with us on the ROTTERDAM following the path of Middle Passage from Portugal to Senegal to Brazil.

Hugh Thomas, The SLAVE TRADE: THE STORY OF THE ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE: 1440 – 1870

Walter Rodney, HOW EUROPE UNDERDEVELOPED AFRICA – Rodney that much of the “Third World” is a product of European Imperialism in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Pirates

Stephan Talty, EMPIRE OF BLUE WATER – Captain Morgan’s Great Pirate Army, the Epic Battle for the Americas, and the Catastrophe That Ended the Outlaw’s Bloody Reign. Of particular interest because Morgan was very active against the Spanish in Panama.

Cruising & Ships

John Maxtone-Graham, THE ONLY WAY TO CROSS – Maxtone-Graham is “the” ship historian and THE ONLY WAY TO CROSS is a nostalgic look at the days of the great transatlantic liners.

John Maxtone-Graham, LINERS TO THE SUN – Maxtone-Graham traces the transition from transatlantic ocean transportation to today’s cruise vacation ships.

Bob Dickinson and Andy Vladimir, SELLING THE SEA: AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE CRUISE INDUSTRY – If you’ve ever wondered how the industry works . . . Bob Dickinson, former CEO of Carnival, basically created the cruise industry as we know it.