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The Real Captain Bligh
Find out more
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Websites
Mr Bligh's Bad Health
www.lareau.org/mbbh.html
Essay that contends that William Bligh's bouts of illness in 1791-93 not only prevented him from leading the second voyage to Tahiti during most of its duration, but also 'spared his officers and men from the coarser aspects of his personality'.
Captain Bligh
www.sttudy.org.uk/Bligh/bligh.htm
Well-presented biography of Bligh, seen from his Cornish birthplace.
Dead reckoning
www.pilothouseonline.com/IS2V1_00/Lessons
/main0001.htm
Subtitled 'A skill all navigators should master', this concise article (with useful diagrams) was written by a 'two-time transatlanatic veteran'.
Joseph Banks
www.plantexplorers.com/explorers/biographies/
banks/sir-joseph-banks.htm
Biography of Banks with extensive information on Cook and Bligh.
Mutiny on the Bounty
www.lareau.org/bounty.html
Huge collection of resources and links relating to the mutiny in history and fiction. The same domain hosts the Pitcairn Island site: www.lareau.org/pitc.html
The Mutiny in Context
www.discovernorfolkisland.com/norfolk/bounty.html
Accessible narrative of the mutiny and its aftermath, from the website of an island settled by former Pitcairners.
Books
Captain Bligh by Gavin Kennedy (Time Warner, 1989). Out of print.
The best single source on Bligh's life, character and naval career.
Mr Bligh's Bad Language by Greg Dening (Cambridge University Press, 1994) £15.95
Although Bligh is notorious for his cruelty, the real Captain Bligh very rarely resorted to physical punishment. Dening explores this contradiction.
Mutiny on the Bounty by Caroline Alexander (HarperCollins, 2002)
£19.99
Authoritative account of the mutiny by the biographer of Ernest Shackleton.
Mutiny on the Bounty by Charles Nordhoff and James Hall (Time Warner, 1989; originally published 1932) £8.99
The novel that created the Bligh of contemporary legend.
Mutiny on the Bounty edited by Paul Brunton and introduced by Rolf Harris (HarperCollins Australia, 1999) £9.95
Excellent collection of essays on the mutiny, its context and its aftermath. Don't be put off by Rolf.
The Bounty Mutiny edited by R D Madison (Penguin, 2002) £7.99
Anthology of source material on the mutiny, including accounts by Bligh and Edward Christian (Fletcher's brother).
The Eventful History of the Mutiny and Piratical Seizure of HMS Bounty
by Sir John Barrow (John Murray, 1831). Out of print.
The book that immortalised Peter Heywood's version of the mutiny. There have been many reprints; none currently in print, but second-hand copies are easy to find.
Films
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
Directed by Frank Lloyd
Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)
Directed by Lewis Milestone
The Bounty (1984)
Directed by Roger Donaldson
Three very different readings of the Bounty story. Bligh and Christian are played successively by Charles Laughton and Clark Gable; Trevor Howard and Marlon Brando; and Anthony Hopkins and Mel Gibson.
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