Admiral James G. Stavridis, USN (Ret.): The Sailor's Bookshelf. Fifty Books to know the Sea, USNI 23 November 2021, 232 pp.
With this book, Admiral Stavridis remains true to his love: the sea and books about it. He has selected 50 books from the large number and variety of books available, which he describes in four main categories, each in short summaries of three to four pages: Seas, explorers, seafarers in novels, seafarers in non-fiction. The sailor will find well-known, but also unknown works; the landlubber receives a kind of navigation aid through literature with a maritime flavour. They are guided through history, learn about great sea battles over the centuries, about bold explorers, the power of the sea in storms, the struggle for survival of individuals and entire crews of ships.
There is Potter and Nimitz's book Sea Power, the search for the North-West Passage, an account of Captain Cook, the story of Thor Heyerdahl's Kon-Tiki, a tale of Shackelton's Antarctic expedition, Jules Verne's 20.000 Leagues Under the Sea, Melville's Moby Dick, the Mutiny on the Bounty, Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, through to Admiral Woodward's memoirs about the hundred days of the Falklands conflict, but also Mahan's influence of sea power on history. In addition to these classics, which are also familiar to German readers, there are also lesser-known authors and their works, which are well worth reading.
In an epilogue to this book, Commander Kristenson of the U.S. Navy summarises the messages of the fifty books selected by Stavridis in their significance as a possible guide based on the rank structures of merchant ships: Able Seaman, Mate and Master.
For the able-bodied sailor, he recommends starting with Moby Dick, Longitude, Shakelton's Endurance and The Perfect Storm. This gives him a feel for the brutality of the sea and how to counter it.
He recommends that the mate start with the "Atlas of Remote Islands" to develop an initial feeling for the vastness of the oceans. This should be followed by "The Hungry Ocean, The Outlaw Ocean, The Sea around Us and The World is Blue" to broaden personal horizons to include ocean-related topics such as fishing, piracy, conservation and the future of the oceans. Books such as "Life of Pi, She Captains and Trailblazer" should familiarise him better with women at sea, minorities and other cultures.
He recommends the entire book by Stavridis to the captain as support for his own actions. Even though many books come from the military naval sector, the book "Master and Commander" can give him many tips for his own actions.
I recommend The Sailor's Bookshelf to German-speaking readers in particular - and not just seafarers - as a way of reducing the "sea blindness" that we often experience.
Heinz Dieter Jopp Barmstedt, December 2021
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