Stories of old captains are a dime a dozen. Axel Prahlwho grew up on the Baltic Sea, loves the sea and has selected the best stories for us and summarises the quintessence of the stories in short, apt commentaries. The stories are about storms and dangers, about the gut feeling that saves captains, ships and crews or consigns them to eternal damnation. It's about the lucky hand, about the best captains who are always standing on the pier; it's about male friendships, agent stories, and generally about everything that only captains and the good Lord can know.
So the next time you're waiting for a train that doesn't run or a plane that doesn't fly, make the most of the time and take a look at Wild wave!
Wild wave is a book that belongs on the bedside table of anyone who feels a connection to seafaring or simply to the adventures of this world. It is particularly easy to read in stages - the 18 captains' stories are self-contained. They include human and technical disasters, adventures in the South Seas on a submarine supply ship during the Second World War and the sinking of a crab fisherman off Alaska. The reader can also experience the human and technical pitfalls involved in ferrying a car ferry from North Friesland to Thailand (!).
Axel Prahl has shown a happy hand in selecting the stories and his summarising comments at the beginning of the stories set the mood and make it difficult to put the book down. However, this may also be due to the ingenious feel of the book - the soft paper and excellent printing make it considerably more difficult to put down. People who love books have put a lot of thought into this book!
Our conclusion: We find Wild wave entertaining, exciting, tanned by weather, wind and sea and spiked with a pinch of machine oil! The short stories invite you to pick up the book again and again or to read it in one go. The reader does not have to have been to sea himself to be fascinated.
What we particularly like: The publishing house with a heart for anchors manages to be enthusiastic about the coast, the sea and the people who live and work with them without coming across as old-fashioned or folksy - we certainly like the slightly punky image!
Axel Prahl presented:
Wild wave. The best stories of old captains
Ankerherz publishing house, Hollenstedt 2014
Available here, directly from the publisher
English 
German
I think it's good that maritime reading is being addressed here again. I'm always grateful for tips!
I have read the book and can only agree with this review - the stories in Wilde Welle are as varied as only life can write them!
In general, it's worth taking a look at the Ankerherz catalogue. I'm really looking forward to "Unsinkbar. Niels Stolberg - A German shipowner on his rise and fall", a real-life business thriller...