Imatge de l'autor

John Prebble (1) (1915–2001)

Autor/a de Culloden

Per altres autors anomenats John Prebble, vegeu la pàgina de desambiguació.

25+ obres 2,885 Membres 33 Ressenyes

Sèrie

Obres de John Prebble

Culloden (1961) — Autor — 631 exemplars
The Highland Clearances (1969) — Autor — 562 exemplars
Glencoe (1966) — Autor — 469 exemplars
Zulu [1964 film] (1964) — Screenwriter — 207 exemplars
The Darien Disaster (1800) 86 exemplars
Glencoe & Culloden (1996) 70 exemplars
The High Girders (1957) — Autor — 59 exemplars
John Prebble's Scotland (1984) 45 exemplars
Mysterious Island [1961 film] (1961) — Screenwriter — 45 exemplars
Elizabeth R. [1971 TV mini series] (1971) — Screenwriter — 41 exemplars
The Buffalo Soldiers (1959) 20 exemplars

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An ambitious history of Scotland starting in earliest times where there are no written records, right up until the mid 19th century or so. It obviously covers a lot of ground and, as the author states, is a personal history. This is especially visible when towards the end of the book he states that Scotland could never again be an independent country - given the current political situation, a particularly ironic viewpoint.

The impression is given of Scotland as a loose coalition of warring factions for many centuries, some of whom were looked down on by the others (the Highlanders who themselves were tribal and in conflict with each other over land and livestock and who kept their own language until a policy of genocide was carried out against them). There are some useful genealogies which I made frequent use of, as the story does dot about in time a bit and people are referred to in two or three ways - by title or full name or by surname as in 'the Graham'. I did find that confusing and sometimes was not clear without backtracking to work out who was meant especially as a succession of men were referred to in that way. And it was always men whose identity was in doubt - a few women such as Mary of Guise and Mary Queen of Scots appear - as mainly the book is a story of conflict among men in which women and children are the pawns and victims.

I found it a bit hard going at times and given the somewhat dry nature of a lot of it, despite the mayhem and murder, would rate it at a middling 3 stars.
… (més)
 
Marcat
kitsune_reader | Hi ha 3 ressenyes més | Nov 23, 2023 |
Best for:
People interested in engineering disasters.

In a nutshell:
In the 1870s, the first of its kind bridge was erected across the Tay river firth to Dundee, in Scotland. 18 months after it opened, it collapsed during a severe windstorm, taking a train with 75 passengers and crew down with it.

Worth quoting:
“It was the Victorian age, and life and death had Purpose. There could be no disaster without a moral.”

Why I chose it:
I think I might have a new book goal: when I visit a city, go to the ‘local’ section and find a book written about whatever incident / disaster / historic event is most infamous in that city. Additionally, I had arrived in Dundee on a train running on the rebuilt bridge that runs parallel to the original collapsed bridge.

What it left me feeling:
Informed.

Review:
You know what’s kind of weird? Reading a book about the collapse of a rail bridge, while sitting on a train, running over the bridge that was built in place of that very collapsed bridge.

The Tay River Bridge was built in the 1870s. Before it was build, people coming up from Edinburgh would need to take a ferry across the Firth of Forth, then a train up to Newport, then ANOTHER ferry across to Dundee, and then a train the rest of the way. Civil engineer Thomas Bouch had an idea for a bridge to cross the First of Tay (and later the First of Forth), reducing the time it would take to make the trip up north dramatically.

Prebble manages to take what could be a pretty dry story - the lead-up to the disaster - and make it interesting. The prologue is just a couple of pages of the accident from the perspective of a rail employee who last saw the train before it started crossing the bridge. After that is Act 1, which focuses on how the bridge was built. There is corporate fighting between rail lines, there is government lobbying and back room deals. Then there are issues with the building of the bridge itself, including inaccurate surveying of the sea floor that misrepresented where the bedrock was. There’s unsurprisingly a couple of accidents, resulting in the deaths of 20 workers. Workers who, in 2023 pounds, were making about £5.56/hour ($6.86/hour) doing absolutely terrifying labor.

The entr’acte focuses on the 18 months when the bridge was open; specifically, on how some people stopped riding the train across because they were concerns about how quickly the trains were running. The original inspector said that trains should run at a maximum of 25 mph over the bridge; individuals believed it was being pushed to 40 mph.

The second act is about the disaster itself and the resulting inquest into who was at fault. I spent nearly 15 years in emergency preparedness and response, and disasters that take place in the 1800s are a different level of terrifying because there was just very limited technology. The train went into the Tay around 7:20 at night (it was December, so very dark this far north), and people didn’t really even realize it for many minutes. And there wasn’t a huge mobilization immediately to search for survivors - things took hours to get organized. Only one body was recovered in the first week; 25 of the 75 were never recovered. Identification of those whose remains were found was visual; distraught family members had to come and take a look at someone who had been in the river for more than a week. Leaders in the Scottish church blamed the victims because the rail was running on a Sunday, adding another level of devastation to grieving families.

This book was a very easy read, and would have a higher rating if not for the authors sexism and classism. The women were always described as sort of dim, or faint of heart, or looking to their husbands for guidance. He also described some as ‘dumpy,’ which, 1950s or not, what a random and unnecessarily cruel descriptor. In terms of the classism, the regard he held for the works who built the bridge seemed more about pity than respect.

Recommend to a Friend / Keep / Donate it / Toss it:
Donate it.
… (més)
 
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ASKelmore | Hi ha 3 ressenyes més | May 28, 2023 |
Detailed account of the planning, construction and fall of the Tay Rail Bridge, a two-mile-long bridge across the river Tay where it runs into the Firth at Dundee, Scotland. The building of the original bridge was regarded at the time as a triumph of British engineering and was even visited and used by Queen Victoria on her way from Balmoral to London. However only nineteen months after opening to rail traffic the high girders part of the span collapsed in a cyclone level storm as a six-car passenger train passed through. All passengers and crew were killed, with some bodies never recovered. An investigation revealed that the effect of wind on the structure had been so underestimated as not really to have been a factor in the design at all. The forge that produced the iron columns and girders was supervised by a moulder rather than a higher ranked man. Bubbles or other defects in the castings were filled in with a mixture of beeswax, rosin and iron borings melted with lamp black. When the bridge was completed, the only regular inspections were done by a bricklayer, with little knowledge of iron construction. There was also evidence that the trains were regularly exceeding the speed limits set by the government inspector. Major blame fell upon the designer and engineer, Sir Thomas Bouch, who quietly lost his mind and died of a cold only four months after the final report. This is an interesting account of a project of great ambition, too great and an affront to God according to some, its execution and its downfall.… (més)
1 vota
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ritaer | Hi ha 3 ressenyes més | Jun 30, 2022 |
Contains four "acts":
The lion's cub
The marriage game
Horrible conspiracies
The enterprise of England
 
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Lemeritus | Hi ha 1 ressenya més | Feb 21, 2022 |

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Obres
25
També de
2
Membres
2,885
Popularitat
#8,880
Valoració
4.0
Ressenyes
33
ISBN
92
Llengües
2

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