An ocean of captivating lore about the Atlantic

Great Sea Battles, Heroic Discoveries, Titanic Storms,
and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories

By Simon Winchester

Harper. 495 pp. $27.99

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Reviewed by Brother Edward Sheehy

Historians sometimes like to remind us that "story" makes up most of "history," and

Atlantic

reads like a corking good story.

That's because Simon Winchester is a corking good storyteller, as he has demonstrated to critical acclaim in 19 other nonfiction books that cover topics as diverse as a madman's role in the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary, the 19th-century eruption of Krakatoa, and an Oxford don's obsession with China.

This time out, Winchester tells the life story of the huge body of water "that ties . . . millions of people and myriad civilizations together." He calls it "the cradle of modern Western civilization - the inland sea of the Western world, the home of a new pan-Atlantic civilization itself."

Although the Atlantic covers 33 million square miles, it is "an ocean that can fairly be described as hidden in plain sight - something that is quite obviously there, but in so many ways is just not obvious at all."

To tell its story, Winchester touches on the work of writers as celebrated as Shakespeare and others - James Rennell, for example - little known to casual readers.

Winchester will discuss Atlantic Tuesday night at the Free Library of Philadelphia in a joint appearance with Ian Frazier, author of Travels in Siberia (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $30).

While the adventures of explorers like Capt. James Cook are well known, Rennell and others who have both sailed on the ocean and studied it are not, Winchester writes. Yet Rennell "was properly a heroic figure, of the mold of Cook . . . the kind of seaman who would do whatever was necessary in the pursuit of his calling," according to Winchester. Rennell's studies and analysis of the ocean contributed significantly to our knowledge of the Atlantic, the author writes.

Another particularly noteworthy analysis of the ocean and its impact on history suggests the intriguing possibility of a connection among British efforts to combat German U-boats in World War I, the chemical inventiveness of Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann, the 1917 Balfour Declaration, in which Britain declared its sympathy for a Jewish homeland in Palestine, and the creation of the state of Israel in 1948.

The book's range is as vast as the ocean it describes.

There are sections on the Atlantic's connection with poetry and art, with the Renaissance and the Enlightenment.

Winchester examines the adventures of early explorers, the questions surrounding the "discovery" of North America, and the problems that rising sea levels may pose for urban areas along the coast.

He also writes about two unsavory but key elements in transatlantic affairs - slavery and piracy - and how the efforts of nations first to nurture and later to eradicate them influenced developments in naval warfare.

Winchester brings to his book a remarkable breadth of experience. "I must have traversed this particular body of water 500 times, at least," he writes, from his first passage by steamship in 1963 to flights on the supersonic Concorde. He has explored Greenland and searched for the remains of a ship wrecked on the Skeleton Coast of southern Africa in 1942. (He dedicates his book to a tugboat crew member who died trying to rescue people from that wreck.)

Maritime researchers can marvel at the extent of Winchester's knowledge of ships, whether in World War I, World War II, the Falklands (Malvinas) conflict, or British voyages of exploration. The pages of Atlantic brim with unexpected facts. How many readers know that three of the U.S. fleet of space shuttles - Discovery, Endeavour, and Challenger - were named for British exploring ships?

The author blends both traditional and modern information, presenting a fine summary of such current ecological issues as global warming and pollution (with special mention of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring).

Winchester focuses his analysis of pollution not only on its effect on water, but also on inhabitants of lands bordering the Atlantic. Especially noteworthy here is the author's fine analysis of how modern methods of harvesting, combined with governmental policies, have depleted the once-plentiful supply of cod near Newfoundland (a prime reason for the original exploration of the region).

While the concept of the Atlantic as a "moat" might deserve a bit more mention, Winchester does a masterly job of describing its role as a "bridge" in the development of transoceanic cable, airplane, and ship travel and as a source of food and trade.

Atlantic concludes with a very convincing list of ways the ocean has helped the progress of civilization.

There may be a few quibbles with this masterful effort. Occasionally, sentences roam on too long, and while the content impressively covers many of the historic events involving the ocean, events such as the ongoing Anglo-Icelandic "cod wars" of the 20th century perhaps could be mentioned in a little detail. Moreover, one might be puzzled by his suggestion that the way to deal with hurricanes is to have populations move away from potentially affected areas.

Yet, overall, Winchester has an uncanny ability to connect with readers, holding forth with the erudite charm of the fascinating dinner guest who is on everybody's invitation list.