This was a really interesting read, I've seen Mutiny on the Bounty many times and find the story after the movie really interesting. This book was well-researched and I enjoyed learning a bit more about it.

I have always been interested in the Mutiny on the Bounty so was looking forward to reading this title. I found it extremely interesting and very detailed. It filled in many gaps of knowledge and in turn I found myself exploring the characters more. I did feel it was somewhat biased in favour of Fletcher Christian so did a bit more research only to find the author is a descendant of his so this answered a lot of questions and changed some of my opinions somewhat that it was a true reflection of what actually happened, which I I know will have changed over the years but I would have sooner read an unbiased account.
In saying all of that I did enjoy the story and I have no doubt that the author undertook a lot of research to produce this title but I will be looking to read further about it by other authors

This famous South Pacific saga is brought alive with with this book.
The author through comprehensive documented research tells this powerful fateful maritime adventure, detailed is Fletcher Christian and his relationship with William Bligh. William Bligh who could bravely command in difficult situations but struggled to keep order amongst shipmates resulting in the mutiny. Fletcher however retained leadership through democracy only then for him & Bounty to disappear for 18 years but to where & do what?.
A interesting book that filled a void of knowledge and made me go off and research more in to the Pitcairn islands, its small population and the women's right to education and the vote, however that then gave me more detail about what potentially happened in those years compared to the authors reasoning and views that he balances with his research.
A atmospheric book with contrasts from the dingy dark cramped ship conditions to the beautiful tropical landscape you can't help but loose yourself within.
I haven't read anything off this subject to compare it too but I rated it on my enjoyment overall and appreciation of the amount of work the author must have undertaken.
My thanks go to the author, publisher and Netgalley in providing this arc in return for a honest review.

So part of the fault of the 2-star review is that I should have done more research before requesting this book from Netgalley... in my defense, I've been really interested in the history of famous ships ever since reading [book:Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage|139069] last year - so when I saw this on the "Recently Added Books" tab, I quickly requested and was kindly granted a copy.

My first flag should have been that the author and the titular character have the same last name - and low and behold, Christian is the great-great-etc grandson of Fletcher Christian. So already there's a bit more of a bias here than I usually like in my non-fiction. A second flag is that the title is "The Truth about", therefore implying that there's some belief that needs to be set right. This is seen throughout the book - Christian paints his fore-bearer in a very positive light compared to the others (namely William Bligh, whom Fletcher mutinied against). I am assuming from a lot of the context that Fletcher is usually viewed with a much harsher lens, although this is my first interaction with the history of HMAV Bounty, Bligh and Fletcher.

Some parts were more interesting than others - I got very intrigued once our mutineers arrived on Pitcairn island, and bored during the chapters on written defenses/trials. One thing I did appreciate was the author's conscious effort to separate quoted/cited information from what he himself thinks happened - "I" and "My belief" are seen throughout. I appreciate this, because it helped distinguish where fact ends and conjecture starts. Overall, I think Christian has presented a mostly believable theory of certain events (and the reasonings behind those events), although it is definitely tinted through his white cis-man lens.

Ultimately I would have rated this higher if not for the writing, which is not super engaging and leans slightly convoluted - maybe Christian has been reading too many historical documents! I actually have some family that likes to make long Word documents about our geneological history - this reminded me of an extended version of that (albeit much more exciting), complete with descriptions of trips where the author obtained his information, or where he was excited/confused.

While I'm not going to go out of my way to recommend this to anybody, I did finish it - and I'm glad I learned more about an event (and place) that I had never heard of. The descriptions of the island landscape reminded me one of my favorite books of 2020 - [book:Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia|40536236] - which I would HIGHLY recommend to any and all!

<i>I voluntarily obtained an eBook version of this book free from Netgalley and Pen & Sword History in exchange for an honest review!</i>