Andrew Gibson and Arthur Donovan. The Abandoned Ocean: A History of United States Maritime Policy. Studies in Maritime History Series. Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press, 2000. xiv + 362 pp. Illustrations, references, and index..., ISBN 1-57003-319-6.

Reviewed by Gordon Boyce, School of Economics and Finance, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand . Published by EH.Net (September, 2000)

In this well-written volume, Gibson and Donovan provide a concise analysis of American maritime policy from the early republic to the present. Their aim is to explain why since about 1860 the United States failed to achieve "its stated goal of promoting a commercially viable merchant marine engaged in foreign trade" even though a strong merchant navy was considered essential in times of national emergency. In so doing, Gibson and Donovan endeavour to furnish the historical background needed to guide future policy. Their advice is unequivocal: the government should eliminate restrictions and subsidies in order to let the industry operate freely on the same basis as its international rivals.

Yet, the argument does not come across as ideologically motivated or doctrinaire. Indeed, Gibson and Donovan carefully explain that America made a critical mistake by continuing to pursue protectionist practices. Specifically, the authorities required U.S. flagged vessels to be U.S.-owned and -built and reserved coastal trades for U.S. registered ships. Between 1830 and 1860, when America had an international comparative advantage in shipbuilding and formidable ship operating capabilities, these restrictions were unnecessary. After the Civil War, which caused the destruction of a large part of the national fleet, American shipbuilding lost its prowess as the shift from sail to steam and from wood to iron and later steel conferred advantages upon Britain's shipyards. Yet, U.S. flag restrictions compelled domestic operators to remain bound to an inefficient shipbuilding industry. The chosen solution was to provide subsidies, but these were inadequate to prevent a continued decline, especially as land ward opportunities offered greater returns. After 1880, the U.S. navy expanded as the country sought to enhance its international position, but the merchant marine withered to the extent that by 1900, American ships carried just eight percent of their country's foreign trade. During World War I, the consequences of this dangerous state of affairs finally revealed themselves, and the government responded by building and operating a huge fleet. It also passed the famous Shipping Act of 1916 which ignored international practices and compelled domestic and foreign ship owners servicing U.S. trades to operate within "open" conferences (rate-setting cartel-like organizations) that were subject to federal regulation.

America's policy settings were reinforced by subsequent legislation, which offered the industry more support in the form of postal, construction, and operating subsidies. The Shipping Act of 1920 committed the government to preserving a merchant marine capable of supporting the nation's trade and acting as a naval reserve and the Act of 1936 compelled ship operators to offer seafarers remuneration at levels above international standards. A divided union movement created chronically unstable labour relations to which ship owners responded by making generous concessions. Moreover, because the U.S. shipbuilding industry failed to exploit fully innovations (including modular construction) vessel costs were much higher than overseas. Subsidies, which were especially wasteful and corrupt in the 1930s, propped up the edifice. Political leaders were unwilling to make fundamental changes in the face of opposition from politically powerful interest groups. The fire sales of vessels that followed massive war-induced shipbuilding programmes gave the industry temporary fillips that could not compensate in the long-term for a lack of international comparative advantage.

By the 1980s, the link between commercial shipping and military support had been all but broken by changes in sealift requirements. (The army required Roll-on Roll-off vessels to carry heavy vehicles, but U.S. shipowners possessed few of these craft with the result that the world had a very close call when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait.) Moreover, subsidies were becoming increasingly politically unpalatable. Currently, U.S. policies are completely out of touch with international conventions that allow the use of flags of convenience and support open registers.

Gibson and Donovan argue that the solution is to leave shipping free to meet foreign competition. By eliminating onerous registry rules and allowing American ship owners to buy vessels from foreign yards, to employ lower cost labour, and permit the same type of tax advantages enjoyed by international competitors, the U.S. might prevent the complete disappearance of its merchant marine. In so doing, the nation could preserve the industry's formidable innovative capabilities, while securing commercial and perhaps strategic advantages.

The Abandoned Ocean is not a typical "policy" book; it is written in a lively and compelling style, provides a broad context, and presents a clear analysis. This splendid volume will attract government officials, business historians, maritime historians, and economists. By highlighting the difficulty of regulating an international industry this volume indirectly offers guidance to those who might consider imposing restrictions on businesses like those conducted over the internet. It also draws attention to the way in which political factors that shape regulatory traditions can create enduring path dependency. The chapters on recent developments are particularly valuable. The Abandoned Ocean should be included in the reading lists of a variety of courses, including the economics of regulation, policy formulation and execution, and business and maritime history, as well. Individual chapters can be used as required reading for historical survey courses to develop maritime/international themes. Maritime historians will be anxious to see Gibson and Donovan's next work which examines the history of the container revolution.

Library of Congress call number: VK23 .G53 1999 Subjects: Merchant marine--United States--History Navigation--United States--History Citation: Gordon Boyce . "Review of Andrew Gibson and Arthur Donovan, The Abandoned Ocean: A History of United States Maritime Policy," EH.Net, H-Net Reviews, September, 2000. URL....

The Abandoned Ocean: A History of United States Maritime Policy Gibson, Andrew and Arthur Donovan

Published by EH.NET (September 2000)

Andrew Gibson and Arthur Donovan, The Abandoned Ocean: A History of United States Maritime Policy. Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press, 2000. xiv + 362 pp. $39.95 (hardback), ISBN: 1-57003-319-6.

Reviewed for EH.NET by Gordon Boyce, School of Economics and Finance, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.

In this well-written volume, Gibson and Donovan provide a concise analysis of American maritime policy from the early republic to the present. Their aim is to explain why since about 1860 the United States failed to achieve "its stated goal of promoting a commercially viable merchant marine engaged in foreign trade" even though a strong merchant navy was considered essential in times of national emergency. In so doing, Gibson and Donovan endeavour to furnish the historical background needed to guide future policy. Their advice is unequivocal: the government should eliminate restrictions and subsidies in order to let the industry operate freely on the same basis as its international rivals.

Yet, the argument does not come across as ideologically motivated or doctrinaire. Indeed, Gibson and Donovan carefully explain that America made a critical mistake by continuing to pursue protectionist practices. Specifically, the authorities required U.S. flagged vessels to be U.S.-owned and -built and reserved coastal trades for U.S. registered ships. Between 1830 and 1860, when America had an international comparative advantage in shipbuilding and formidable ship operating capabilities, these restrictions were unnecessary. After the Civil War, which caused the destruction of a large part of the national fleet, American shipbuilding lost its prowess as the shift from sail to steam and from wood to iron and later steel conferred advantages upon Britain's shipyards. Yet, U.S. flag restrictions compelled domestic operators to remain bound to an inefficient shipbuilding industry. The chosen solution was to provide subsidies, but these were inadequate to prevent a continued decline, especially as land ward opportunities offered greater returns. After 1880, the U.S. navy expanded as the country sought to enhance its international position, but the merchant marine withered to the extent that by 1900, American ships carried just eight percent of their country's foreign trade. During World War I, the consequences of this dangerous state of affairs finally revealed themselves, and the government responded by building and operating a huge fleet. It also passed the famous Shipping Act of 1916 which ignored international practices and compelled domestic and foreign ship owners servicing U.S. trades to operate within "open" conferences (rate-setting cartel-like organizations) that were subject to federal regulation.

America's policy settings were reinforced by subsequent legislation, which offered the industry more support in the form of postal, construction, and operating subsidies. The Shipping Act of 1920 committed the government to preserving a merchant marine capable of supporting the nation's trade and acting as a naval reserve and the Act of 1936 compelled ship operators to offer seafarers remuneration at levels above international standards. A divided union movement created chronically unstable labour relations to which ship owners responded by making generous concessions. Moreover, because the U.S. shipbuilding industry failed to exploit fully innovations (including modular construction) vessel costs were much higher than overseas. Subsidies, which were especially wasteful and corrupt in the 1930s, propped up the edifice. Political leaders were unwilling to make fundamental changes in the face of opposition from politically powerful interest groups. The fire sales of vessels that followed massive war-induced shipbuilding programmes gave the industry temporary fillips that could not compensate in the long-term for a lack of international comparative advantage.

By the 1980s, the link between commercial shipping and military support had been all but broken by changes in sealift requirements. (The army required Roll-on Roll-off vessels to carry heavy vehicles, but U.S. shipowners possessed few of these craft with the result that the world had a very close call when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait.) Moreover, subsidies were becoming increasingly politically unpalatable. Currently, U.S. policies are completely out of touch with international conventions that allow the use of flags of convenience and support open registers.

Gibson and Donovan argue that the solution is to leave shipping free to meet foreign competition. By eliminating onerous registry rules and allowing American ship owners to buy vessels from foreign yards, to employ lower cost labour, and permit the same type of tax advantages enjoyed by international competitors, the U.S. might prevent the complete disappearance of its merchant marine. In so doing, the nation could preserve the industry's formidable innovative capabilities, while securing commercial and perhaps strategic advantages.

The Abandoned Ocean is not a typical "policy" book; it is written in a lively and compelling style, provides a broad context, and presents a clear analysis. This splendid volume will attract government officials, business historians, maritime historians, and economists. By highlighting the difficulty of regulating an international industry this volume indirectly offers guidance to those who might consider imposing restrictions on businesses like those conducted over the internet. It also draws attention to the way in which political factors that shape regulatory traditions can create enduring path dependency. The chapters on recent developments are particularly valuable. The Abandoned Ocean should be included in the reading lists of a variety of courses, including the economics of regulation, policy formulation and execution, and business and maritime history, as well. Individual chapters can be used as required reading for historical survey courses to develop maritime/international themes. Maritime historians will be anxious to see Gibson and Donovan's next work which examines the history of the container revolution.

Gordon Boyce's publications include Information, Mediation and Institutional Development: The Rise of Large-scale Enterprise in British Shipping, 1879-1914, Manchester University Press, 1995.

Citation: Gordon Boyce, "Review of Andrew Gibson and Arthur Donovan The Abandoned Ocean: A History of United States Maritime Policy" Economic History Services, September 11, 2000

This book is written in such a spendid way as to not bore the reader. While this is obviously a text for students of Maritime industry concerns - seafarers, transportation officals and the like - the book is fascinating to all who have an interest in how the United States became the power that it is today. It becomes apparent as to why we are not a strong commercial sea power, but the insight to our strength at sea via our Navel forces is also clear.

Starting from our earliest days as a nation the authors trace the world shipping history and how America fit in to global sceene. The book makes connections as to our past and how it became our present.

The book reads very well, is concise and fills in gaps in the details of our history that many scholors (layman or profession) should read and evaluate. It just makes sense to see the total picture painted by Gibson and Donovan.

Federico Garcia Lorca is one of the best poets in history of Spanish literature. In a country where is very difficult to find a tradition of investigations about our recently literature, Ian Gibson's book is a master piece.

One of the best biographies I've read. This book is a well written account based on much research that is finely pieced together.

Lorca's life, and fate, other than some superficial items, were for the most part hidden from public awareness for many decades. He was in many ways a victim, but mostly from politicians, because they killed him.

The excesses of the Reds were countered by the excesses of the Blues (phalangists, rightists, fascists) in a dictatorship that outdid the murders of all predecessors. Politicians sometimes destroy something in order to "save" it. His threat was his speech, and 1998, the year of his centennial, the centennial of Spain's great gift to us for producing so many super-writers ("the generation of 98"), was the year in which we were reminded that the struggle against oppression never ends.

Gibson tells us the story of Lorca but not only about him. If he mentions Granada, Andalucia, the Gypsies, the Moors, Falla, the Spanish Civil War, etc, he will ALSO tell you about that! In this book you will grasp the meaning of surrealism, its evolution, Lorca's surrealism, and particularly the surrealism of Dali and Buñuel.

This book is a must for the literary avid, the poetry fan, the history bum, the political student, and importantly, for those of us that will benefit from learning that what happened in Spain may also happen in our own countries.

If you are a Black writer who wants to get your book published you must buy Ms. Gibson's book. It tells you everything you need to know and breaks it down in little baby steps. It also has examples of press releases, querry letters, and a sample of a synopsis. If you're serious about getting published hunt this book down anyway you can.

I bought her first book "Nappy" and thought that it was one of the best works published that year. I'm very happy to see that she has written this this book to help out struggling black writers such as myself. I went out and bought the book as soon as it hit the shelves and I must say that it has proven to be a very good investment. It is jam packed with information for anyone of any color who wishes to pursue a career in writing.

This work was excellent, as it gave advice to the black writer. I found it very useful and I believe it is the only publication of it's kind. Aliona Gibson shared her publishing experiences, good and bad. This is a must read for black writers and self publishers.

This is one of the best books on success using principles and wisdom from the Bible. If you enjoyed this one also check out "Pray and Grow Rich : Seven Overlooked Secrets from the Bible That Control Your Wealth, Success and Happiness" ~ by Richard Gaylord Briley and "Bible Power for Successful Living: Helping You Solve Everyday Problems by Norman Vincent Peale with Donald Kauffman and also on the another super book on why people hold themselves back from being successful is PERMISSION TO SUCCEED by Noah St. John. Beyond Motivation... Beyond Positive Thinking... Learn How to and Why to Give Yourself Permission to Succeed.

This book speaks to what each and every one of us as human beings struggles with daily, and throughout our lives. It is simply a wonderfully balanced, common-sense guide to everyday problems we all face, and helps us put our difficulties - whatever they may be, in perspective. I recommend it highly!

I had actually borrowed this book from the library many years ago and dreaded giving it back. My roommate at the time was so intrigued with my unsolicited review that she special-ordered it for herself; I always regretted not having done the same.

I was extremely pleased recently to find it in reprint. Since then I have ordered extra copies and have given them as gifts. I believe that anyone sincerely looking for insight and guidance will not be disappointed in what this book has to offer.

I had bought this little book some years ago and was drawn to it for the purpose of helping my care receiver. I was in awe of the wisdom that is so beautifully expressed through the healing power of the Bible. I would recommend it to anyone, but especially someone who is in need of emotional or spiritual healing. I purchased an extra copy to give to my Stephen Ministry group.

As time passes, the novels of Anthony Trollope (1815-1882) seem to gain in freshness, stature and influence. He lived long enough to see his modest reputation fade, in contrast to that of many of his famous novelist contemporaries. Nowadays the situation seems to be reversing.

Of special merit, amongst his huge output, are the so-called Barsetshire ("clerical") novels, and the so-called Palliser ("political") novels. Of the former, the last and longest is "The Last Chronicle of Barset". Not only are there fresh concerns, complications and current affairs introduced here, but there are also fond and final appearances of people and places encountered in the earlier Barsetshire novels. Everybody's favourite literary virago, Mrs Proudie, is again denouncing and dominating everybody. Trollope even contrives to create a character who has the temerity to say to her, "Peace, Woman!"

There are the innumerable characters of marriageable age, whose names are perhaps more memorable than their characters, whose charming dialogues and relationship problems are deftly laid out and interwoven. Above all, there is master story-teller Anthony Trollope, admitting finally that for him Barset has been a real place, a place where he as been induced to wander too long by his "love of old friendships, and by the sweetness of old faces".

Superb TV and radio adaptations of Trollope's Barsetshire novels have appeared in recent years. His novels read aloud well, too, and audio cassette readings, some of them unabridged, can provide endless hours of rich listening pleasure.

THE LAST CHRONICLE OF BARSET is one of the great novels in the English language, and yet it is not widely read. The reason for this is obvious: it is the LAST novel in the Barsetshire series of novels, and a relatively small number make it all the way through the previous five volumes. This is a shame, because while all the previous novels are quite excellent and thoroughly entertaining, the final novel in the series is a work of an entirely different level of magnitude.

This novel is also one of the darkest that Trollope wrote. The moral dilemma in which Crawley finds himself would seem to belong more readily to the world of Dostoevsky than Victorian England.

Can this novel be read on its own, without reading the novels that precede it? Yes, but I do feel that it is best read after working through the other books in the series first. This is hardly an unfortunate situation, since all the books in the series are superb (with the exception of the first novel, THE WARDEN, which, while nice, is merely a prelude to the far superior five novels that came after it). Many of the characters in THE LAST CHRONICLE appeared first as characters in the other novels, and the central character of the book, Crawley, himself appeared earlier.

Trollope is...one of the most entertaining writers the English language has produced. At this point I have read around 20 of his novels, and fully intend to read more. But of all his books, this one might be his finest. The only two that I feel are close to the same level are his incredible books THE WAY WE LIVE NOW and HE KNEW HE WAS RIGHT (possibly the finest work on excessive jealousy since OTHELLO). Anyone who loves the English novel owes it to him or herself to read as many of these volumes as possible. My recommendation would be to read first the six novels in the Barsetshire Chronicles, and then to move on to the other two novels I mentioned. If still hooked, then try his other major series of novels, variously known as the Political novels or the Palliser novels or the Parliamentary novels, which begin with CAN YOU FORGIVE HER?

How one man could hold in his mind so much of his age, and then relate it back to us peopled with so many and varied characters in--how many? 20?-- interconnected novels of surpassing richness of detail and sagacity of moral observation, is a great mystery of human psychology.

"The Last Chronicle of Barset" is surely one of the most successful and satisfying of the whole Barset and Palliser series, illustrating perhaps better than any of the former Trollope's admirable gift for creating multi-dimensional characters that are as recognizable to us today as they were in his time.

I READ "MAFIA KINGPIN" FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 1983, DURING MY SENIOR YEAR IN HIGH SCHOOL, FOR A PROJECT I WAS ASSIGNED TO DO ON THE SUBJECT OF ORGANIZED CRIME. I HAVE READ THE BOOK MANY TIMES SINCE THEN, AND I FIND IT NO LESS EXCITING THAN THE FIRST TIME I READ IT. THIS IS AN EXCELLENT BOOK. BY FAR AND AWAY IT IS ONE OF MY ALL-TIME FAVORITES. TRY IT, YOU'LL LIKE IT! FAST-PACED, EXPLICIT, GRAPHIC, YOU-CAN'T-PUT-IT-DOWN!

BUT WHATEVER BECAME OF SONNY GIBSON? I UNDERSTAND THAT HE MADE A MOVIE IN 1988 WITH REPARATA MAZZOLA, HIS CO-AUTHOR ON "MAFIA KINGPIN," BUT ASIDE FROM THAT I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MOVIE HE WAS SUPPOSED TO MAKE OF HIS LIFE IN CRIME, AND HIS TRANSFORMATION TO CHRISTIANITY? IS HE STILL AN ACTOR? DOES HE HAVE A WEB SITE (IF HE DOES -- I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO FIND IT), AN EMAIL ADDRESS? WHATEVER BECAME OF SONNY GIBSON? DOES ANYONE OUT THERE KNOW? IF YOU HAVE INFO, FEEL FREE TO TELL ME ALL ABOUT IT @ my email address: SCHAGHY@ISD.NET

THANKS, TED

It was one the best books i've read. It is graphic but after you get over that it's GREAT!!! I all most cried when he left Angelo. I wasn't able to put it down.

The book was very graphic and accurate. I had the misfortunate to grow in the same type of environment and was exposed to the same lifestyle. The ways of the world and Satan are cruel masters. It's a continuing miracle I didn't have to pay the same price as Sonny Gibson did.

this book helped give me a whole new meaningful perspective on the kennedy assasination..it sifts through all the misinformation, and the same tired trashy expose type books on the kennedy presidency that don't give any meaningful information, i am much more interested in a president's policies economic and otherwise as opposed to his sex life...i highly reccommend that anyone interested in politics, economics, or the kennedy assasination read this book twice and very slowly. gibson lays everything out clearly in an easy to understand way, i highly reccomend this book.

This book is a great read. The subject matter is interesting and thought provoking. I had the privilage of having Prof. Gibson in class. His knowledge is vast and inspiring. His passion has motivated me not only in the college realm but in life itself.

"Battling Wall Street: The Kennedy Presidency" is great reading for people who want to move beyond books about the mechanics of the Kennedy assassination. The book helps explain why the "Eastern establishment" and a lot of other influential people, might want to get rid of President Kennedy. Another book, "History Will Not Absolve Us : Orwellian Control, Public Denial, & the Murder of President Kennedy" provides additional pieces of the puzzle by explaining how the American establishment, including leading establishment liberals like Noam Chomsky and Alexander Cockburn, have worked to sell the Warren Commision's 'lone gunman' cover-up. The amazing thing about the Kennedy assassination is that, despite a lot of nonsense coming from the mainstream media, the American people know it wasn't a lone gunman and the killers didn't do us a favor.

Murder 1890s style! The story was good and I learned alot cattle and Kansas history. I really believed that was the way it happened.

The story centers around the murders of two cattlemen who brought Texas Fever to Kansas. The book was informative and entertaining.

I enjoy history and true crime and Blatherskites was an excellent combination of the two. The characters are real and the plot fast moving.

After more than half a century, I remembered still the sonorous rhythms of the prelude to Evangeline. Much has changed since I first read the tale of Arcadian innocence torn apart on order of the heartless King, and Longfellow and his poetry have fallen on hard times and harder hearts in the interim

His allusions and images are strained; his words pathetically romantic and sentimental; and the story of Evangeline barely tracks the actual events of 1755. All of the charges are true, yet much of value remains in the poem. The poet recognized instantly a crime against humanity when he first heard the tale, and he had the talent, drive, and fortitude to create this vehicle to memorialize the sad story of star crossed lovers, families, and communities divided and exiled from their adored homeland.

That a heart could be committed to a lifetime of wandering in search of a lost love seems archaic to the sophisticates of the twenty-first century, but I believe it possible, even today.

I read the poem - aloud and silently - and the beat of the accents, like operatic arias, added to the the sorrow of the sentimental story. I recommend this poem to parents who love to read aloud to their children. I'm sure that Evangeline and her beloved Gabriel have the power still to stir the hearts of the young - and of the readers, too.

A very useful notes section offsets an overly wordy foreword. I found it easy to find and reference words and phrases no longer in common use.

Read it aloud to your early adolescent sons and daughters and to your love. You'll be happy you did.

I heard about this book from my mom a few weeks ago after I went to see the movie Serendipity. I told her about the plot of the two people in love searching for one another and just missing every time. She said it reminded her of another story, Evangeline. Since i attend an engineering school I am always very eager to read books with real meaning behind them, given that all my textbooks focus on is wastewater treatment, biological processes, etc... So given that I wasn't really expecting too much but a relief from textbooks when I picked up this book. Little did I know it was soon to become one of my favorites. I was pleasantly surprised by the Christian influences behind the poem and found myself crying a lot more than I expected. I highly recommend this to anyone who has a great appreciation for well written, romantic poetry and literature.

I am not going to sit here and claim to be the expert on English language poetic literature my 12th grade English teacher would like me to be. I have often fallen prey to the boredom of reading long poems and look upon poetry generally with some weariness.

When my father went to New Orleans, I asked him to bring me something back. He brought back a copy of this poem. It was required reading for my parents growing up - I had never heard of it.

I confess I was probably hesitant when I sat down to read it. But in no time I was hooked. The poetic language is perfectly styled to slowly tell the tale of two Acadian lovers doomed by the path of Acadian history to separate lives. Reading this poem is like suckling slowly on a sweet nectar under the gently rustling leaves of an oak on the side of a gently flowing river. If this sounds appealing to you, then you will enjoy this poem.

Such sad lives were led by the the Bronte's, loneliness, loss, despair, all were experienced and fed into the imaginations on charlotte, emily and anne. This book is a brilliant book by E C Gaskell (who i normally dont really like), it is basically a collection of letters by charlotte and a great narrative, when speaking of the deaths of emily, anne and charlotte, i actually felt tears in my eyes!

Mrs. Gaskell understood a man's or woman's life to be lived within a social and natural context -- and her deployment of anecdotes and impressions of the North of England in the early pages of this book is captivating. But she also understood us to be souls, present to but distinct from God. Hence, even though in a few instances Gaskell's facts may been correctible (which the editor has done for us in this Penguin Classics edition), she is concerned with truth, and this gives readers the opportunity (rarely offered by modern entertainments) to escape from the trivial.

A very nicely written biography by Mrs. Gaskell about the life of her friend Charlotte Bronte, although most of the content was made up of letters written either by or to Charlotte Bronte rather than Mrs. Gaskell's own writings. Still this is a very concise book containing mostly everything that an ordinary reader, or well, a beginner of the Bronte novels, should know about this famous family. Nonetheless at some point of the book, I do find Mrs. Gaskell a bit too subjective, especially when it comes to the depiction of Charlotte's brother Branwell Bronte and his downfall. But consider the fact that this book was written only within one and a half year, with Mrs. Gaskell herself alone traveling all the way from Manchester to Haworth, and then to Brussel, doing all the necessary researches and interviews on her own, I must say that this is just an awesome piece of work!! And just as what Patrick Bronte himself had said about this biography, 'It is every way worthy of what one Great Woman, should have written of Another...it ought to stand, and will stand in the first rank, of Biographies, till the end of time'.

One more word though. From a more scholarly point of view, however, I think so far the 'best' biography on the Brontes should be Juliet Barker's 'The Brontes'. If, after reading this biography written by Mrs. Gaskell, you still want to know more about the Brontes, then I will say: go and buy this other book by Juliet Barker and you definitely will never regret it!