The title of the book perfectly describes author's purpose: study the Dutch and Eurasian society in Indonesia. We live through the rough conditions of the early colonists under the stingy United East Indian Company (VOC), the lack of contacts between Dutch and Indonesian society, most of the relations being between non-Dutch mercenaries and local Indonesian people, the influence of Enlightenment on Batavia, the change with the bankrupcy of the VOC in 1800 and the British occupation. And then Dutch direct administration until 1942 which many Dutch and Eurasian remember as Tempo Doeloe, a magic era with European children being raised in a totally javanese world of music, gamelan, puppet theater, contacts with the refined Indonesian courts at their adulthood, a society obsessed by Dutch speaking as symbol of class and fear of indentity loss but mostly using Indonesian because the refined and ancient local society. This was not so dreamlike for the Indonesian (Dutch were nicknamed the Butchers of Asia). Anyway an excellent book on one of the longest Western presence in Asia that ended abruptly with the Japanese invasion in 1942 and Dutch final departure in 1949.

This book reminded me fondly of my youth, when each of us would gather 'round the dinner table, say an opening prayer, and then proudly stand and announce our names and addictions whilst saluting the flag. Even Brenda, my late ex-lover and confidante, would rise from her wheelchair to admit her shame-free co-dependant cross-addiction to aspirin, sleeping pills, pepto-bismal, diet sugar-free cola, Raisinets, Skittles, Newport menthols, and snortable Oxycontin. Page after endless page, we repeated our optimistic mantra that every day was a new day, no matter what day of the week it was, and that they just keep coming, one at a time, some 365 or so times a year. Brenda, may she rest in peace, had just earned her two month purple heart of sobriety when God, in his infinite wisdom, chose to recycle her precious soul. But even in those somewhat difficult moments, all I had to do was open any given page of the Big Book to find meaning and purpose in life, and a way to cope with immeasurable despair. I took to carrying on Brenda's rambling message and now use her wheelchair as if it were my own, and have adopted her other so-called bad habits just to see what it's like to ride around in her shoes for a while. I am only now beginning to understand myself through Brenda's Christlike example. Have you ever tried to drag a Jesus-sized cross up a mountain through six inches of mud in the middle of winter? Brenda did it. Have you ever tried selling crack at the local elementary school just to get enough money for a hot lunch for your late ex-lover? Brenda did it. Have you ever run a three-minute mile whilst pulling a backhoe? Brenda did it. She was my miracle worker and my nightingale, always posing seductively in her shiny chrome armoir. She was hell on wheels. Thank you for this book!

"Batavia's Graveyard" is further proof of the old adage that "fact is stranger than faction." In this obscure but intriguing tale early 17th century European history, Jeronimus Corneliszoon, an unaccomplished Dutch pharmacist, incites a mutiny on the shipwrecked Dutch merchant vessel "Batavia", ultimately leading to the slaughter of over 100 men, women, and children who survived the wreck. Painstakingly researched and rich in historical detail, Mike Dash succeeds in combining a rare insight of the arduous life aboard sailing ships of the period with a chilling narrative of the bloodiest known mutiny of all time. One not need to be a history buff to appreciate this brutal story of a charismatic but twisted psychopath capable of mesmerizing the crowd, and leading them to a catastrophic end.

Batavia's Graveyard (The True Story of the Mad Heretic Who Led History's Bloodiest Mutiny) by Mike Dash is a fascinating book of history that is hard to read at times and even harder to turn away from. I am not sure if the subtitle is true concerning this being the bloodiest mutiny ever but I would not want to learn about one more bloody. The author does a good job of presenting the details of the actual mutiny in an exciting and readable manner, and even a better job of giving an historical context for the events without swamping the tale. It illuminates as it reaches into darkness. The story of the ship Batavia in 1628 and the psychotically cruel and mad plans of Jeronimus Corneliszoon will shock even jaded twenty-first century readers. This book is not for the faint at heart but will be gripping for readers not afraid to look at history's darker moments.

I've read many seafaring/adventure/historical non-fiction narratives (as well as novels) and Batavia's Graveyard does them all one better. Like most Americans, I had never heard of the Batavia incident, so I was in suspense during this entire reading experience. The author, Mike Dash, gives a engrossing account of the survivors' ordeal, but, more importantly, he does an excellent job of placing the Batavia's story within the context of the 1600s and the Dutch sea trade. I was fascinated by the description of life in the Netherlands by the history of the Dutch East India Company--a corporation so heartless and corrupt that it makes Enron look warm and fuzzy.

Like In the Heart of the Sea, this is a book that places one sensational, disturbing event within a much larger, and richer history. Mike Dash's stylish, compelling writing are to be commended, as well. Even the nearly 100 pages of endnotes themselves (which detail Mr. Dash's outstanding research) add a lot to the appreciation of this book.

Take it from a history--and reading--addict: this is one of the best historical narratives to be written in years.

If you like a book filled with obscure literary references written in a purely negative, cynical and wiseacreish tone this is the book for you. Perhaps the writer's view of his "return to Batavia" is skewed by the fact that he still does not live in Batavia, but a neighboring town.

Of all the characters in the book, only Rep. Conable and the author's father are not ripped (one way or the other). At least the author does not spare himself from the same tone and negativity.

There is nothing interesting about the book. You can read (over and over) about the urban renewal mall that replaced the old buildings in downtown Batavia. But the author just does not make the reader care (or sympathize) about it. He does nothing to make you want to know anything about Batavia, nor is there anything else to make you read this book (from beginning to end).

Even the writing is difficult to follow. It is choppy and filled with references that a) do not matter; and b) are so obscure you would need a reference library to keep track (of them).

About the only thing the author accomplishes (in the book) is to persuade the reader that upstate New York really has not contributed much in the literary and arts fields. This book did not improve that woeful record he portrays.

(Oh, by the way...if these parenthetical references drove you nuts, do not even open this book. I have never seen so many parentheses in a book. Not only are parenthetical references multiple sentences, there are entire paragraphs so enclosed.)

Dispatches from the MuckDog Dispatch is simply a dog of a book.

I hail from Akron, New York, an even smaller town wedged between Buffalo and Batavia on Route 5. The de-evolution of my town, Mr. Kauffman's, and the Nickel City have occurred in various degrees, and "Dispatches" pretty much explains everything with the kind of self-depreciating yet self-respecting humor that we in Western New York require to stay sane.

Last year I researched some of the local history of Batavia for graduate school. It still surprises me how important the area was in our nation's history, but no one ten miles away has heard of William Morgan, Joseph Ellicott, &c. If anything, this book will remind you that there's more to our nation's identity than the state-approved textbook, or what's on the History Channel. Those who live in the area should by all means check this book out. Some reviewers have complained about the number of confusing references, but it only took me a day and a half to get though it (the reviewers mention that too, ironically).

Also, as someone who's visited the Genesee Country Mall on occasion, I'm drawn to this book like a person driving past an auto wreck. Once I was walking though the mall's almost empty hallways (excepting the OTB, a bar, and a couple government services) and I couldn't help but think that They could write a book about this Dumpster of downtown America. I saw Wendy's wrappers roll across the floors like tumbleweed through Carson City. I've only been inside once in the past three years, and that was to show friends from Buffalo just how bad it could really be. Geez.

This book was wonderful. I was born in Batavia and my father's family were the Boorom of Walnut Street. My mother, Leanna Gateson was Elba's first Onion Queen. Mr. Kauffman's descriptions of Main Street with it's store was right on target. Talking about Newberry's, Sleight's, Carr's and Mancuso's was so heartwarming. These were my 1960's and I remember Batavia with a smile.

Henrietta Drake-Brockman, an Australian novelist who died almost 40 years ago, wrote this book in the late 50s and early 60s - before the Batavia's wreck site was discovered, and the bodies of the men and women who became the victims of a subsequent bloody mutiny were exhumed. It was also a time before email, cheap intercontinental phone calls, and every day air travel. In such circumstances, the fact that the author was able to correctly identify where the East Indiaman was wrecked, and arrange, via letter, for so much detailed research to be conducted in the Netherlands, India and Indonesia can only arouse great admiration. Voyage to Disaster presents the fruits of that research: the first complete English language translation of Francisco Pelsaert's journals (the orginals are in the main Dutch staste archive at The Hague), with supporting material from repositories in Amsterdam and Leiden.

The book divides into two parts. The first consists of a series of thematic chapters covering what could be discovered of the ship, its voyage, and the principal men and women on board. The second comprises a complete translation of the journals, with several supporting appendices. What is missing is any real connecting story - surprisingly, given Drake-Brockman's career as an author, the book has no real narrative and fails, really, to convey the unprecedented drama of the Batavia's wreck and the appalling events that followed it. Drake-Brockman failed, in addition, to uncover any new information concerning Jeronimus Cornelisz, the principal villain of the piece, and he consequently appears as something of a subsidiary character in what should really be his own story.

Voyage to Disaster, then, is an invaluable source book and an important work for anyone interested in the development of the Batavia's story. It is not a narrative history, nor an easy book to read. Recommended for serious students of the subject rather than casual browsers.

The amazing journey of the ill-fated Dutch VOC ship, Batavia, in 1629, is painstakingly researched and realized in this fine historical epic. History, like this, is unimaginable in the modern sense, though it is evident today in ethnic purging and ruined cultures. The tale of Francisco Pelsaert's incredible survival through adversity where mutiny and massacre would be the rule of the day is high drama. Ms Brockman became the leading investigator in solving the whereabouts of this lost and infamous shipwreck off the coast of West Australia.Her information is gleaned primarily from eyewitness accounts and the diary of Pelsaert to conclude a fascinating chapter seafaring history. Truly, there is no story quite like it anywhere.