A history of solitary sailing asks why people seek out its danger
“Sailing Alone” is packed with ripping yarns and driven characters
Joshua Slocum, an indefatigable trader, entrepreneur and sailor, born in 1844 on a farm in Nova Scotia, had a patchy record as a ship’s captain. Mutinies had a way of breaking out among his crews—he once shot a man dead—and too many of his ships had ended up grounded or worse. He loathed the look of steamships that by the 1890s had almost entirely replaced sail-powered freighters. What was there for an old sailor “born in the breezes”, who “had studied the sea as perhaps few men have studied it”, to do?
This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Rough waters”
From the September 16th 2023 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from Culture
History podcasts are booming
Why listening to stories about the past are a present pastime
“Deadpool & Wolverine” is revolting, but popular
The film has had the highest-grossing opening of an R-rated film
Slow down: longer races offer fans more than sprints do
Middle- and long-distance races have a drama that short ones cannot match
We enjoyed reading these books on holiday. You might, too
A selection of titles chosen by The Economist’s journalists
A moving memoir probes the contradictions of modern China
Edward Wong narrates his father’s journey from servant of the party to escapee
Few writers have seen America more clearly than James Baldwin
A century after his birth, Baldwin remains one of the country’s most important authors