The Truth About the Mutiny on HMAV BOUNTY - and the Fate of Fletcher
Christian brings this famed South Pacific saga into the 21st century.
By combining unprecedented research into Fletcher Christian and his fate
with deep knowledge of Bounty's Polynesian women, Glynn Christian
presents a fresh and comprehensive telling of a powerful maritime
adventure that still captivates after 230 years.
Of over 3000 books and major articles on the mutiny, or the five feature
films starring such as Clark Gable, Charles Laughton, Marlon Brando and
Mel Gibson, none has told the true story as until 1982, no author knew
the real Fletcher Christian, or could understand his relationship with
William Bligh, his mentor-turned-nemesis. Glynn Christian's
extraordinary research into Bligh, Christian and Bounty included every
deposit of documents worldwide and a sailing expedition to Pitcairn
Island.
This book details the cramped dark conditions on the ship and how Bligh
bravely commanded it at Cape Horn, saving it and the crew. Yet he was
unable to keep discipline because he didn't punish enough, instead
relying on his brutal tongue. Forced to remain in Tahiti for 23 weeks,
Bligh struggled to retain order when Bounty sailed.
Glynn Christian reveals how this affected Fletcher Christian mentally,
explaining his out-of-character mutiny. Then Christian showed
revolutionary social conscience, using democracy and uniforms on Bounty
to maintain leadership, including through the little-known settlement of
Fort George on Tubuai.
After this, he and Bounty disappeared for 18 years. Bounty's story
becomes that of Pitcairn Island, of revolutionary black women who
protected their children with the blood of their fathers and continued
Fletcher's ideals to become the first women in the world permanently to
have the vote and guarantee education for girls.
But where was Fletcher Christian?
