The Ghost Ship of Brooklyn

I received a free Kindle copy of The Ghost Ship of Brooklyn by Robert Watson courtesy of Net Galley and DeCapo Press, the publisher. It was with the understanding that I would post a review to Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and my history book review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Google Plus pages.

I requested this book as I read a great deal about the Revolutionary War, but this is the first time that I have seen a book devoted to the subject of the prison ships used by the British. It is the first book by Robert Watson that I have read.

This is a well researched and engaging read. It is not a dry recitation of the facts surrounding the subject. The author used the written first hand experiences of five survivors of the infamous prison ship the Jersey that reportedly had over 11,000 men die as a result of their incareration on it.

Watson delves into the reasons why the British used the ship(s) and the amount of embezzlement that led to the horrid conditions on the ship. In addition, he discusses the differences in the groups of rotating guards on the ship. In the final chapter, he briefly presents what happenned to the the 5 survivors and the main characters on the British side.

I recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in the Revolutionary War and is interested in an interesting read about something of which there has been little written about.

I did enjoy this book. I had just finished reading The Loyal Son so i will admit it was hard to get through another revolutionary war book but this book actually went right along with that book and could almost be seen a compendium of the dark world that swirled in colonial america during the revolution

The Ghost Ship of Brooklyn by Robert P Watson deals with a little known part of the American Revolution. A run down ship, HMS Jersey, was used by the British (along with other ships) to house thousands of war prisoners. These men were packed into the depths of the ships with little food or water while disease after disease tore through the crowded quarters. This is not an easy book to read, but I am glad that I read it. It brings to life the sacrifices that were made for the freedoms we enjoy today. It also makes me even more embarrassed by how those in Washington are currently behaving.

Mr. Watson did an excellent job in researching the book and telling the stories of these forgotten men. He shares information about America's beginning and the Revolutionary War. An important part of history is now brought to the forefront through this book. I also learned about the Prison Ships Martyrs Memorial in New York state. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in history as well as those who want to know more about the cost of freedom.

This is an interesting book about a little known prison ship during the American War of Independence. The horrific conditions that the men were kept in was quite an eye opener.
I found this book easy to read as it flowed well with a good narrative style. Some non-fiction books can be difficult to read and drain the life out of a subject unlike this one which bought it to life.
This isn't a period of history which usually interests me but I found the book interesting & easy to read. It was obviously well researched and it has greatly enhanced my extremely basic knowledge of this period.
I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley.

Robert P Watson has given a voice to so many that have been forgotten. The HMS Jersey was docked just 100 yards off New York - and mere blocks to my current apartment. The HMS Jersey was a literal living hell for thousands of Americans either captured by the British or accused of disloyalty during the American Revolution.

From the publisher: "Crammed below deck--a shocking one thousand at a time--without light or fresh air, the prisoners were scarcely fed food and water. Disease ran rampant and human waste fouled the air as prisoners suffered mightily at the hands of brutal British and Hessian guards. Throughout the colonies, the mere mention of the ship sparked fear and loathing of British troops. It also sparked a backlash of outrage as newspapers everywhere described the horrors onboard the ghostly ship. This shocking event, much like the better-known Boston Massacre before it, ended up rallying public support for the war."

We tend to think of POW of World War II or Vietnam, but we can trace this back to the beginning of time. The HMS Jersey prisoners were treated worse than the rats that terrorized them. Watson recently gave an interview to the New York Post that really stuck with me. “This ship, the Jersey, the ‘ghost ship,’ it was the single bloodiest conflict of the entire Revolutionary War. Not Saratoga, not Trenton, not Yorktown, not Germantown. The single bloodiest conflict was on board this one ship.”

These are the horrors of war that remain untold for decades, centuries. This is an important work that we can learn from even today.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this wonderful book.