Simple Courage
Frank Delaney
'This is one of those totally engrossing, "unputdownable" books that combines genuinely hair-raising true events, bravery against frightening odds and the drama and excitement of a dangerous rescue. It is a compliment to Delaney's abilities as a writer and storyteller that he turns this little-known story into a classic tale of the sea.'
Bruce Elder (Sydney Morning Herald)'Delaney's narrative is gripping, edge-of-the-seat stuff ... It could not be better written by Marryat or Conrad or Melville ... the skill of the master mariner is matched by the skill of a master storyteller.'
Frank O'Shea (Canberra Times)'Simple Courage is a thrilling sea story and a testament to the noble nature of humankind when put to a stern test. It's a book that readers will long remember.'
Norman N. Brown (Associated Press)In late December 1951, laden with passengers and nearly forty metric tons of cargo, the freighter S.S. Flying Enterprise steamed westward from Europe toward America. A few days into the voyage, she hit the eye of a ferocious storm. Force 12 winds tossed men about like playthings and turned drops of freezing Atlantic foam into icy missiles. When, in the space of twenty-eight hours, the ship was slammed by two rogue waves — solid walls of water more than sixty feet high — the impacts cracked the decks and hull almost down to the waterline, threw the vessel over on her side, and thrust all on board into terror.
Flying Enterprise’s captain, Kurt Carlsen, a seaman of rare ability and valor, mustered all hands to patch the cracks and then try to right the ship. When these efforts came to naught, he helped transfer, across waves forty feet high, the passengers and the entire crew to lifeboats sent from nearby ships. Then, for reasons both professional and intensely personal, and to the amazement of the world, Carlsen defied all requests and entreaties to abandon ship. Instead, for the next two weeks, he fought to bring Flying Enterprise and her cargo to port. His heroic endeavor became the world’s biggest news.
In a narrative as dramatic as the ocean’s fury, acclaimed bestselling author Frank Delaney tells, for the first time, the full story of this unmatched bravery and endurance at sea.
Drawing on historical documents and contemporary accounts and on exclusive interviews with Carlsen’s family, Delaney places us in the heart of the storm, a ‘biblical tempest’ of unimaginable power. He illuminates the bravery and ingenuity of Carlsen and the extraordinary courage that the 37-year-old captain inspired in his stalwart crew. This is a gripping, absorbing narrative that highlights one man’s outstanding fortitude and heroic sense of duty.
'Frank Delaney has written a completely absorbing, thrilling and inspirational account of a disaster at sea that occasioned heroism of the first order. In the hands of a gifted storyteller, the 'simple courage' of the ship's captain and the young man who risked their lives to bring a mortally wounded ship to port reveals the essence and power of all true courage — a stubborn devotion to the things we love.'
Senator John McCain'Frank Delaney's Simple Courage recounts how Capt. Kurt Carlsen evacuated his ship and then stayed aboard, determined to steer her to port — even though she was listing at 60 degrees. The page turner makes The Perfect Storm of 1991 seem like a ripple in a duck pond.'
(The Christian Science Monitor)'one of the great sea stories of the twentieth century ... a tale certain to enthrall anyone interested in those who go down to the sea in ships. Indeed, it may be the most surefire nautical crowd-pleaser since Gary Kinder’s Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea.'
Roland Green (Booklist (starred review))'Delaney's artful storytelling makes Simple Courage truly pleasurable to read, gripping at every turn and suspenseful to the end.'
David Munn (Navy League of the United States)'Ripper survival tale from the author of Ireland that leaves Perfect Storm's George Clooney looking dead in the water.'
(Geelong Advertiser)Frank Delaney
Frank Delaney is the author of the New York Times bestselling novel Ireland, as well as several fiction and nonfiction bestsellers in the United Kingdom. A former judge for the Booker Prize, Delaney enjoyed a prominent career in BBC broadcasting before becoming a full-time writer. Born in Tipperary, Ireland, he now lives in New York and Connecticut.
Website: www.frankdelaney.com
Extent: 320
Size: 234mm x 153mm
ISBN (10): 1921215 046
ISBN (13): 9781921215049
RRP: $32.95
Pub date: November 2006
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