Description: Though Eric Newby may have doubted his luck as he dangled 200 feet above the deck of the Moshulu, uncertain how he would get down, he was actually a remarkably lucky young man to be on that beautiful ship. When Newby signed on to the Moshulu as a very junior apprentice in 1938, there were more than a dozen square-rigged, four-masted barques carrying cargoes of grain that year between Europe and Australia. In less than a decade, no sailor -- novice or old hand -- could have signed on to any of these ships: they were all either sunk during WW II or became extinct as international shipping changed. Though Newby writes that his physical labors were exhausting, he used his free time not for R&R, but to document and photograph the Moshulu, and other ships like her that he'd see when they were in port. He did become comfortable with the heights and the climbing demanded of him, and soon was shinnying up the ropes, working and photographing his fellow seamen at work. This is an extraordinary record of a magical voyage; no one who loves the sea can fail to be moved and excited by this book.

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