Empire's Cost Forged in Paper (The 500 Year Journey Book 2) by William H. Brothers
William H. Brothers’ Empire's Cost: Forged in Paper is part of an exhaustive comprehensive look at 500 years of Dutch History and the impact that the country had on Europe, North America, and the entire world.
This book focuses on three generations of the Schutt Family from the 16th-15th century, a family that starts out as smiths and metal workers but become involved in business enterprises that create a network of several countries and businesses.
This book is rich in fascinating detail of the history but never loses the human impact and the personal touches that make this a story worth telling. For example we see Jansen and his father Wilhelm forge weapons. We see the process, intense labor hammering them over the anvil, and managing the fire with the bellows. We also see the stress involved in filling a large order.
However, here is where this book goes beyond a dry recital of historical facts. We see what those weapons can do. Jansen travels to the battlefield and sees the weapons that he forged in action against soldiers on either side. He also sees what happens when a slight flaw in creation can cause great harm when it is unchecked. It definitely teaches Jansen a thing or two about hardship, violence, and to never accept slipshod work.
The approach to business is both historical and contemporary. The historical aspects can be found in the focus on Dutch products such as paper, china dinnerware, iron products, cheese, wine, and in one of the more provocative chapters tulips.
The book goes into the legendary tulip mania and how quickly this little flower became a central figure in Dutch economy, a status symbol for the wealthy, and then just as quickly lost public interest (but still created a gorgeous landscape throughout the Netherlands). Various characters such as Jensen's son Hawk, are caught up in the windfall and the subsequent crash.
Despite the products such as paper, tulips, and other goods being transported by ship and cart, readers recognize many of the issues that are still surprisingly prevalent in modern business. Characters have to diversify their brand to keep up with the times. Some sacrifice efficiency and excellence for easy money and speedy production.
There is added pressure to please guild officials, wealthy customers, and the general public. Some question a world that is becoming too fast, too greedy, and too connected to keep up with. No matter what time period, these issues recur throughout history and modern day.
The Maritime Master in An Age of Peril: Based on the Life of Captain Matthew Price 1777-1821 by Michael Thomas Price
Michael Thomas Price’s The Maritime Master in An Age of Peril is a fascinating, gripping, and revealing account of his ancestor, Captain Matthew Price who was a sailor.
The book tells of Price's early years serving under his father who was also a captain, then moves into his adulthood, his captaincy, his voyages, his crew, and various adventures traveling from one sea to the next. Even though he marries and fathers five children, it's clear that the sea is his real first home.
The book is a fascinating look at sea voyages from the 18th-19th centuries and the people who braved the waters putting their own lives, crew’s lives, cargo, and ships at risk to deliver them. It's a rough life, a thrilling one to be sure but the book makes the reader aware of the hardships.
Price travels from his native New England to Britain, Russia, France, the East Indies, China, Guadalupe, Jamaica, Bali, Turkey, and India. He experiences various countries and cultures and is changed by his encounters with them. His travels give him a larger perspective and understanding towards other people.
This is particularly noticeable in Price’s changing views towards slavery. He first becomes aware of the deplorable institution while serving under his father. He questions the practice and to his credit doesn't transport them when he becomes captain. However, he passively accepts and justifies it.
Those justifications disappear when he encounters people from other races. He bonds with black sailors and recognizes that many people that he left behind in the United States would only see their skin color and not their loyalty, hard work, intelligence, and soul. Price's eyes are opened by his experiences voyaging around the world.
The book makes readers aware of the excitement and adventure but also the hardships in sea travel. There are moments when the voyages are monotonous and the crew are at one another's throats.
Characters develop friendships with crew members that are sometimes closer than family. Price is close to Randy who goes to sea as a child just like him. Randy ascends to first mate and his loss completely devastates Price.
One of the most harrowing and emotional chapters occurs when Price is the sole survivor of a shipwreck. His ship is torn to shreds by the foul weather and people who served under him through many voyages are suddenly lost to the ocean’s waves.
He is left alone, ragged, thirsty, lost, and clinging to life. He barely survived the experience and only chances to survive by the kindness of strangers. This section opens up the risk and danger that such a life contains. One where you see much, experience much, but also lose much in the process.
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