Mutiny on the Bounty (novel)
 First edition dustcover | |
| Author | Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Bounty Trilogy |
| Genre | Historical novel |
| Publisher | Little, Brown and Company |
Publication date | 1932 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Followed by | Men Against the Sea |
Mutiny on the Bounty is the title of the 1932 novel by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall, based on the mutiny against Lieutenant William Bligh, commanding officer of the Bounty in 1789. It has been made into several films and a musical. It was the first of what became The Bounty Trilogy, which continues with Men Against the Sea, and concludes with Pitcairn's Island.
Plot introduction
The novel tells the story through a fictional first-person narrator by the name of Roger Byam, based on actual crew member Peter Heywood. Byam, although not one of the mutineers, remains with the Bounty after the mutiny. He subsequently returns to Tahiti, and is eventually arrested and taken back to England to face a court-martial. He and several other members of the crew are eventually acquitted.
Characters in Mutiny on the Bounty
- Roger Byam – main protagonist, based on actual crew member Peter Heywood
- William Bligh – Lieutenant and commander of the Bounty
- Fletcher Christian – eventual mutineer
Film, TV and theatrical adaptations
- In the Wake of the Bounty (1933) (notable as the first film to introduce Errol Flynn to movie audiences, as Fletcher Christian)
- Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
- Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)
A musical based on the same story appeared in the West End during the 1980s. It was written by and starred David Essex.
Further reading
- Caroline Alexander, The Bounty: The True Story of the Mutiny on the Bounty, Viking Penguin, 2003, hardcover, 512 pages, ISBN 0-670-03133-X
- William Bligh, A Narrative of the Mutiny on board His Majesty's ship Bounty; and the subsequent voyage of part of the crew, in the ship's boat, from Tofoa, one of the Friendly Islands, to Timor, a Dutch Settlement in the East-Indies., London, 1790-94.
Other
An earlier novel, Les Révoltés de la Bounty (The Mutineers of the Bounty), was published by Jules Verne in 1879.
See also
External links
- Hollywood history Commentary on the novel and how it influenced the film(s) and popular perception of the actual events; comparison between three of the films.
- Mutiny on the Bounty, Project Gutenberg