The Last Grain Race

This is a splendid book. I've read numerous books about sailing and sailing ships, of all sizes, and especially about the great sailing ships on the tea, nitrate and grain trades, etc etc, and I reckon this is the most enjoyable, well written and informative books of any of them. Newby writes very well, and with great humour and self-deprecation, about all aspects of life aboard Moshulu, the biggest working barque of the time. After an initial chapter describing Newby's pre-Moshulu life ashore, the remainder of the book concerns the voyage out to Australia (from Belfast) in ballast; then the few months in Australia,loading; then the voyage home again, to Queenstown (Cobh) for orders, and then to Glasgow. Along the way, we get a really detailed description of things like the deck layout, the watchkeeping system, daily life on board, the rigging and sail-handling, etc etc.Poor Moshulu, after this glorious part of her working life, she was seized by the Germans. Her rigging was removed and put into storage, and was subsequently destroyed by bombing raids. Moshulu spent a long time then as a floating grain store/warehouse, before eventually crossing the Atlantic and being put to use as a museum ship and (I think) as a restaurant, from 1970, in New York and then Philadelphia.But this was all long after her great last grain race glory-days of 1939/1940.If you're interested in sailing ships, or if you just like a well-written book, this is for you. Very highly recommended.

The late Eric Newby established a fine reputation as a travel writer, but he was much more than that. Born into a comfortably wealthy family, he could not tolerate life "in the city" and as an 18 year old signed up as a junior crew member on a 4 masted, square rigged sailing ship which took grain between the UK and Australia just before the second world war. The last grain race describes his experiences in raw, and sometimes terrifying detail. Quite apart from the fact that most of the crew did not speak English and initially treated him with disdain, he was frequently given the most horrible of duties and had to learn to climb to the top of 120 foot masts to either store or release the massive sails. By the end of the return voyage he has proved himself more than capable of handling everything that was thrown at him - including climbing the mast in a force 10 gale as the ship rounded Cape Horn in order to get a good photograph! The book is full of vivid descriptions though may include a little too much technical detail in places. Newby's subsequent adventures, including an attempt to climb K2 proved what a tough and brave man he was. Toughness and bravery shine through the pages of the excellent book.

Worth re reading after many years.

Newby is so honest about himself and the crew that though highly descriptive, humorous & factual this book reeds like a novel: I never knew what hardships were visited on the merchant navy, especially those in sailing ships, until I read this excellent book. For all the agonies Newby suffered, he never carries grudges against his fellow crew or yet the officers: a singular mark of character!

Eric Newby is a renowned travel writer, and this is one of his first and best books. It tells of how in 1938 he signed on as an apprentice deck hand on a large steel square rigger engaged in the Australia - Europe grain trade. It is a fascinating, moving, exciting, funny account of the round trip with all its highs and lows, written with such skill, and passion I just couldn't put it down. You really don't have to be a sailor to enjoy this book, but if you are it's even better. A collector's item.

Eric Newby is an excellent story teller and this book shows off his talent. The definition of sailing being boring when it is not terrifying is nicely illustrated in this adventure. However, perhaps inevitably, the book is bogged down in the technicalities of sails and ropes and rigging. You have to constantly refer to the sketch at the beginning of the book to understand what sail has just broken free or what rope he is pulling. Probably fascinating for sailors of more modest vessels, but too repetitive and obscure for me.

Decent read if you want an insight into the closed community of a ship and its crew

If you like the sea, if you love sailing ships and if you like a great account of life aboard a sailing ship, then this is solid gold!Fabulous account of the life of a young seaman and his exploits on the barque "Moshulu" which incidentally is still afloat as a restaurant in Pennsylvania, USA then this is for you.I could not put this book down and the humour that Eric Newby recounts is a break from the reality of the hard life at sea in the 1930s and 40s.Absolutely entertaining from page one to back cover!

An interesting and intriguing read about a young man's long voyage as a naive seaman on the last of the largest, iron-hulled sailing ships made, from Ireland to South Australia and return. The book is written from the diaries and memories of the author, and is laced with technical information, experiences, and humour. The book is a tribute to the times and hardships, but also the joys, of a life that no longer exists.

It's non-fiction and thus completely episodic, but the picture of day to day life on board sailing vessel designed to carry thousands of tons of freight is really compelling. At its heart, it is a delightful coming of age story, but the details of life on board a ship that uses only the wind to propel her from England to Australia and back are magnetic in their attraction to my need for true adventure stories. It is a little like Melville in its detailed descriptions of the drudgery and joy of being an able seaman on a sailing ship. I loved it.

This is historically a special story

Arrivato puntualmente, è un ottimo libro autobiografico..I marinai di quei tempi non erano uomini di lettere e la maggior parte di essi ci ha lasciato solo uno scarno Giornale di Bordo. Eric Newby (come Richard H. Dana - Two Years before the Mast - e pochi altri) era uno che sapeva scivere e che ci ha lasciato una testimonianza preziosa. Un libro che ho già consigliato a molti amici "marinai".

A fascinating look into a dying world. This was a side of Eric Newby I didn’t know about. Who would have thought he was as hard as nails?