I must congratulate Maurice Bligh for his perseverance and determination. Self-publishing on Amazon can be a difficult process, yet it is made out by some people to be simple. People have written books about how easy it is, and how you can earn a good living by self-publishing an eBook. I know from my own experience that it is far from simple (and I have certainly not earned a fortune). I have corresponded with Maurice many times about self-publishing and I know that he has had a great many hurdles to leap, so many in fact that he nearly abandoned the idea of publishing his book altogether. I persuaded him to keep trying, and I am very glad that I did. This book represents Maurice’s life’s work, his determination to get the facts about his famous ancestor into the public domain and counter the many lies that have been told by feature film script writers and authors who did not check the history books before telling their own stories of the so-called tyrant William Bligh.

In his Foreword, Maurice writes, “when my great-great-great grandfather died two centuries ago, he was a British national hero. He was known and acquainted with the top men of his society including royalty. He had fought bravely in the battles of his Country and had been awarded medals for his achievements.” He goes on to say that “books and movies are still generating much hatred and prejudice against him, (or the person they think he was). This is why the true, true story needs to be re-told in chronological order to blow the mythology. And why for half-a-century I’ve been researching the archives and with much sojourning in the South Seas. … Hopefully Vice-Admiral William Bligh, RN, FRS, will regain his rightful place in annals of maritime adventure.”

If, like me, you first became interested in Pitcairn Island and the story of the Bounty, you really should read Maurice Bligh’s book, and not think that you know William Bligh as he has been portrayed by various actors. That William Bligh is a fictional character, set up to be hated rather like a pantomime villain who is hissed at when he walks on stage. The real William Bligh was a skilled and tolerant man. He did have his faults, but then who doesn’t?

David Ransom