In case you haven't read the new book by Greenburg(?), it is well worth it and of course it is certainly appropriate considering the subject of this forum. She also wrote "The Endurance" about Shackelton. My take on the entire subject of the mutiny boils down to these points. 1. The English Navy was in some considerable state of ferment concerning the use of the lash. There having been several other mutinies just prior to the Bounty incident. 2. That most of what has been in the various movies is so far from reality as to be mostly irrelevant. 3. That Fletcher Christian was most likely drunk at about the time of the taking of the ship and the mutiny might never have occurred but for that. He had shipped out with Capt. Bligh before and they were generally considered to be on good terms with each other. 4. The Bounty was too small and shorthanded for the project engaged in. The ship was only about 90 feet in length. When a second voyage was arranged, the shortcomings of the original ship were rectified. That Bligh was the only commissioned officer aboard and had NO one to rely on who was. Too many of the men aboard had too many assigned duties. For instance, Bligh was also the pursor, and nearly everybody aboard had a second duty. That none of these situations had been chosen, but had happened by circumstances. That the Admiralty did not consider this mission to be of sufficient importance or complexity to pay adequate attention to the preparations and planning. 5. The Bounty was delayed for weeks by Admiralty inattention such that when it arrived at Cape Horn the bad weather had set in. This resulted in a 10,000 mile detour which Bligh had warned about repeatedly, before departure. 6. When Cook, Bligh's predecessor had made his voyages he always had a small complement of marines for his protection and to enforce his orders. Bligh was denied this and added to the lack of another commissioned officer his entire status of Commander was undermined. 7. Bligh was a consummate navigator and was not lacking in skills generally. His attention to cleanliness of the ship bordered on the fastidious and was probably justifiable, but may have contributed to the mutiny. 8. The record indicates that Bligh was opposed to the use of the lash, not out of squeamishness, but simply as a matter of good order, which he felt tended to be undermined to some extent by any use. 9. That Bligh was placed in the most awkward position of not having sufficient funds to mount the voyage in a proper manner and that played havoc with everything from food to equipment. 10. The mutiny seems to have been pre planned at least to the extent it had been discussed sometime shortly after leaving Tahiti, bound for home. 11. That jockeying by the families involved to protect family names and politics played a central role in the myth that became the Bounty Legend. Mike Capt. Mike Maurice Tualatin(Portland), Oregon