Reviewed by Captain Robin C. Bruce
Late in 2012, Brigadier General Peter A. (Duke) Deluca, commandant of the U.S. Army Engineer School, approved his
"Engineer Commandant's Reading List" as a program to promote professional development. The list includes a variety of
books on history, politics, and culture that are appropriate for Soldiers and civilians in the Engineer Regiment. This book
review section will be a feature in each issue of Engineer. Authors will summarize the content of the books on the reading
list, and they will point out the key lessons to be learned from those books. Readers who wish to read a book and submit a
review should contact Mr. Vincent Hodge, Engineer School historian, at . The reading list is
located at .
overindulgent and let him conduct himself as he pleased.
His mother, hoping that an education in Europe would help
tame the unmanageable youth, sets sail with Harvey for
London. Harvey makes such a nuisance of himself to the
other passengers that the older men invite him to share a
potent cigar, knowing that it will make him ill and rid them
of his presence. The cigar amplifes Harvey's seasickness to
the point that he faints at the railing and rolls overboard
into a heavy fog.
Captains Courageous, by Rudyard Kipling, Dover Publications, 1999, ISBN-10: 0-486-40786-1/ISBN-13: 978-1-59194084-5
Captains Courageous is a classic, coming-of-age story
set in the 19th century, when railroads were still forging
paths across the United States and steamships had not
yet replaced large sailing ships. The story follows Harvey,
the spoiled only son of a millionaire railroad tycoon, as his
life is irrevocably changed when he falls overboard from a
transatlantic steamer en route to London and is rescued by
a fshing boat. The trials Harvey faces and the obstacles he
overcomes while aboard the ship shape him into a different person, much as military training changes those who
undergo it.
Harvey grew up neglected by a busy father and fussed
over by a nervous, weak-willed mother, both of whom were
34 Engineer
Luckily for the semiconscious Harvey, he is immediately
dragged out of the water by a man in a fshing dory and
brought aboard the fshing schooner We're Here, owned by
Captain Disko Troop. Waking up in this strange environment, Harvey demands to be returned to New York, only
to fnd that the ship is on its way to the Outer Banks for
the summer fshing season. Captain Troop refuses to believe
Harvey's fantastical tale of how much money his father has,
thinking that the boy had hit his head during his fall and
gone slightly mad. Captain Troop puts Harvey to work as
a ship's boy to earn his keep for the summer with a wage
of $10.50 a month (this for a boy accustomed to having
$200 a month for pocket money). Harvey tries to argue
with the Captain and force him to turn around, but quickly
realizes that he can't bully anyone aboard to do what he
wants. Harvey is incredulous, but sees that only Dan, the
captain's son and fellow ship's boy, believes his story of being a
millionaire's son.
Having never before worked a day in his life, Harvey is
determined to prove himself as a worthy shipmate and starts
learning how to work and live aboard the ship. During his
frst shift on watch, he is impressed with the importance of
the watchman's responsibilities. He learns to listen to orders
without question and to promptly obey them. He stumbles
through his early education on his duties and the workings
of the ship, but grows more accustomed to the lifestyle and
graduates to learning navigation and keeping the tally book.
He develops physical strength and agility and overcomes
personal fear to climb into the crow's nest to act as a lookout.
May–August 2013