Rope by Tim Queeney Book Review

About the Book:

Tim Queeney is a sailor who knows more about rope and its importance to humankind than most. In Rope, Queeney takes readers on a ride through the history of rope and the way it weaves itself through the story of civilization. From Magellan’s world-circling ships, to the 15th-century fleet of Admiral Zheng He, to Polynesian multihulls with crab claw sails, he shows how without rope, none of their adventurous voyages and discoveries would have been possible. Time traveling, he describes the building of the pyramids, the Roman Coliseum, Hagia Sofia, Notre Dame, the Sultan Hasan Mosque, the Brooklyn Bridge, and countless other constructions that would not have been possible without rope.

Not content to just look at rope’s past, Queeney looks at its present and possible future and how the re-invention of rope with synthetic fibers will likely provide the strength for cables to support elevators into space. Making the story of rope real for readers, Queeney tells remarkable nautical stories of his own reliance on rope at sea. Rope is history, adventure, and the story of one of the world’s most common tools that has made it possible for humans to advance throughout the centuries.

My Review:

I had no idea a book about rope could be so interesting. Queeney covers so many aspects of rope I had never thought about, starting with the archaeological discovers indicating the first use of rope and how the strands are twisted together. I had never given thought how various cultures would use different materials to make rope. He writes of the uses of rope, from belts holding clothing to its probable use building pyramids and Stonehenge and, of course, in boating. And then there are the knots.

One can tell a great deal of research has gone into this book but it reads very well. Queeney includes such interesting stories about the use of rope, even in the religious world and mythology. And then there are also the deadly uses of rope.

Queeney has taken what could be a very dry subject and made it quite an interesting one.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

About the Author:

Tim Queeney is the former editor of Ocean Navigator, a magazine for offshore voyagers. Tim's work has appeared in Professional Mariner, American History, and Aviation History magazines. He has had short stories published in the crime anthology Landfall, Best New England Crime Stories 2018 and in the speculative fiction anthology A Land Without Mirrors. Tim lives in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, with his wife and a rescue dog, Frankie. A life-long sailor, he has taught celestial navigation, radar navigation and coastal piloting ashore and at sea — where he tied plenty of knots and handled many a rope.

St Martin's Press, 336 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent review.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)