'The author brilliantly proves his thesis. He sets the Bounty not only in it's natural environment, the sea and already well researched, but he adds it's place in the social world as it was at the time in England and Tahiti ... This is a book of scholarship which I most strongly recommend to those interested in human relationships and the effect of the environment on these very fragile flowers.' Rear Admiral Peter Dingeman, Nautical Books Review
'Greg Dening treats his subject with scholarly thoroughness, presenting the data of the mutiny on the 'Bounty' against a clearly etched background of contemporary maritime conditions, the harsh realities of life at sea and the extensive mythology that the event has engendered, not least in the romantic films that have distorted the truth in favour of dramatic impression.' The Keswick Reminder
'He uses the career of Captain Bligh to brilliant effect as a parable about power, symbol-making, the working of history ... This is a densely written work, scrupulous in its scholarship, absorbing in its detail and narrative scope.' Daily Telegraph
' ... a powerful new account of an event that has, over two centuries, helped to define our modern understandings of tyranny and resistance ... imaginative and learned, engaging and entertaining, much to be enjoyed by anyone interested in society and culture of wooden ships and iron men.' Marcus Rediker, Georgetown University
' ... succeeds in providing new insight ... Dening picks at the bare bones of the Fletcher Christian versus William Bligh story to reconstruct a breathing body.' New Statesman and Society
"...after only a short time with Mr. Bligh's Bad Language, readers will recognize that this is a truly major historical work that transcends Bligh and the BountyI voyage to confront much broader historical questioins involving analysis, interpretation, and research." The Northern Mariner
"As a stunningly original meditation on the illusions of power and possession, Dening's study raises profound questions concerning the lessons of history and the uses of the past." Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
"...works through the layers of myth and misrepresentation which rapidly gathered around Bligh following the mutiny, discussing the concerns people brought to this incident...All this makes fascinating reading and it is backed by exquisitely detailed research...Dening's discussion of others' works that bear on the actualities of seafaring and the attitudes of succeeding ages is alone worth the price of admission." Sea History
"[Dening] has written a classic, an absorbing book likely long to remain the definitive analysis of the mutiny." Times Literary Supplement
"Mutiny on the Bounty" summons to the popular mind images of violence and power on the high seas. Dening restores a sense of perspective in this fascinating study of the Bounty through images of space, language, and ceremony in Britain's Royal Navy of the late 18th century....Dening provides excellent details of the daily life of seamen and officers from the perspectives of history and anthropology." Library Journal
"Mr. Bligh's Bad Language is quirky; Dening casts a net so wide one never knows what he'll bring up next...On the other hand, the omnivorous approach also produces countless insights, provocative evaluations and fresh relationships, and is a genuine contribution to the literature of the subject." Boston Globe
"Greg Dening has produced a powerful new account of an event that has, over two centuries, helped to define our modern understandings of tyranny and resistance. His tale about Bligh and the mutineers is imaginative and learned, engaging and entertaining, much to be enjoyed by anyone interested in the society and culture of wooden ships and iron men." Marcus Rediker, Georgetown University
"A learned, humane, provocative 'creative reading' of mutiny on the Bounty--the events; their meaning and representation in native lore, British life, the theater, and cinema; and their historical value. An engaging style and familiarity with political, naval, theater and film history, with anthropology, and with thinkers such as Foucault, Barthes, and Levi-Strauss enrich this 'celebratory narrative,' as Dening calls it. A fascinating, essential chapter in the history of the Bounty." Kirkus Reviews
"This is a post-Simon Schama history, told with the ambiguities of cultural analysis, and the excitements of fiction." The Observer
"...one of the very best Bounty books..." Christina Thompson, Globe
