While watching Ken Burns’ documentary on the American Revolution, I was struck by the parallels (at least in kind, if not in scope) between the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) from the beaches of Dunkirk early in the Second World War and the escape of American troops from Brooklyn Heights after the disastrous battle of Long Island in August 1776. You might call the Brooklyn Heights evacuation “Little Dunkirk.”
As the former editor of Ocean Navigator magazine I was lucky that in the early days of ON our publisher Greg Walsh set up an exchange agreement with Sea History magazine, the journal of the National Maritime Historical Society. The Sea History people received every issue of ON and vice versa (back when magazines were printed on paper and arrived in the mail — yes, that was a thing!). Later, Alex Agnew took over as ON publisher and he continued the agreement.
For a maritime history fan like myself, it was a great setup (I could read SH during work hours for, you know, research). I absorbed a great deal from those issues — some of which is reflected in my book Rope. And so to see a review of Rope in Sea History‘s pages is especially gratifying. A hearty thanks to all the editors and staff of SH, both today and down through the years!
I’m honored to have my book Rope – How a Bundle of Twisted Fibers Became the Backbone of Civilization included in Library Journal‘s Stellar Selections | Best Books 2025 list.
Reading is cool – Librarians rule!
Courtesy Zipline
For years tech companies have been threatening us with drone delivery of online orders. Along those lines a company named Zipline has been promoting its drone delivery system that lowers a module on a rope to your door. Rope (in this case wire rope) once again proves its importance — only now it’s to make sure you get your stuff in minutes instead having to wait, like, a whole day.
The mid-1500s in France was a great time to own a rope making business. Rope was used for a wide variety of tasks in everyday life, in agriculture and in the steadily expanding market for rope in the maritime world. In Lyons at this time there was a ropemaker named Pierre Charly who had built up a large and successful rope making operation. Charly he had a daughter named Louise who was such a gifted poet that she was able to overcome patriarchal restrictions against women and be acknowledged as a first-rate literary talent. She was dubbed “La Belle Cordière” or “The Fair Ropemaker” (this nick name was based on her father’s occupation — she seems to have had not a bit of interest in rope making herself!).
Muhammad Ali and George Foreman met in the boxing ring in Kinshasa, Zaire* in October 1974 for the epic fight known as “The Rumble in the Jungle” and rope played a prominent role (obviously)! When it was over the result of the bout (a stunning Ali victory) shared top billing with a phrase that arose from the rumble: “rope-a-dope.”
Reporting on the fight by novelist and fight fan Norman Mailer suggested that the “rope-a-dope” technique was aided by some pre-fight equipment adjustments by Ali’s trainer Angelo Dundee — an accusation that Dundee denied for decades.
Amazon has a slew of book SKUs (SKU stands for stock keeping unit). And it’s very cool that Rope has hit Number 1 Best Seller in the History of Technology category. Which is a pretty good description of what the book is all about.
But don’t forget the exciting, intriguing and even harrowing stories that start each chapter. Like the story of fisherman Howard Blackburn who with his dory mate got lost after setting a rope trawl off Newfoundland in the winter of 1883. What happened after that was a classic story of survival.
Maybe Rope should have its own category: “History of Technology and Cool Stories.”
Taylor Swift definitely grasps the significance of rope! As a promo shot for her “The Life of A Showgirl” album, she recently posed backstage at a Broadway theater in a dress made of nothing but three-strand rope!
In the history of the American theater, those venues that used hemp rope for their backstage lifting lines were known as “hemp houses.” It’s only recently that the last hemp houses were
This stone plaque at Castle Island in Boston gives you plenty of superlatives about the sailing ship Great Republic built on the site in 1853. It leaves out, however, the most important element: howz about all the rope needed to sail a ship like that? It needed lots! More about all the areas that rope was vital is told in my book Rope. Plus, some great human stories too! #ropebook
Had a great time talking with host Tommy Mischke on the GarageLogic podcast. We talked about how sailing even a small boat can be challenging, I confessed that my family wasn’t much on fishing (to Tommy’s horror!) and, of course, we talked about my book Rope!
Check out the podcast here or wherever you listen to your podcasts.