Rope hits No. 1 Best Seller But Needs its Own Category

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 Rocks a Rope Dress!

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

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Can You Edit a Stone Plaque?

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

Rope talk on the GarageLogic podcast

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. 

NY Times Reviews Rope

Times reviewer Sam Kean asks if rope has the heft to be a main character in history (of course, the answer is yes!) And he points out a key aspect of the rope story.

“Like all good books about technology, then, ‘Rope’ is ultimately about human beings at their best and worst.”

Read the full review here.

 

 

The Wall Street Journal weighs in on Rope

The WSJ reviewed Rope in its Aug. 9 – 10 weekend edition. Reviewer Bill Heavey, an editor at large at Field & Stream magazine, wrote that the time has come for rope to get its due as one of humanity’s greatest inventions.

“Tim Queeney makes the case for cordage, and as you read his book you may find yourself thinking that it’s about damn time.”

A perceptive take from Heavey that I have to agree with!

How Did Britain Rule The Seas?

Why was Britain so dominant at sea for centuries? They had great rope, of course! Amazingly, traditional rope is still made at the 1,200-foot long ropewalk at Historic Chatham Dockyard in England. Read about how rope enabled the British to rule the waves in my piece from the UK Daily Express.