Completely Mad, James R. Hansen
Completely Mad, James R. Hansen
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.49

Completely Mad
Tom McClean, John Fairfax, and the Epic Race to Row Solo Across the Atlantic

Author: James R. Hansen

Narrator: Mitch Crawford

Unabridged: 14 hr 50 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 06/18/2024


Synopsis

From the New York Times bestselling author of First Man comes a sweeping saga involving two extraordinary—and extraordinarily different—adventurers who have only one thing in common: the ambition to cross the Atlantic in a rowboat . . . alone.

The two men couldn't have been more different. John Fairfax was a playboy, gambler, gun smuggler, and ex-pirate who blamed his boat often, and who brazenly took time off from his goal of reaching America to hop aboard large ships for a drink, a shower, and good food. He courted the press like a modern-day Richard Branson or Elon Musk.

The egoless Tom McClean was an orphan with a tough, Dickensian childhood, who ran off to become a British paratrooper and later joined the SAS (his training rivaled the US Navy Seals). Tom was a purist who loved his boat Silver and never once took time off from rowing to sun himself on a remote beach or jump aboard a cruise ship.

With gripping and insightful prose, James R. Hansen brings to life Fairfax and McClean's expeditions, from their battle with the elements to their own inner demons. Completely Mad is a nail-biting, epic tale of endurance, and listeners will be gripped until the end to find out who won.

About James R. Hansen

James R. Hansen is professor emeritus of history at Auburn University. A former historian for NASA, Hansen is the author of fourteen books involving air and space and exploration. His 2005 book First Man, the only authorized biography of Neil Armstrong, has on two separate occasions appeared on the New York Times bestseller list and has been translated into two dozen languages. In 1995 NASA nominated his book Spaceflight Revolution for a Pulitzer Prize, the only time the US space agency has ever made such a nomination. His 2009 book, Truth, Lies, and O-Rings: Inside the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster, has been called by reviewers "the definitive study" of the Challenger accident. He lives in Birmingham, Alabama.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Bruce on September 05, 2023

I was completely absorbed in the re-telling of this historic feat in 1969. Using the rowers' autobiographies and interviews, Hansen does a great job bringing the reader right into the cramped, lonely, and dangerous dinghies, but more than that, his research uncovers two quite different and equally f......more

Goodreads review by Morgan on July 22, 2023

Chapter 5 is totally irrelevant Ponderous Downright blather Just tell us about the story while at sea Don’t need the rowers childhood history Ugh……........more

Goodreads review by Dan on October 16, 2024

From time to time, we all have picked up a book that sounded interesting only to be disappointed because the title didn’t reflect the content. That’s not the case in this book. “Completely Mad” accurately reflects two men whose ambition is to row alone across the Atlantic Ocean. James Hansen does an......more

Goodreads review by Taylor on September 16, 2024

This was an interesting story and I generally like books that follow 2 stories simultaneously. There were some challenges for me though. First off, please don’t repeat the same phrase multiple times. Tom’s rations contained “all the calories a hardworking man needs in a day” might be accurate, but i......more

Goodreads review by Ddoddmccue on November 24, 2023

Yes, they were completely mad! A tale of man against nature, the many faces of the sea, and two wildly contrasting explorers, not the least the courses they embraced in solo rowing across the Atlantic. East-to-West rower Fairfax, a lifelong self-promoter and gambler, thriving in the limelight (and on......more