Did I want a detailed description of apparently civilised human beings behaving like savages when faced with situations that threaten their survival?
Did I want a professional analysis of what causes these human beings to resort to murder, cannibalism, and just about any ghastly example of man's inhumanity, prior to my bedtime?
Did I care if the authors had something important to say about humankind that applies to the here and now?
Using William Golding's Lord of the Flies as a template, Learmonth and Tabakoff examine 23 examples between 134BC and 2010AD of human decisions (or simply bad luck) that resulted in dire consequences for the men, women and children involved.
In the process, the authors explore themes such as what does being ''civilised'' mean when faced with kill or be killed survival situations?
Thus they reveal a succession of home truths: the belief that one's group would remain civil simply because they are civilised is completely false, as is an assumption of racial superiority and ignoring practices of indigenous people that would have meant survival.
Example: members of a group of explorers lost in Canada's Arctic Circle who adopted the clothing, diet and shelters of the Inuit people survived, while their associates perished; and the ultimate question: ''If a dysfunctional stranded group fails to be rescued, is annihilation inevitable?''
The closest-to-home examples the authors deal with is the separate wrecks (five months apart) of the Invercauld and the Grafton on the Auckland Islands in 1864. The survivors of the latter constructed a boat from the wreckage of their vessel and paddled 400km to Stewart Island. The crew of the Invercauld weren't so fortunate.
If a ship's crew throwing women and children overboard from a lifeboat sounds like your cup of tea, you'll enjoy No Mercy.
- Ian Williams is a Dunedin writer and composer.
