Throughout the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, the Royal Navy had a peculiar problem: it had too many talented and ambitious officers, all competing for a limited number of command positions. Given this surplus, we might expect that a major physical impairment would automatically disqualify an officer from consideration. To the contrary, after the loss of a limb, at least twenty-six such officers reached the rank of commander or higher through continued service. Losing a limb in battle often became a mark of honor, one that a hero and his friends could use to increase his chances of winning further employment at sea. Lame Captains and Left-Handed Admirals focuses on the lives and careers of four particularly distinguished officers who returned to sea and continued to fight and win battles after losing an arm or a leg: the famous admiral Lord Horatio Nelson, who fought all of his most historically significant battles after he lost his right arm and the sight in one eye, and his lesser-known fellow amputee admirals, Sir Michael Seymour, Sir Watkin Owen Pell, and Sir James Alexander Gordon. Their stories shed invaluable light on the historical effects of physical impairment and this underexamined aspect of maritime history.

The history of New York City is written in its streets; uncover it with "Chronicles of Old New York" from Museyon Guides. Discover 400 years of innovation through the true stories of the visionaries, risk-takers, dreamers, and schemers who built Manhattan. Witness life during the citys earliest days, when Greenwich Village was a bucolic suburb and disease was a fact of daily life. Find out which park covers a sea of unmarked graves. Explore the citys dark side, from the slums of Five Points to Harlems Prohibition-era speakeasies. Then see it all for yourself with guided walking tours of each of Manhattans historic neighborhoods, illustrated with color photographs and period maps.

An indepth look at Joseph Cowen--newspaper magnate, radical activist, and member of parliament for the Liberal party--this compilation brings together ethnic and urban studies, and considers the role of the press in building a radical power base. During his political career, Cowen drew upon a coalition of support from working-class associations, the Irish community, and regional interest groups, and this study of his life describes how he remarkably championed the cause of the underdog.