|
Books > Sport & Leisure > Transport: general interest > Ships & shipping: general interest > General
Founded in 1838 in Liverpool, the Pacific Steam Navigation Company
was the first to operate steamships in the Pacific and primarily
traded from the UK to the Pacific coasts of South America. Its most
famous ships included the Reina del Pacifico and the Reina del Mar.
With a line of notable firsts to its name, the Pacific Steam
Navigation Company name had disappeared by 1984, part of the
rationalization of Furness Withy Group. In 1990, Furness Withy
itself was sold to Hamburg Sud, another line which had operated on
the South Atlantic and Pacific routes. Many in Liverpool and in
South and Central America, from Panama to Tierra del Fuego have
fond memories of the Pacific Steam Navigation Company and this
history and fleet list will bring back memories of those vessels of
the line, both deep sea and coastal, which once operated on the
South American run.
'It would make the stones cry to hear those on board shrieking' -
Daniel Buckley, third-class passenger For the first time, in this
moving new book, Titanic's passengers and crewmen are permitted to
tell the story of that lamentable disaster entirely in their own
words. Included are letters, postcards, diary entries and memoirs
that were written before, during and immediately after the maiden
voyage itself. Many of the pre-sailing documents were composed by
people who later lost their lives in the sinking and represent the
last communications that these people ever had with their friends
and loved ones at home. The subsequent letters and postcards give
an unparalleled description of the events that occurred during the
five days that Titanic was at sea, and the correspondence by
survivors after the tragedy describes the horror of the disaster
itself and the heartbreak they experienced at the loss of those
they loved. This poignant compilation, by Titanic expert George
Behe, also contains brief biographies of the passengers and
crewmen, victims, as well as survivors, who wrote the documents in
question.
This is the story of Privateer, a traditional old gaffer built in
the 1940s as a fishing smack and converted in the boatyard in
Boston.
Insurance investigator Brent Calloway may be too hard-boiled to
crack a smile, but he'll go to any length to crack a case. As
tough, terse and tireless as insurance man Edward G. Robinson in
Double Indemnity, Calloway's about to go to extremes to see to it
that one ship makes it safely from Hawaii to the mainland. Going
undercover and posing as ruthless killer Spike O'Brien, Calloway
quickly discovers that on this ship nothing is what it seems, and
no one can be trusted. With so much insurance money at stake, and
the whole crew apparently in on the scam, this could end up being a
voyage to the bottom of the sea.... And when the real Spike O'Brien
shows up, it's Calloway who'll need a good insurance policy.
Because life is cheap when the stakes are so high-on a ship of lies
bearing a False Cargo. A veteran sailor who had voyaged long and
far, L. Ron Hubbard knew well the life at sea. He once wrote in his
journal: "There is something magnificently terrible about a savage
sea in the unwholesome green of half-dawn.... The ship is an
unreal, fragile thing, full of strange groans, and engine and sails
are dwarfed in their puny power when matched to all the countless
horsepower in wave and wind and current. The whole world is an
awesome threat. Alone, wet, hungry, hand cramped upon a tiller, a
sailor knows more truth in those hours than all mankind in his
millions of years." Also includes the sea adventure "Grounded", in
which a Royal Air Force lieutenant loses a friend and tarnishes his
reputation, and sets out in search of redemption ... no matter the
price.
It is hard to think of the passenger liners from the golden era of
Mediterranean cruising without also conjuring the nostalgic,
dream-like vision of azure-blue waters, bright sunshine and
swimming pools with clusters of umbrellas and sunbathing
passengers. The great age of Mediterranean passenger liners began
in the 1920s when the Italians built their first big ships, such as
the Augustus, Saturnia and Conte Grande. In the 1930s, things got
really interesting with the creation of the superliners Rex and
Conte di Savoia. In the 1950s and '60s, as Italy built a huge
post-war fleet, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Turkey and Israel
commissioned their biggest ships yet. William Miller has written
ninety books on passenger ships and is an acknowledged world expert
in his field. Full of colour and the first-hand memories of
passengers and crew, this endearing reflection on the majestic
world of Mediterranean travel cannot be missed. Quick, the whistles
are sounding!
This book presents a revealing look at our 100-year fascination
with the Titanic disaster and the various media that have been
involved in reporting, preserving, and immortalizing the event. The
Titanic's fate is still very much in our collective consciousness.
A catastrophe that was unimaginable at the time, now 100 years
later it continues to provide lessons that we have not yet fully
absorbed. And the debate continues regarding how the loss of life
might have been averted-could, for example, the nearby ship,
Californian, have rescued everyone on board Titanic? The book
examines the relationship between a momentous historical event, the
media that have been involved in reporting and re-presenting it,
and the subsequent transformation of the disaster into an enduring
myth in contemporary popular culture. The book will also show how
the sinking of the Titanic helped make Guglielmo Marconi a
household name; set David Sarnoff on the path that led to his
becoming head of RCA; raised the stature of The New York Times to
the eminence it has today; and helped give film director James
Cameron his current notoriety and influence. Illustrated with
photographs, a painting, and a movie poster A comprehensive
bibliography organized according to each of the three parts of the
book A comprehensive index of subjects and names Appendices of
several songs and poems pertaining to the Titanic
Frank Laskier was born 1912 and lived his early years in the
suburbs of Liverpool. As a teenager, Frank was an avid reader of
Conrad and Masefield and had a romantic view of the "call of the
sea". One day he decided to lie about his age and run away from
home aboard a ship destined for Australia. Laskier worked on many
ships in the merchant navy and it was his experiences during the
Second World War that brought him to the attention of the BBC.
Frank was asked to broadcast a number of talks on his experiences.
This book is a transcript of those radio talks first published in
1941. Through this authentic voice of an ordinary man - not a
historian, or a politician, or a great admiral - but an ordinary
man, we can be reminded of the importance, bravery and sacrifice of
the merchant navy in keeping Britain supplied during the Second
World War. From the 1941 cover: 'We are proud to announce this book
by Frank Laskier, "a sailor, an Englishman," the merchant seaman
who gave the ever-memorable postscript after the BBC news on the
first Sunday in October. The millions of listeners who heard that
deeply moving voice will welcome an opportunity to read many more
stories of the war at sea, which Laskier tells with the
incomparable vividness of simple truth, and which made him a great
broadcast speaker overnight. Laskier sounds, too, the note of
victory that will bring a universal response-"Remember what we have
been through; remember what we're going through; and fight and
fight, and never, never, never, give in!" ' The publisher of this
new edition has included an introduction and explanatory footnotes,
as well as an appendix listing the ships mentioned in the book
along with their descriptions.
|
You may like...
Titanic
Stuart Robertson
Hardcover
R307
R206
Discovery Miles 2 060
|