There is not a statue of Zachariah Charles Pearson (1821-1891), twice Mayor of Hull, on the land he gifted to the City for its first public park. Why not? Here the great-great-granddaughter of the Victorian philanthropist builds a life-story from a fascinating mix of family and local folk-lore and photographs, genealogical research, and the resources of local, national and international archives - as well as travel to the United States and long journeys online. Thousands of pieces of jigsaw spread out on the table are brought together to make up a picture of Zachariah's life as he built up his business from humble beginnings and rose to fame, fortune, and philanthropy. By the age of 21 he was captain of 'the finest ship then sailing out of Hull'. Within the next three years he was married and the owner of his own vessel - a young entrepreneur expanding his trading routes and establishing his businesses around the world, ready to turn events to the advantage of his family and the development of his city. What could go wrong? As the book reveals, dramatic world events, bad luck and poor judgement were to bring prolonged financial and social disaster.In his later years, when rebuilding his public presence in Hull, Zachariah certainly maintained a lower profile than his previous flamboyance. A fascinating slice of the history and life of nineteenth-century Hull.

This book thoroughly explores and analyses naval policy during the period of austerity that followed the First World War. During this post-war period, as the Royal Navy identified Japan its likely opponent in a future naval war, the British Government was forced to "tighten its belt" and cut back on naval expenditure in the interests of "National Economy". G.H. Bennett draws connections between the early 20th century and the present day, showing how the same kind of connections exist between naval and foreign policy, the provision of ships for the Royal Navy, business and regional prosperity and employment. The Royal Navy in the Age of Austerity 1919-22 engages with a series of important historiographical debates relating to the history of the Royal Navy, the failures of British Defence policy in the inter-war period and the evolution of British foreign policy after 1919, together with more mundane debates about British economic, industrial, social and political history in the aftermath of the First World War. It will be of great interest to scholars and students of British naval history.

An interesting and insightful book exploring the author's efforts to follow in his father's footsteps and succeed in the tumultuous fishing industry. The reader is invited to experience the author's life as a Hull trawlerman; from his first trip out as a teenager, to achieving the highest rank of skipper. The intense highs and lows in between are relayed in great detail, with photographs adding to the reading pleasure. This is a story of hard work, courage, and the importance of following your heart. The author's infinite love for his family and high regard for his shipmates add a touching element to the book.

*Shortlisted for the 2019 Mountbatten Award* "We went up on deck and were looking around when the awful crash came. The ship listed so much that we all scrambled down the deck and for a moment everything was in confusion. When I came to myself again I glanced around but could find no trace of Mr Prichard. He seemed to have disappeared." - Grace French The sinking of the Lusitania is an event that has been predominantly discussed from a political or maritime perspective. For the first time, The Lusitania Sinking tells the story in the emotive framework of a family looking for information on their son's death. On 1 May 1915, the 29-year-old student Preston Prichard embarked as a Second Class passenger on the Lusitania, bound from New York for Liverpool. By 2pm on the afternoon of 7 May, the liner was approaching the coast of Ireland when she was sighted by the German submarine U-20\. A single torpedo caused a massive explosion in the Lusitania's hold, and the ship began sank rapidly. Within 20 minutes she disappeared and 1,198 men, women and children, including Preston, died. Uncertain of Preston's fate, his family leaped into action. His brother Mostyn, who lived in Ramsgate, travelled to Queenstown to search morgues but could find nothing. Preston's mother wrote hundreds of letters to survivors to find out more about what might have happened in his last moments. The Lusitania Sinking compiles the responses received. Perhaps sensing his fate, Prichard had put his papers in order before embarking and told a fellow student where to find his will if anything happened to him. During the voyage, he was often seen in the company of Grace French, quoted above. Alice Middleton, who had a crush on him but was too shy to speak to him throughout the entire voyage, remembered that he helped her in reaching the upper decks during the last moments of the sinking: "[The Lusitania] exploded and down came her funnels, so over I jumped. I had a terrible time in the water, 41/2 hours bashing about among the wreckage and dead bodies... It was 10.30 before they landed me at the hospital in an unconscious condition. In fact, they piled me with a boat full of dead and it was only when they were carrying the dead bodies to the Mortuary that they discovered there was still life in me."

In 1789, as the Bounty made its return voyage through the western Pacific Ocean, disgruntled crewmen seized control from their captain, William Bligh. The mutineers set Bligh and the eighteen men who remained loyal to him adrift in one of the ship's boats, with minimal food and only four cutlasses for weapons.In the two centuries since, the mutiny and its aftermath have become the stuff of legend. Millions of words have been written about it; it has been the subject of novels, plays, feature films and documentaries. The story's two protagonists - Bligh and his mutinous deputy, Fletcher Christian - are cast as villain and hero, but which is which depends on which account you read.In Mutiny, Mayhem, Mythology, Alan Frost looks past these inherited narratives to shed new light on the infamous expedition and its significance. Returning to the very first accounts of the mutiny, he shows how gaps, misconceptions and hidden agendas crept into the historical record and have shaped it ever since.

Shrouded by myth and hidden by Hollywood, the real pirates of the Caribbean come to life in this collection of essays edited by David Head. Twelve scholars of piracy show why pirates thrived in the New World seas of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century empires, how pirates operated their plundering ventures, how governments battled piracy, and when and why piracy declined. The essays presented take the study of piracy, which can easily lapse into rousing, romanticized stories, to new heights of rigor and insight. The Golden Age of Piracy also delves into the enduring status of pirates as pop culture icons. Audiences have devoured stories about cutthroats such as Blackbeard and Henry Morgan from the time that pirates sailed the sea. By looking at the ideas of gender and sexuality surrounding pirate stories, the fad for hunting pirate treasure, and the construction of pirate myths, the book's contributors tell a new story about the dangerous men, and a few dangerous women, who terrorized the high seas.

This book provides a thoroughly researched biography of the naval career of Matthew Flinders, with particular emphasis on his importance for the maritime discovery of Australia. Sailing in the wake of the 18th-century voyages of exploration by Captain Cook and others, Flinders was the first naval commander to circumnavigate Australia's coastline. He contributed more to the mapping and naming of places in Australia than virtually any other single person. His voyage to Australia on H.M.S. Investigator expanded the scope of imperial, geographical and scientific knowledge. This biography places Flinders's career within the context of Pacific exploration and the early white settlement of Australia. Flinders's connections with other explorers, his use of patronage, the dissemination of his findings, and his posthumous reputation are also discussed in what is an important new scholarly work in the field.