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Books > Humanities > History > History of specific subjects > Maritime history
If you centre a globe on Kiritimati (Christmas Island), all you see
around it is a vast expanse of ocean. Islands of various sizes
float in view while glimpses of continents encroach on the fringes,
but this is a view dominated by water. The immense stretch of the
Pacific Ocean is inhabited by a diverse array of peoples and
cultures bound by a common thread: their relationship with the sea.
The rich history of the Pacific is explored through specific
objects, each one beautifully illustrated, from the earliest human
engagement with the Pacific through to the modern day. With entries
covering mapping, trade, whaling, flora and fauna, and the myriad
vessels used to traverse the ocean, Pacific builds on recent
interest in the voyages of James Cook to tell a broader history.
This visually stunning publication highlights the importance of an
ocean that covers very nearly a third of the surface of the globe,
and which has dramatically shaped the world and people around it.
This comprehensive overview traces the evolution of modern Mozambique, from its early modern origins in the Indian Ocean trading system and the Portuguese maritime empire to the fifteen-year civil war that followed independence and its continued after-effects.
Though peace was achieved in 1992 through international mediation, Mozambique's remarkable recovery has shown signs of stalling. Malyn Newitt explores the historical roots of Mozambican disunity and hampered development, beginning with the divisive effects of the slave trade, the drawing of colonial frontiers in the 1890s and the lasting particularities of the north, centre and south, inherited from the compartmentalised approach of concession companies. Following the nationalist guerrillas' victory against the Portuguese in 1975, these regional divisions resurfaced in a civil war pitting the south against the north and centre, over attempts at far-reaching socioeconomic change. The settlement of the early 1990s is now under threat from a revived insurgency, and the ghosts of the past remain.
This book seeks to distill this complex history, and to understand why, twenty-five years after the Peace Accord, Mozambicans still remain among the poorest people in the world.
Did British, French and Russian gunboats pacify the notoriously
corsair-infested waters of the Eastern Mediterranean? This book
charts the changing rates and nature of piracy in the Eastern
Mediterranean in the nineteenth century. Using Ottoman, Greek and
other archival sources, it shows that far from ending with the
introduction European powers to the region, piracy continued
unabated. The book shows that political reforms and changes in the
regional economy caused by the accelerated integration of the
Mediterranean into the expanding global economy during the third
quarter of the century played a large role in ongoing piracy. It
also considers imperial power struggles, ecological phenomena,
shifting maritime trade routes, revisions in international maritime
law, and changes in the regional and world economy to explain the
fluctuations in violence at sea.
This book collects together about sixty drawings of fishing boats
at Arbroath Harbour, completed between 1989 to 1995. There are also
fifteen drawings of the harbour at Montrose, and of other Scottish
harbours relevant to Arbroath, in the same period. The author's
viewpoint is that of an interested spectator who likes fishing
boats. While drawing, he gained valuable background information
from the local people, including some fishermen, that he met as he
worked. His notes on the harbours he draws, and on the boats and
people within them, are written in the hope that everyone reading
the book will 'feel close to the sea'. The main story unfolds
gradually, starting in 1989 and running through to 1995. It begins
with a bird's eye view of Arbroath Harbour, 'so that even if you
have never been to Arbroath, you will soon know your way around'.
At the end of the book there is a map that show the positions of
all the Scottish harbour towns mentioned in the text. 'I have
written not just for Arbroath people, or just for Scottish people,
or even just for British people. I have written the book for people
everywhere. The call of the sea is universal.'
From the Stone Age to the present day, no technology has had a more
profound impact on mankind than watercraft. Boats and ships made
possible the settlement and conquest of new worlds. They determined
the victors of history-changing wars and aided the spread of new
philosophies, technologies and religions. Even today, virtually
everything we purchase and consume depends on seaborne trade.
'Ships that Changed History' is more than just a delight for lovers
of the sea - it's a virtual history of the world told through the
boats and ships that influenced how and where people lived, the
ideas they exchanged and how they won and lost the battles that set
the course of later generations and millennia. Beautifully
illustrated with art and photographs, it is a guide to how men and
women went to sea in every age and place.
""The art of command is...to be the complete master, and yet the
complete friend of every man on board; the temporal lord and yet
the spiritual brother of every rating; to be detached and yet not
dissociated.' A Seaman's Pocket-Book, 1943', has found huge appeal
with the British public. Presented in the same format, the
Officer's Handbook gathers together useful advice and instruction
for those naval officers fighting the Second World War on all
aspects of their job, expressed in the benevolent language of the
day, when authority was respected. The Handbook has been compiled
and edited by Brian Lavery, who provides commentary and an
introduction. Sections include: the Officer's Aid Memoire
containing notes of the training course at one of the officer
training schools; Notes for medical officers and treatment of
battle casualties afloat; Notes for captains on taking command of
their first ship; Notes for commanding officers; Notes on the
handling and safety of ships and notes on dealing with disobedience
and mutiny. While suffused with nostalgia and charm, the various
contents of this book are an authentic presentation of matters of
training, authority and deportment in the wartime navy. The book is
sure to appeal not only to those who served in the war or had a
relative who was in the officer class, but also to anyone who wants
to gain a greater understanding of the day-to-day administration of
the wartime navy.
An extraordinary account of one woman's single-minded campaign to
restore a Victorian steamship to her former glory and make her an
Andean attraction Here is a vivid account of Meriel Larken's
incredible quest to restore the "Yavari" steamship against the
odds--a ship that is now celebrating its 150 year anniversary in
2012. In 1862 the English-built "Yavari" was taken to bits and
shipped to South America. In an epic logistical feat it was carried
in thousands of pieces, by mule, up the Andes to Lake Titicaca,
12,500 feet above sea level, the world's highest navigable
waterway. She was reconstructed and for more than a century plied
her trade up and down the lake, but by 1985 she was a sad rotting
hulk--until she was found by Larken, who led the quest to project
to restore and preserve the ship. The oldest single screw iron
passenger ship in the world, this nautical and engineering jewel is
now a major Peruvian tourist attraction.
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