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Books > History > History of specific subjects > Maritime history
On 19 August 1812, lookouts of the British frigate HMS Guerriere
spotted the American frigate, USS Constitution. Captain James
Dacres, Guerriere's commander, was eager for a fight and confident
of victory. He had the weight of Britain's naval reputation and
confidence behind him. Yet when the guns fell silent Guerriere was
a shattered hulk and Dacres had struck to Constitution. By the
year's end, three British frigates and two sloops had been defeated
in single ship actions against American opponents, throwing the
British naval sphere into a crisis. These losses could not have
been more shocking to the Royal Navy and the British world. In a
strange reversal, the outnumbered British Army along the Canadian
border had triumphed but the tiny United States Navy had humiliated
the world's largest and most prestigious navy. Further dramatic sea
battles between the two powers followed into early 1815, and the
British tried to reconcile the perceived stain to the Royal Navy's
honour. Many within and outside of the Royal Navy called for
vindication. The single ship actions of the War of 1812 have
frequently been dismissed by historians of the war, or of naval
history in general. The fights of late 1813 and 1814 are often
omitted from works of history altogether, as many (correctly) argue
that they had no strategic impact on the wider course of the war.
Yet to contemporaries, naval and civilian alike, these single ship
actions could not have been more important. This volume explores
the single ship naval actions during the War of 1812: how they were
fought, their strategic context, and their impact on the officers
and men who fought them, and the wider British psyche. Trafalgar
happened only seven years earlier, and the fighting ethos of the
Royal Navy was still hardened by Nelsonic naval culture. Whereas
contemporary civilians and modern historians understood the losses
as the inevitable result of fighting the vastly superior American
'super' frigates, the officers of the navy struggled to accept that
they could not cope with the new American warships. The losses
precipitated changes to Admiralty policy and drove an urge for
vengeance by the officers of the Royal Navy. This volume explores
the drama and impact of the British single ship losses and
victories to examine Britain's naval experience in the moments that
captivated the British and American world in the last
Anglo-American War.
Henry Morgan, a twenty-year-old Welshman, arrived in the New World
in 1655, hell-bent on making his fortune. Over the next three
decades, his exploits in the Caribbean in the service of the
English became legend. His daring attacks on the mighty Spanish
Empire on land and sea changed the fates of kings and queens. His
victories helped shape the destiny of the New World. Morgan
gathered disaffected English and European sailors and soldiers,
hard-bitten adventurers, runaway slaves, cutthroats and sociopaths
and turned them into the fiercest and most feared army in the
Western Hemisphere. Sailing out from the English stronghold of Port
Royal, Jamaica, 'the wickedest city in the New World', Morgan and
his men terrorised Spanish merchant ships and devastated the cities
where great riches in silver, gold, and gems lay waiting to be sent
to the King of Spain. His last raid, a daring assault on the fabled
city of Panama, helped break Spain's solitary hold on the New World
for ever. Awash with bloody battles, political intrigues, and a
cast of characters more compelling, bizarre and memorable than any
found in a Hollywood swashbuckler, EMPIRE OF BLUE WATER brilliantly
re-creates the passions and the violence of the age of exploration
and empire. What's more, it chillingly depicts the apocalyptic
natural disaster that finally ended the pirates' dominion.
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Lusitania
(Paperback)
Greg King, Penny Wilson
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R787
R648
Discovery Miles 6 480
Save R139 (18%)
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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Lusitania: She was a ship of dreams, carrying millionaires and
aristocrats, actresses and impresarios, writers and suffragettes -
a microcosm of the last years of the waning Edwardian Era and the
coming influences of the Twentieth Century. When she left New York
on her final voyage, she sailed from the New World to the Old;
yet-an encounter with the machinery of the New World, in the form
of a primitive German U-Boat, sent her - and her gilded passengers
- to their tragic deaths and opened up a new era of indiscriminate
warfare. A hundred years after her sinking, Lusitania remains an
evocative ship of mystery. Was she carrying munitions that
exploded? Did Winston Churchill engineer a conspiracy that doomed
the liner? Lost amid these tangled skeins is the romantic, vibrant,
and finally heartrending tale of the passengers who sailed aboard
her. Lives, relationships, and marriages ended in the icy waters
off the Irish Sea; those who survived were left haunted and plagued
with guilt. Now, authors Greg King and Penny Wilson resurrect this
lost, glittering world to show the golden age of travel and
illuminate the most prominent of Lusitania's passengers. Rarely was
an era so glamorous; rarely was a ship so magnificent; and rarely
was the human element of tragedy so quickly lost to diplomatic
maneuvers and militaristic threats.
The discovery and mining of the Comstock Lode in Nevada forever
changed the mining culture of the American West. Using the pen name
Dan De Quille, in 1876 William Wright published "The Big Bonanza,"
the best-known contemporary account of the Comstock Lode mines.
Previously, however, in nearly fifty newspaper accounts from 1860
to 1863, De Quille had documented the development of the early
Comstock with a frankness, abundance of detail, sense of immediacy,
and excitement largely absent from his book. Donnelyn Curtis and
Lawrence I. Berkove have gathered those accounts for the first time
in "Before" The Big Bonanza.
De Quille describes the amazing transformation of the Comstock
in less than four years from miscellaneous tent camps and primitive
mining sites to an incredible complex of underground shafts and
tunnels beneath a group of wealth-producing cities, with modern
buildings, state-of-the-art mills, orderly streets, and traffic
jams. He captures the vitality of the inhabitants' resolution and
resourcefulness as they survive destructive storms and being cut
off from supplies and entertainment, and he chronicles the events
that kept Nevada and California in the Union. While reporting the
prevailing violence of brawling and dueling and anti-Indian
prejudice, De Quille at the same time conveys his thoughtful
observations on the significance to democracy and civilization of
the existence of such license.
This trove of columns, collected from a variety of newspapers,
is history in the making and additionally casts new light on the
life and rapidly developing art of De Quille, the biographer of the
Comstock and one of the most versatile and accomplished authors of
the Old West.
Food at Sea: Shipboard Cuisine from Ancient to Modern Times traces
the preservation, preparation, and consumption of food at sea, over
a period of several thousand years, and in a variety of cultures.
The book traces the development of cooking aboard in ancient and
medieval times, through the development of seafaring traditions of
storing and preparing food on the world's seas and oceans.
Following a largely chronological format, Simon Spalding shows how
the raw materials, cooking and eating equipments, and methods of
preparation of seafarers have both reflected the shoreside
practices of their cultures, and differed from them. The economies
of whole countries have developed around foods that could survive
long trips by sea, and new technologies have evolved to expand the
available food choices at sea. Changes in ship construction and
propulsion have compelled changes in food at sea, and Spalding's
book explores these changes in cargo ships, passenger ships,
warships, and other types over the centuries in fascinating depth
of detail. Selected passages from songs and poems, quotes from
seafarers famous and obscure, and new insights into culinary
history all add spice to the tale.
Finalist for the 2017 Washington State Book Award in General
Nonfiction / History The plaque said this was the winter fishing
hut of Thuridur Einarsdottir, one of Iceland's greatest fishing
captains, and that she lived from 1777 to 1863. "Wait,"
anthropologist and former seawoman Margaret Willson said. "She??"
So began a quest. Were there more Icelandic seawomen? Most
Icelanders said no, and, after all, in most parts of the world
fishing is considered a male profession. What could she expect in
Iceland? She found a surprise. This book is a glimpse into the
lives of vibrant women who have braved the sea for centuries. Their
accounts include the excitement, accidents, trials, and
tribulations of fishing in Iceland from the historic times of small
open rowboats to today's high-tech fisheries. Based on extensive
historical and field research, Seawomen of Iceland allows the
seawomen's voices to speak directly with strength, intelligence,
and - above all - a knowledge of how to survive. This engaging
ethnographic narrative will intrigue both general and academic
readers interested in maritime culture, the anthropology of work,
Nordic life, and gender studies.
The Great Western is the least known of Isambard Kingdom Brunel's
three ships, being overshadowed by the later careers of the Great
Britain and the Great Eastern. However, the Great Westernwas the
first great success, confounding the critics in becoming the
fastest ship to steam continuously across the Atlantic, and began
the era of luxury transatlantic liners. It was a bold venture by
Brunel and his colleagues, who were testing the limits of known
technology. This book examines the businessmen, the shipbuilding
committee and Brunel and looks at life on board for the crew and
the passengers using diaries from the United States and England.
The ship's first voyage made headline news in New York and London
and involved a race with the small steamship Sirius. The Great
Western's maiden voyage was a triumph, and this wooden paddle
steamer became the wonder of her age. She linked antebellum New
York with the London of Charles Dickens and the youthful Queen
Victoria. The ship continued to carry the rich and the famous
across the Atlantic for eighteen years.
Specifically structured around research questions and avenues for
further study, and providing the historical context to enable this
further research, Modern Naval History is a key historiographical
guide for students wishing to gain a deeper understanding of naval
history and its contemporary relevance. Navies play an important
role in the modern world, and the globalisation of economies,
cultures and societies has placed a premium on maritime
communications. Modern Naval History demonstrates the importance of
naval history today, showing its relevance to a number of
disciplines and its role in understanding how navies relate to
their host societies. Richard Harding explains why naval history is
still important, despite slipping from the attention of policy
makers and the public since 1945, and how it can illuminate answers
to questions relating to economic, diplomatic, political, social
and cultural history. The book explores how naval history has
informed these fields and how it can produce a richer and more
informed historical understanding of navies and sea power.
Privateers of the Americas examines raids on Spanish shipping
conducted from the United States during the early 1800s. These
activities were sanctioned by, and conducted on behalf of,
republics in Spanish America aspiring to independence from Spain.
Among the available histories of privateering, there is no
comparable work. Because privateering further complicated
international dealings during the already tumultuous Age of
Revolution, the book also offers a new perspective on the
diplomatic and Atlantic history of the early American republic.
Seafarers living in the United States secured commissions from
Spanish American nations, attacked Spanish vessels, and returned to
sell their captured cargoes (which sometimes included slaves) from
bases in Baltimore, New Orleans, and Galveston and on Amelia
Island. Privateers sold millions of dollars of goods to untold
numbers of ordinary Americans. Their collective enterprise involved
more than a hundred vessels and thousands of people-not only ships'
crews but investors, merchants, suppliers, and others. They angered
foreign diplomats, worried American officials, and muddied U.S.
foreign relations. David Head looks at how Spanish American
privateering worked and who engaged in it; how the U.S. government
responded; how privateers and their supporters evaded or exploited
laws and international relations; what motivated men to choose this
line of work; and ultimately, what it meant to them to sail for the
new republics of Spanish America. His findings broaden our
understanding of the experience of being an American in a wider
world.
Specifically structured around research questions and avenues for
further study, and providing the historical context to enable this
further research, Modern Naval History is a key historiographical
guide for students wishing to gain a deeper understanding of naval
history and its contemporary relevance. Navies play an important
role in the modern world, and the globalisation of economies,
cultures and societies has placed a premium on maritime
communications. Modern Naval History demonstrates the importance of
naval history today, showing its relevance to a number of
disciplines and its role in understanding how navies relate to
their host societies. Richard Harding explains why naval history is
still important, despite slipping from the attention of policy
makers and the public since 1945, and how it can illuminate answers
to questions relating to economic, diplomatic, political, social
and cultural history. The book explores how naval history has
informed these fields and how it can produce a richer and more
informed historical understanding of navies and sea power.
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Roar of the Sea
(Paperback)
William A. Crowell, Frank Crowell Leaman
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R490
R362
Discovery Miles 3 620
Save R128 (26%)
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Ships in 12 - 17 working days
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Nova Scotias maritime heritage is brought to life in the story of
an adventurer who travelled the world on an epic solo voyage in a
23-foot sailboat in the 1930s. With only his dog, Togo, as a
companion, Captain William Crowell overcame the challenges of an
unforgiving ocean. Decades later, his grandson Frank Leaman helped
him tell the story of his travels. The book explores not only his
familys history, but also Nova Scotias seafaring heritage. After
the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax included Captain
Crowells solo voyage as part of its permanent Days of Sail exhibit,
Frank continued to gather Crowell family history and dig deeper
into his grandfathers life. Together with Allison Lawlor, Frank has
created a story that weaves Captain Crowells life into his familys
Loyalist roots and personal reflections. The resulting book stands
as one grandsons loving tribute to his grandfather -- a daring
mariner who saw the end of a golden era of wooden ships and iron
men.
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