On 22 May 1826, HMS Beagle left Plymouth Sound on her maiden voyage, accompanying HMS Adventure to Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego to survey the Strait of Magellan. Years later, Royal Naval officer John Macdouall (fl.1820 30) proclaimed himself 'one whose visit to Port Famine, and sometime residence on that inhospitable coast, have left no wish of re-visiting it, really or metaphorically'. Nevertheless, his first-hand account of the first nineteen months of the Beagle's voyage, originally published in 1833, is a highly entertaining read. With an amusing combination of self-deprecation and caustic observation, and in preference to 'the trouble of detailing the monotonous course of a long sea voyage', Macdouall relates anecdotes about life aboard ship and the peoples and places encountered. While unforgiving of 'absurd' Spanish customs and 'national indolence', and Rio de Janeiro's 'bowing hypocritical Portuguese', he offers a generally kinder portrait of Fuegian and Patagonian 'savages'.

Joined by seven eminent natural scientists, including Karl von Scherzer (1821-1903), the Austrian naval expedition of 1857-9 was remarkable for its globe-spanning scale. During the course of the voyage, the naturalists collected an abundance of samples which contributed to several scientific discoveries, including the isolation of cocaine in its pure form. Some of the investigations also revolutionised knowledge in such fields as geology, oceanography, hydrography and geomagnetism, and are still being studied by modern-day researchers. Prepared by Scherzer and first published in English in 1861-3, this is a compelling three-volume account of the mission, remaining relevant to scholars interested in naval exploration and the history of science. Opening with the guidance given by Alexander von Humboldt prior to the expedition, Volume 1 covers the leg between Europe and India. It includes notes on the social structure of the populations encountered, and on the local flora and fauna.

Joined by seven eminent natural scientists, including Karl von Scherzer (1821-1903), the Austrian naval expedition of 1857-9 was remarkable for its globe-spanning scale. During the course of the voyage, the naturalists collected an abundance of samples which contributed to several scientific discoveries, including the isolation of cocaine in its pure form. Some of the investigations also revolutionised knowledge in such fields as geology, oceanography, hydrography and geomagnetism, and are still being studied by modern-day researchers. Prepared by Scherzer and first published in English in 1861-3, this is a compelling three-volume account of the mission, remaining relevant to scholars interested in naval exploration and the history of science. Volume 2 covers the leg from India to Australia, with notes on the Nicobar Islands, Singapore, Java, Manila, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Pacific archipelagos.

Joined by seven eminent natural scientists, including Karl von Scherzer (1821-1903), the Austrian naval expedition of 1857-9 was remarkable for its globe-spanning scale. During the course of the voyage, the naturalists collected an abundance of samples which contributed to several scientific discoveries, including the isolation of cocaine in its pure form. Some of the investigations also revolutionised knowledge in such fields as geology, oceanography, hydrography and geomagnetism, and are still being studied by modern-day researchers. Prepared by Scherzer and first published in English in 1861-3, this is a compelling three-volume account of the mission, remaining relevant to scholars interested in naval exploration and the history of science. Volume 3 includes notes on Sydney, Auckland, Tahiti, the coastal cities of South and Central America, and the journey back to Europe, as well as reflections by the author on the achievements of the expedition.

Founded in 1666, the French Academie des Sciences was a prominent and prestigious organisation behind numerous scientific advances in Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In 1817, commissioned by the Academie, Louis de Freycinet (1779-1841) embarked on a three-year expedition with the main purpose of investigating terrestrial magnetism and taking a series of pendulum measurements. In the course of this voyage around the world, the scientists aboard the Uranie also collected an abundance of samples and made significant observations in the fields of geography, ethnology, astronomy, hydrography and meteorology. The progress of this journey was detailed by Jacques Arago (1790-1855), draughtsman on the expedition, in the form of letters to a friend. This illustrated narrative is prefaced by a report to the Academie which summarises the mission's findings. Translated into English and published in 1823, this work is an informative and often witty account, reflecting contemporary ambitions in science and exploration.

Originally published in 1894, this book presents a detailed study of ships from the Mediterranean area during the period 1000 BC to 1000 AD. Evidence is drawn from written sources, including inscriptions and literature, and material sources, such as the ruins of the docks at Athens and small surviving pieces of the ships themselves. The text provides detailed information on the structural elements of ships and includes an appendix section on different types of ship. Illustrative figures are also included. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the ancient world and shipping.

Little is known of Captain Alexander Hamilton other than what he tells us in this work, first published in 1727. Written during his retirement, it is both an invaluable source of information on south-east Asia at the time and a lively travelogue of Hamilton's adventurous seafaring life in the service of the East India Company and independently between 1688 and 1723. An engaging storyteller, Hamilton writes of encounters with pirates, the Portuguese, and of a poisoning in Malacca, as well as providing vivid descriptions of the countries he visited - from Africa to Japan via India, Sumatra and China - and their social customs, religions, trade and commerce. His idiosyncratic maps and illustrations enhance his narrative despite his admission that he makes 'but little use of the pencil'. Volume 1 takes the reader up the east coast of Africa to the Middle East, and round the coast of India to Ceylon.

Little is known of Captain Alexander Hamilton other than what he tells us in this work, first published in 1727. Written during his retirement, it is both an invaluable source of information on south-east Asia at the time and a lively travelogue of Hamilton's adventurous seafaring life in the service of the East India Company and independently between 1688 and 1723. An engaging storyteller, Hamilton writes of encounters with pirates, the Portuguese, and of a poisoning in Malacca, as well as providing vivid descriptions of the countries he visited - from Africa to Japan via India, Sumatra and China - and their social customs, religions, trade and commerce. His idiosyncratic maps and illustrations enhance his narrative despite his admission that he makes 'but little use of the pencil'. Volume 2 takes the reader up the east coast of India, thence to Burma, Sumatra, Java, Thailand, Cambodia, China, and finally Japan.

On 2 July 1812, Captain David Porter raised a banner on the USS Essex proclaiming 'a free trade and sailors rights', thus creating a political slogan that explained the War of 1812. Free trade demanded the protection of American commerce, while sailors' rights insisted that the British end the impressment of seamen from American ships. Repeated for decades in Congress and in taverns, the slogan reminds us today that the second war with Great Britain was not a mistake. It was a contest for the ideals of the American Revolution bringing together both the high culture of the Enlightenment to establish a new political economy and the low culture of the common folk to assert the equality of humankind. Understanding the War of 1812 and the motto that came to explain it - free trade and sailors' rights - allows us to better comprehend the origins of the American nation.

Why the world can't afford to be indifferent to the simmering conflict in the South China Sea "The greatest risk today in U.S.-Chinese relations is the South China Sea, through which passes 40% of world trade. . . . Hayton explains how this all came about and points to the growing risks of miscalculation and escalation."-Daniel Yergin, Wall Street Journal China's rise has upset the global balance of power, and the first place to feel the strain is Beijing's back yard: the South China Sea. For decades tensions have smoldered in the region, but today the threat of a direct confrontation among superpowers grows ever more likely. This important book is the first to make clear sense of the South Sea disputes. Bill Hayton, a journalist with extensive experience in the region, examines the high stakes involved for rival nations that include Vietnam, India, Taiwan, the Philippines, and China, as well as the United States, Russia, and others. Hayton also lays out the daunting obstacles that stand in the way of peaceful resolution. Through lively stories of individuals who have shaped current conflicts-businessmen, scientists, shippers, archaeologists, soldiers, diplomats, and more-Hayton makes understandable the complex history and contemporary reality of the South China Sea. He underscores its crucial importance as the passageway for half the world's merchant shipping and one-third of its oil and gas. Whoever controls these waters controls the access between Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, and the Pacific. The author critiques various claims and positions (that China has historic claim to the Sea, for example), overturns conventional wisdoms (such as America's overblown fears of China's nationalism and military resurgence), and outlines what the future may hold for this clamorous region of international rivalry.

On March 8, 1421, the largest fleet the world had ever seen set sail from China to "proceed all the way to the ends of the earth to collect tribute from the barbarians beyond the seas." When the fleet returned home in October 1423, the emperor had fallen, leaving China in political and economic chaos. The great ships were left to rot at their moorings and the records of their journeys were destroyed. Lost in the long, self-imposed isolation that followed was the knowledge that Chinese ships had reached America seventy years before Columbus and had circumnavigated the globe a century before Magellan. And they colonized America before the Europeans, transplanting the principal economic crops that have since fed and clothed the world.

The shipowner and politician William Schaw Lindsay (1816-77) combined a wealth of personal experience with a meticulous approach to research. Originally published in 1874-6, this is his authoritative four-volume history of the world of ships and maritime trade. Its coverage ranges from the legend of Noah's Ark, through ancient commerce and the colonising expeditions of the middle ages, to the progress brought about by the introduction of steam to the shipping of Lindsay's own day. Details on construction and performance sit alongside explanations of the customs and superstitions of seamen, complemented by full accounts of many important nautical events. Volume 1 encompasses shipping in the ancient world, the foundation of a royal and commercial navy in England, and tales of the Norman invasion and the Crusades to the Holy Land, ending with Christopher Columbus' voyages of discovery. Evident throughout the work are Lindsay's practical knowledge and enthusiasm for his subject.

The shipowner and politician William Schaw Lindsay (1816-77) combined a wealth of personal experience with a meticulous approach to research. Originally published in 1874-6, this is his authoritative four-volume history of the world of ships and maritime trade. Its coverage ranges from the legend of Noah's Ark, through ancient commerce and the colonising expeditions of the middle ages, to the progress brought about by the introduction of steam to the shipping of Lindsay's own day. Details on construction and performance sit alongside explanations of the customs and superstitions of seamen, complemented by full accounts of many important nautical events. Volume 2 encompasses Vasco da Gama's expeditions, the Spanish Armada, and a discussion of the varying fortunes of the East India Company. Evident throughout the work are Lindsay's practical knowledge and enthusiasm for his subject.

The shipowner and politician William Schaw Lindsay (1816-77) combined a wealth of personal experience with a meticulous approach to research. Originally published in 1874-6, this is his authoritative four-volume history of the world of ships and maritime trade. Its coverage ranges from the legend of Noah's Ark, through ancient commerce and the colonising expeditions of the middle ages, to the progress brought about by the introduction of steam to the shipping of Lindsay's own day. Details on construction and performance sit alongside explanations of the customs and superstitions of seamen, complemented by full accounts of many important nautical events. Volume 3 describes the extraordinary progress made by the United States of America in the first half of the nineteenth century, discusses Cromwell's Navigation Acts and the causes and effects of their abolition, and concludes with a warning against excessive legislation. Lindsay's practical knowledge and enthusiasm for his subject are evident throughout the work.

The shipowner and politician William Schaw Lindsay (1816-77) combined a wealth of personal experience with a meticulous approach to research. Originally published in 1874-6, this is his authoritative four-volume history of the world of ships and maritime trade. Its coverage ranges from the legend of Noah's Ark, through ancient commerce and the colonising expeditions of the middle ages, to the progress brought about by the introduction of steam to the shipping of Lindsay's own day. Details on construction and performance sit alongside explanations of the customs and superstitions of seamen, complemented by full accounts of many important nautical events. Volume 4 describes the changes produced by the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 and charts the rise of steam propulsion and its implications for modern-day commerce. Lindsay's practical knowledge and enthusiasm for his subject are evident throughout the work.

Patrick O'Brien provides the forward to this edition of the most successful Conway Maritime title. This book is the perfect guide to Nelson's Navy for all those with an interest in the workings of the great fleet. The book is eminently readable and is the first single-volume work to cover in such depth this vast and complex subject. Written by one of the world's leading authorities on the sailing navy the book contains considerable original research to give a clear and authentic picture of the Senior Service as a whole. With a foreword by one of the most successful maritime fiction authors of the current age, the book is also of interest to all those with enthusiasm for the literature based on the Nelsonic-era.

Sir Geoffrey Callender (1875 1946) was a British naval historian who was the first director of the National Maritime Museum. Originally published in 1943, and edited by Callender, this book was developed to provide individuals in naval service with a guide to understanding and writing effective formal English. The text is comprised of a series of small sections, each of which contains a piece of writing by a prominent author relating to life at sea, tasks relating to the piece and explanatory notes. An editorial introduction, guide to further reading and detailed glossary are also included. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in British naval history or linguistics.

Henry Mathias Elmore (about whom little is known) was a sailor in the Royal Navy who quit in 1783 and set out for Calcutta to be involved with the East India Company's growing trade. Elmore worked as a commander on its ships, and he decided to write this account of sailing to and within the East, which was published in 1802, in order to share his navigational knowledge and to correct earlier inaccuracies. Although much of the work consists of specific, technical directions for piloting ships around Asia, Elmore's instructions give a vivid picture of the complexities of nineteenth-century navigation and the tribulations of sailing during this time. Some of the voyages he describes include sailing around the Indonesian islands and to the Malay coast, and how to reach China from Calcutta. Elmore also includes notes about locations of valuable commodities, such as spices, tea or gold, available for trade.

The history of Chatham Dockyard has been an eventful one. It owes its inception to King Henry VIII who, in 1547, selected the River Medway at Gillingham to be his main fleet anchorage. As more ships were added to the royal fleet the work of the dockyard was increased, until it was deemed necessary to build a small castle to protect the yard and anchorage from attack. In the wars and conflicts of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Chatham Dockyard would be called upon again to play its part in maintaining an effective battle fleet. David T. Hughes has compiled a thoughtful and insightful volume of photographs and ephemera on the Chatham Naval Dockyard and Barracks, looking at it from its early days of existence until its role in more recent years, from the First and Second World Wars to the Falklands.

This is a comparative analysis of maritime law and its administration in five northern European towns. It has often been assumed that there was a common maritime law in northern Europe, shared between skippers and merchants who conducted their business along the North Sea and Baltic littoral. This study examines this assumption by studying the dissemination of law compilations across this region, and by comparing the contents of these and the judgments passed by urban courts in cases of shipwreck, jettison and ship collision. Medieval maritime law has never before been the subject of a major study in the English language. The practice of maritime law has, up until now, largely been ignored. This book is the first to offer a comparison of maritime laws and court proceedings. It is also unique in that it provides a truly comparative history, covering a large geographical area stretching from Aberdeen on the North Sea coast to Reval (present-day Tallinn) in the innermost regions of the Baltic. Key features: overview of all medieval maritime law compilations; an insight into the workings of medieval urban courts; a unique study of maritime law and legal practice; and, comparative approach allows for impactful conclusions on medieval shipping.

During the time of the Second Opium War between Britain and China (1856 60), sailor Edward Brown (about whom little is known) was discharged from a trading vessel in Hong Kong. He was then offered the opportunity to captain a Chinese-crewed ship bound for Wai-how on the west coast, though he was warned that it was a risky enterprise because of the ongoing hostilities. Soon his ship was chased by Chinese pirates and Brown was taken captive for many months in Cochin-China (southern Vietnam). Published in 1861, this engaging account of his captivity, attempts at escape, and eventual return to his livelihood as a mate on a trading ship is told in a lively style, and gives a first-hand account of both a turbulent time in one of the world's most dangerous seas, and the different people and customs he encountered in the course of his enforced time on land.

Richard Biddle (1796-1847), an American politician and lawyer, published this work on the life of the explorer and cartographer, Sebastian Cabot (c.1481-1557), anonymously in 1831. He was responding to widespread criticisms of Cabot - allegedly an unscrupulous character who played the governments of England and Spain to his own ends. The work includes notes on Sebastian's discoveries on the North American continent along with his father, John, and his search for the North-West Passage. As a governor of the Muscovy Company, Cabot initiated the expansion of English trade to Russia and the East. Cabot's own accounts of his journeys have been lost; therefore, Biddle's research is derived from other sources, particularly the writings of Richard Hakylut (c.1552-1616). This study was recognised at the time as the best review of the history of maritime discovery in the period treated, and prompted further research into the Cabot legacies.

Abby Jane Morrell (b. 1809) was the wife of ship captain and explorer Benjamin Morrell (1795 1839). During the nineteenth century it became more common for women to join their husbands on voyages, and Abby insisted on accompanying her husband on his fourth voyage. They left America for the Pacific in 1829 on board the Antarctic, which visited the Auckland Islands and Pacific Islands in search of commercial gain, before returning via the Azores in 1831. First published in 1833, this is Abby's account of their journey. It was ghostwritten by the American author Samuel Knapp (1783 1838) and followed the publication of Benjamin Morrell's own account as part of A Narrative of Four Voyages (also reissued in this series). It includes an account of the violent conflicts with the inhabitants of some of the Pacific Islands, and also contains Abby's comments on the 'amelioration of the condition of American Seamen'.

In May 1845, the famous Arctic explorer John Franklin (1786-1847) embarked on another attempt to find the elusive North-West Passage. He never returned from this voyage, and was last seen by whalers in Baffin Bay in July 1845. Some thirty rescue missions were launched between 1847 and 1859 to find the missing men. Franklin was not the first explorer to make the dangerous voyage to find the route connecting the Atlantic and Pacific, and journalist Peter Lund Simmonds (1814-97) draws from a wide range of reports and publications about these expeditions in his history of the search for the North-West Passage, published in 1851. The detailed account also includes descriptions of the many missions to find Franklin, and this second edition was published later in the same year as the first in order to include updated reports on the progress of his rescue.

In 1879, the steamer Jeannette went missing near Alaska. It had been sent by the American Navy in search of a missing Swedish expedition. Having become trapped in ice, the ship was not heard from for almost two years, when her remaining crew finally reached safety. By this time, any American expedition that focused its efforts further north than the sixtieth parallel was usually considered to be within the Arctic, and these invariably perilous expeditions were often launched in search of lost ships. In 1884, Joseph Everett Nourse (1819 89) published details of all the major American expeditions, including the efforts to rescue the Jeannette, Hayes's attempt to prove the existence of the Open Polar Sea, and Schwatka's 3,000-mile sledge journey across the tundra. Written to make the journals of explorers more accessible to young readers, Nourse's comprehensive text is still of relevance to students of American maritime history.