Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Napoleon Bonaparte’s defeat in 1815 came at an inconvenient time for John Monk, an ambitious young naval officer. Forced to rethink his plans, John turned to the merchant service, where he encountered storms, shipwreck and even piracy as he traded between Liverpool and the Mediterranean through the 1830s and 1840s. ‘Bonaparte and Brimstone’ is the fascinating and engaging biography of a little-known Georgian naval lieutenant and mariner from Parkgate on the Wirral and brings him unforgettably to life. Vibrantly written, it is the beguiling story of one man’s hopes and fortunes, and is ultimately an emotional tale of family and belonging, enriched with abundant personal documents, among them the remarkable diary of a stormy voyage to Italy in 1824. John Monk saw ten years’ service across the seas of Europe and survived the horrific bloodshed on HMS Impregnable during the Bombardment of Algiers in 1816, but he grew dismayed at his lack of progress and battled the Admiralty just as he had once battled the French. ‘Bonaparte and Brimstone’ paints a portrait in miniature of British society in the nineteenth century and of the country’s seafarers who attempted to navigate a path through it.

A blend of "the light and the serious, the enlightening and the entertaining" that have formed part of the Dartmouth story since Eleazar Wheelock went into the wilderness.

Between 1939 and 1947, the Caribbean island of Jamaica – then a British colony – was haven or detention centre for thousands of displaced Europeans; an often under-recognized contribution to the Allied war effort. A civilian camp accommodated evacuees from Gibraltar and, belatedly, provided sanctuary for groups of mainly Jewish refugees. Others who had fled Europe ahead of looming fascist threats would be interned in military detention camps whose populations were swollen by German and Italian civilians from several British West African colonies, co-mingled for convenience with hundreds of German and Italian merchant mariners captured at sea during the early months of the war. World War II Camps in Jamaica disentangles the conditions under which these various populations were held, drawing on primary records, personal accounts and media coverage; noting differences and similarities in their management; considering the camps and their populations within the local context; and considering the extent of interface and interaction that ensued despite official efforts to keep the incoming populations separate and transitory.