The image of the pirate never fails to capture the imagination. The cut-throat sea robbers of history who plundered richly laden merchant ships are legendary. The likes of Blackbeard, Captain Kidd and Henry Morgan are romanticised and celebrated in popular culture. But fiction has taken the place of fact. Piracy was more brutal and rebellious than some of the best artistic depictions let on and in reality, few know the truth about this ruthless trade. What is the difference between a buccaneer and a corsair? Did pirates really bury their treasure? Is piracy still a threat to shipping today? Pirates: Fact & Fiction brings together the National Maritime Museum's rich collection of flags, weapons, maps and fine artworks to explain the intriguing history of the pirate trade. It is the first port of call for anyone keen to separate the fact from the fiction.

Letters from Helfenberg tells the story of a family and a house, and between the lines also of two countries, Germany and England, over a span of forty years. Starting in Berlin in 1909, when the shops were full of 'modern hats with big brims and ostrich feathers, delicious fruit from southern lands, English jams and all kinds of fish in aspic, poultry, venison, sausages, partridge and pheasant pie', it reaches its end again in Berlin in 1948, when survival depended on dangerous foraging for fruit or bartering with cigarettes and reels of cotton. Between these two extremes, the correspondence records the intervening years of war and peace, when marriage had led one part of the von Lippe family from Dresden to Cambridge. From operas to zeppelins, potato harvests to elections, the letters describe events as the family experienced them, together with a rich overlay of literary allusions and philosophical reflections. Their home in Helfenberg and its surrounding countryside are a constant theme, giving inspiration and support in times of joy and sorrow. Letters from a brother in the German navy also give a colourful picture of his voyages to the Americas in the decade before the First World War. From an age in which letters were the principal method of communication, this collection presents a vivid picture of social and family life in the shadow of great international events.

Title: Preliminary Sketches in Cashmere; or, Scenes in "Cuckoo-cloudland." By D. J. F. N. (D. J. F. Newall.) With illustrations.]Publisher: British Library, Historical Print EditionsThe British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. It is one of the world's largest research libraries holding over 150 million items in all known languages and formats: books, journals, newspapers, sound recordings, patents, maps, stamps, prints and much more. Its collections include around 14 million books, along with substantial additional collections of manuscripts and historical items dating back as far as 300 BC.The HISTORY OF ASIA collection includes books from the British Library digitised by Microsoft. This series includes ethnographic and general histories of distinct peripheral coastal regions that comprise South and East Asia. Other works focus on cultural history, archaeology, and linguistics. These books help readers understand the forces that shaped the ancient civilisations and influenced the modern countries of Asia. ++++The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification: ++++ British Library Newall, David John Falconer; 1882. xxx. 86 p.; 8 . T 521