Roger Williams purchased the fertile Aquidneck Island from the Narragansett tribe in 1637. It was here that Anne Hutchinson, along with William Coddington and other colonists who had been banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, found shelter from persecution. The intrepid dissenters of Rhode Island Colony saw their community flourish with the founding of Portsmouth and Newport townships. The Battle of Rhode Island was the only clash between American colonials and the British on Rhode Island soil during the Revolutionary War. From the mercantile success of the Atlantic triangle trade routes to the establishment of the United States Navy, noted historian Richard V. Simpson brings these and other stories from the Ocean State to life. Join Simpson as he explores the landmarks and architecture of the period to discover the remnants of Rhode Island's colonial past.

America's Cup: Trials & Triumphs is a concise history of some of the most interesting of the international struggles for possession of the acclaimed Cup. But more than that, Simpson writes about the ingenuity and technical advancements made over the years in hull and sail design for swift oceangoing sailing yachts. Not satisfied by relating only the history of the America's Cup challenges and defenses, Simpson illustrates some of the interesting events that have changed commercial sailing into the popular sport of sailboat racing. A sport that was once the singular pleasure of wealthy barons of industry is now enjoyed by thousands of middle-class citizens from many nations with access to the sea. Also included in this volume are sailing techniques, maneuvers and useful nautical terminology.

Thomas J. Lipton's America's Cup Campaigns is the saga on one man's three decade obsession with winning the America's Cup. This is author Richard V. Simpson's fifth title concerning the quest for the America's Cup-the Blue Riband prize for the sport of large ocean racing yachts. In this book, Simpson relates brief stories of some of the most interesting of the early races for the Cup which lead up to the Lipton challenges. The narrative covers the development of the early sloops and schooners from wood, to metal and the challenges faced by designers. For this narrative Simpson has searched century-old tabloids for early sport writers' predictions and observation of the contestants; he has resurrected many long-forgotten contemporary accounts relative to late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century yachts built especially as America's Cup racers. This historical account of the Lipton and Herreshoff face-offs is a sterling read for professional, amateur, and armchair sailor.

When human's learned, in 1903, they could cruise over land in a heaver than air flying machine, they never dreamed of using an advanced model of the aeroplane as an instrument of war. The novelty of flying intrigued a young Glenn H. Curtiss-an inventor obsessed with speed. In the decade before World War One, Curtiss a dedicated tinkerer developed speedy float planes and flying boats which came to the attention of the U.S. Navy. During the run-up to America's involvement in the European war, ships carrying supplies to allies were being destroyed by the German U-boats. It was because of these losses of men and material that Navy brass decided a long range bomber should be developed to counter the German submarine menace. It was then Glenn Curtiss was contracted to draw plans for a large flying boat capable of flying across the Atlantic. Initially, four flying boats were built, but by this time the war had ended ant the mission of the flying boats no longer existed. However, America decided to send its new giant flying machines across the Atlantic as a show of Yankee know-how.