Maritime History & Piracy

Winner of the Australia and New Zealand Law and History Society (ANZLHS) Prize for 2023 Maritime workers occupy a central place in global labour history. This new and compelling account from Australia, shows seafaring and waterside unions engaged in a...

We may think of 'globalism' as a recent development, but its origins date back to century and beyond, when courageous seafarers pioneered routes across the oceans with the objectives of exploration, trade and profits. Improvements in ship design,...

Paul Kennedy's classic naval history, now updated with a new introduction by the authorThis acclaimed book traces Britain's rise and fall as a sea power from the Tudors to the present day. Challenging the traditional view that the British are natural...

Diving the Thistlegorm is a unique in-depth look at one of the world's best-loved shipwrecks, the World War II British Merchant Navy steamship, featuring award-winning underwater photography. In this highly visual guide, cutting edge photographic methods...

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The incredible story of the "Robin Hood of the Seas," who absconded with millions during the Golden Age of Piracy and who harbored an even greater secret.Henry Avery of Devon pillaged a fortune from a Mughal ship off the coast of India and then vanished...

Shows how the image of Cornish wreckers as villains deliberately luring ships on to the rocks is a myth. Highly Commended in Class 6 - Non-Fiction: History and Creative Arts of the Holyer an Gof Awards 2011. Although the popular myth of Cornish...

From women who fought alongside the men in dastardly high-sea robberies, to an Irish heroine who plundered British ships, to women unfortunate enough to fall amongst thieves, captured and virtually cast into a life of ill-gotten gain, this book explores...

Two hundred years ago, Napoleon Bonaparte dominated Europe and threatened Britain with invasion. Against him stood the Royal Navy and the already legendary Admiral Horatio Nelson.On 21 October 1805, a massive naval battle off the coast of Spain decided...

An award-winning investigation into the strange and secretive world of international shipping 'Arresting, sharply observed, deeply researched and compelling... Plenty of books promise to reveal the secrets of little-known worlds but few actually...

The remarkable story of how a handful of intrepid scientific navigators underpinned British naval dominance in the conflict with Napoleon During the Napoleonic Wars, more than twice as many British warships were lost to shipwreck than in battle. The...

In the 200 years since it was founded, the RNLI has saved more than 144,000 lives. It all began with a meeting in London in 1824 to act on a proposal by Sir William Hillary: the formation of a National Institution for the Preservation of Life from...

'A roaring tale ... remains as vivid and exciting today as it was on publication in 1697' GuardianThe pirate and adventurer William Dampier circumnavigated the globe three times, and took notes wherever he went. This is his frank, vivid account of his...

In the depths of Antarctic winter, hundreds of miles from land or rescue, a small fishing boat is swallowed by waves as high as houses. The captain is fatally slow to act, and then paralyzed by fear. The officers flee for their lives. Only the actions of...

"Kenyon uses new findings from Bletchley to retell the story of the naval battles that took place in the Arctic Ocean between 1941 and 1945."-Daniel Brooks, The Telegraph "Fascinating and meticulously researched book."-Peter Sparkes, Naval Review An...

All wooden ships leak, a stark fact that has terrified sailors since the earliest days of ocean travel. Maritime historical literature is filled with horrific descriptions of being aboard a slowly sinking ship. Starting from this human perspective, then,...

Discover inspiring stories of heroism, adventure, endurance and survival from throughout history. Captain Robert Falcon Scott didn't start out life as a hero. In fact, as a boy he was considered small, frail and shy. So what was it that turned this...

Coward. Brute. Yellow-livered.For over 100 years, J. Bruce Ismay has been the scapegoat of the Titanic disaster. He is the villain of every film and TV drama: a fit and able-bodied man who sacrificed the lives of women and children in order to survive...

The western Sahara is a baking hot and desolate place, home only to nomads and their camels, and to locusts, snails and thorny scrub. On 28 August 1815 the US brig Commerce was dashed against Mauritania's Cape Bojador and lost, although through bravery...

'A wonderfully quirky history' SUNDAY TIMES'The perfect read while you wait for your summer holiday to begin' MAIL ON SUNDAY'Quippy anecdotes are woven with historical reference and geographical context to give full colour' IRISH TIMESA bulwark against...

John Harrison and the Quest for Longitude is a fascinating account of one man driven by the need to solve one of the greatest practical problems of his time. Following one of the most intriguing and fascinating stories linked to the Royal Observatory,...

"Overflowing with surprises."-William Dalrymple, The Spectator "Essential reading."-Dan Jones, Times (UK) "Fascinating and authoritative."-Jerry BrottonThe unlikely beginnings of the East India Company-from Tudor origins and rivalry with the superior...

A Sunday Times Book of the Year 'Three and a half millennia of British Maritime history, from the Middle Bronze Age to the early 20th century ... This book is written with passion and sympathy. It will live with me for a very long time' Francis Pryor,...

The Sunday Times bestseller!It is AD 25. Pirate ships strike terror in the hearts of those who brave the seas of the Roman Empire. When young Telemachus joins the crew of the merchant ship Selene, he's delighted to escape the rough streets of Piraeus. He...

A history of life on board HMS Victory, the world's most famous warship. This addition to the best-selling Conway pocket-book range explores Admiral Nelson's fully preserved flagship HMS Victory, the most tangible symbol of the Royal Navy's greatest...

WINNER OF THE WOLFSON HISTORY PRIZE 2020A SUNDAY TIMES, FINANCIAL TIMES, THE TIMES AND BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE BOOK OF THE YEARFor most of human history, the seas and oceans have been the main means of long-distance trade and communication between peoples -...

"FASCINATING . . . Dramatic and timely." -New York Times Book Review, Editors' ChoiceIn this grand and thrilling narrative, the author of the 200,000-copy paperback bestseller Over the Edge of the World reveals the singular adventures of Sir Francis...

'A thrilling celebration of lighthouses' i newspaperAn enthralling history of Britain's rock lighthouses, and the people who built and inhabited themLighthouses are enduring monuments to our relationship with the sea. They encapsulate a romantic vision...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.About the AuthorN. A. M. Rodger is Anderson Fellow of the National Maritime Museum. He is the author of the magnificent The Wooden World, a history of the British navy in the...

Smuggling in Cornwall: An Illustrated History tells the story of the smuggling trade that flourished in Cornwall during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Drawing on extant source material, it examines how the trade was organised and financed with...

Launching Osprey's new Fleet series, this is a spectacularly illustrated, concise and comprehensive account of the Imperial Japanese Navy's striking force at the height of its power. The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) entered the Pacific War as one of...

This bold, innovative book promises to radically alter our understanding of the Atlantic slave trade, and the depths of its horrors. Stephanie E. Smallwood offers a penetrating look at the process of enslavement from its African origins through the...

A facsimile edition of a classic source for the history of piracy, as used by Robert Louis Stevenson in the writing of Treasure Island. Captain Charles Johnson's General History of Pirates was one of the best-selling books of 1724, when it was first...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780939511365Author Dr Stuart M FrankFormat HardbackPage Count 380Imprint Mystic Seaport MuseumPublisher Mystic Seaport Museum

On 26 December 1900, the vessel Hesperus arrived at Eilean Mor in the remote Outer Hebrides with a relief lighthouseman and fresh provisions. The lighthouse had been in operation for a year, but it had been noted that no light had been seen from Eilean...

A superbly illustrated new account of how Germany's High Seas Fleet was built, operated and fought, as it challenged the world's most powerful navy in World War I. Seven years before the outbreak of World War I, the Imperial German Navy rebranded its...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781800318960Author Larry BennettFormat PaperbackPage Count 328Imprint New Generation PublishingPublisher New Generation PublishingWeight(grams) 484g

Naval warfare is vividly brought to life, from first contact through how battles were won and lost to damage repair. Our understanding of warfare at sea in the eighteenth century has always been divorced from the practical realities of fighting at sea...

‘A gorgeous, sweeping epic’ ANN NAPOLITANO ‘One of my favourite writers' ROXANE GAY ‘Spectacular’ JOANNE SEFTON ‘I didn’t want it to end’ SARA SHERIDAN A breathtaking historical novel following the incredible construction of the Panama Canal and...

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