Library Results | Royal Museums Greenwich

The first circumnavigators : unsung heroes of the age of discovery /Harry Kelsey. "Prior histories of the first Spanish mariners to circumnavigate the globe in the sixteenth century have focused on Ferdinand Magellan and the other illustrious leaders of these daring expeditions. Harry Kelsey's masterfully researched study is the first to concentrate on the hitherto anonymous sailors, slaves, adventurers, and soldiers who manned the ships. The author contends that these initial trans global voyages occurred by chance, beginning with the launch of Magellan's armada in 1519, when the crews dispatched by the king of Spain to claim the Spice Islands in the western Pacific were forced to seek a longer way home, resulting in bitter confrontations with rival Portuguese. Kelsey's enthralling history, based on more than thirty years of research in European and American archives, offers fascinating stories of treachery, greed, murder, desertion, sickness, and starvation but also of courage, dogged persistence, leadership, and loyalty."--Provided by the publisher. 2016 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 910.4"15":92

That Hamilton woman : Emma and Nelson /Barry Gough "Emma Hamilton, much maligned by her contemporaries and later by historians and commentators, rose from the most humble beginnings to play a startling role in Britain's naval victory over France and Spain in 1805. In this new book Barry Gough, employing the letters between the protagonists, and the unpublished examination of her career by famed American historian of the Royal Navy Arthur Marder, strongly defends Emma. He shows how this most talented of women and the beauty of her age fell victim to innuendo, slander and cruel caricature. She was to die in poverty in Calais in 1815, just months before Napoleon's final defeat. England's greatest sailor fell deeply in love with Emma in the years before Trafalgar. This, together with his quest for glory and victory entangled him in an inescapable web of circumstances and calumny. The author explores the evolving scandal, the high political stakes that were involved, and the love affair itself which so influenced the fortunes of England's glory and the fate of her Wooden Walls. No novelist could have created such a tortuous scenario, charged as it was with high emotions, slurs, insults and slander. Richly illustrated throughout, the book shows Emma, probably the most painted woman of her age, in all her glories; it also shows how heartlessly caricaturists treated her. 'That Hamilton woman' will long remain a controversial figure but here the author places her as one of the forces that gave the Royal Navy its will to fight and conquer. He depicts sympathetically a woman entrapped in circumstances of her own making, her saga reminding us of how frail is human fortune."--Provided by the publisher 2016. • BOOK • 2 copies available. 92HAMILTON

Air power in the maritime environment : the World Wars /David Gates "This book explores the mingling of two rather different perspectives, those of the naval and aeronautical schools of thought, and the impact that they had upon one another in natural, professional and geopolitical settings. To explain the manner in which air power was incorporated into warfare between 1914 and 1945 it studies the deeds of practitioners, the limitations of technology, the realities of combat and the varying institutional dynamics and strategic priorities of the major maritime powers. It is underpinned by an appreciation of the geostrategic setting of the key maritime states, while addressing the challenges of operating in this multifaceted environment and the major technological developments which enabled air power to play an ever greater role in the maritime sphere. The potential for air power to influence warfare in the maritime environment was fully realised during the Second World War and its impact is demonstrated through an analysis of a wide range of the fleet operations and how it was utilised in the defence of trade and sea lanes. As such this book will be of interest to both naval and air power historians and those wanting a fuller perspective on maritime strategy in this period."--Provided by the publisher. 2016 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 623.7"1914/1945"

The British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, 1838-1956 : a history /James Heartfield. "After West Indian slavery was abolished in 1833, the campaign turned to the wider world and the goal of Universal Emancipation. Veteran agitators Joseph Sturge, Lord Brougham and John Scoble launched the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society at a world convention in 1840. Throughout its long history the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society was instrumental in framing Britain's diplomatic policy of promoting anti-slavery - a policy that projected moral authority over allies and rivals, through naval power and international tribunals. The BFASS pushed for, and prepared the 1890 Brussels conference that divided Africa between the European powers, on the grounds of fighting Arab slavers. The Society was torn between its belief in the civilizing mission of Europeans, and its brief to protect Africans. Rubber slavery in the Belgian Congo, indentured 'coolies' in the Empire, and forced labor in British Africa tested the Society's goals of civilizing the world. This first comprehensive history of the Society draws on 120 years of anti-slavery publications, like the Anti-Slavery Reporter, to explain its unique status as the first international human rights organization; and explains the Society's surprising attitudes to the Confederate secession, the 'Coolies", and the colonization of Africa."--Provided by the publisher. 2016 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 326.8

Slavery at sea : Terror, sex, and sickness in the Middle Passage /Sowande' M. Mustakeem. "Most times left solely within the confine of plantation narratives, slavery was far from a land-based phenomenon. This book reveals for the first time how it took critical shape at sea. Expanding the gaze even more deeply, the book centers how the oceanic transport of human cargoes--infamously known as the Middle Passage--comprised a violently regulated process foundational to the institution of bondage. Sowande' Mustakeem's groundbreaking study goes inside the Atlantic slave trade to explore the social conditions and human costs embedded in the world of maritime slavery. Mining ship logs, records and personal documents, Mustakeem teases out the social histories produced between those on traveling ships: slaves, captains, sailors, and surgeons. As she shows, crewmen manufactured captives through enforced dependency, relentless cycles of physical, psychological terror, and pain that led to the making--and unmaking--of enslaved Africans held and transported onboard slave ships. Mustakeem relates how this process, and related power struggles, played out not just for adult men, but also for women, children, teens, infants, nursing mothers, the elderly, diseased, ailing, and dying. Mustakeem offers provocative new insights into how gender, health, age, illness, and medical treatment intersected with trauma and violence transformed human beings into the world's most commercially sought commodity for over four centuries."--Provided by the publisher. 2016 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 326.1(261/264)

Gordon Bennett and the first yacht race across the Atlantic / Sam Jefferson. "The 1866 transatlantic yacht race was a match that saw three yachts battle their way across the Atlantic in the dead of winter in pursuit of a $90,000 prize. Six men died in the brutal and close-fought contest, and the event changed the perception of yachting from a slightly effete gentlemen's pursuit into something altogether more rugged and adventurous. The race also symbolized the beginning of America's 'gilded age', with its associated obscene wealth and largesse (the $90,000 prize put up by the three contestants is about $15 million in today's money), as well as the thawing of relations between the US and UK. The narrative focuses on the victorious yacht Henrietta and her owner James Gordon Bennett. Bennett was the son of the multimillionaire proprietor of the New York Herald, and a notorious playboy. His infamous stunts included driving his carriage through the streets of New York naked, tipping a railway porter $30,000, and turning up at his own engagement party blind drunk and mistaking the fire for a urinal, which led to the coining of the phrase 'Gordon Bennett!'. However, Bennett was also a serious yachtsman and had served with distinction during the civil war aboard Henrietta, and he was the only owner to be aboard his own boat during the race. Other characters include Bennett's captain Samuel Samuels (legendary clipper skipper, ex-convict and occasional vaudeville actor), financier Leonard Jerome, aboard Henrietta as race invigilator (he also happened to be grandfather to Winston Churchill) and Stephen Fisk, a journalist so desperate to cover the race that he evaded a summons to appear as a witness in court and instead smuggled himself aboard Henrietta in a crate of champagne. Using the framework of the race to discuss the various historical themes, there's ample drama, and the diverse and eccentric range of characters ensure that this is a book laced with plenty of human interest, scandal and adventure."--Provided by the publisher. 2016. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 797.144.092.1(261)

Choosing war : Presidential decisions in the Maine, Lusitania, and Panay incidents /Douglas Carl Peifer. "China's expanding air and naval capabilities, coupled with the proliferation of long-range anti-ship and anti-air missile systems, are making US naval diplomacy an increasingly risky enterprise. It is surprising therefore how little attention has been devoted to comparing the way in which different administrations have reacted in dissimilar manners to major naval incidents. This book provides the first comparative analysis of multiple cases. In particular, it examines three incidents: the Maine incident (1898), which led to war in the short term; the Lusitania crisis (1915), which set the trajectory for intervention; and the Panay incident (1937), which was settled diplomatically. After scrutinizing these incidents and the domestic and international factors shaping the subsequent crisis, Douglas Carl Peifer analyses the presidential decision making in terms of options considered and policies selected. The book draws upon international relations and coercion theory but emphasizes the importance of context, complexity, and contingency when assessing presidential decision making. The contemporary tensions in East Asia, the Persian Gulf, the Baltic, and the Black Sea are increasingly vexing US naval diplomacy. By analyzing how Presidents William McKinley, Woodrow Wilson, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt responded to the Maine, Lusitania, and Panay incidents, this book provides an essential instrument to deal with the growing threats of a new naval crisis."--Provided by the publisher. 2016 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.49(73)

Endless forms : Charles Darwin, natural science and the visual arts /edited by Diana Donald and Jane Munro. 2009. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 576.12:7

HMS Terror / Matthew Betts. "In the summer of 1845, Sir John Franklin and a crew of 128 men entered Lancaster Sound on board HMS Erebus and HMS Terror in search of a Northwest Passage. The sturdy former bomb ships were substantially strengthened and fitted with the latest technologies for polar service and, at the time, were the most advanced sailing vessels developed for Polar exploration. Both ships, but especially HMS Terror, had already proven their capabilities in the Arctic and Antarctic. With such sophisticated, rugged, and successful vessels, victory over the Northwest Passage seemed inevitable, yet the entire crew vanished, and the ships were never seen again by Europeans. Finally, in 2014, the wreck of HMS Erebus was discovered by Parks Canada. Two years later, the wreck of HMS Terror was found, sitting upright, in near pristine condition. The extraordinarily well-preserved state and location of the ships, so far south of their last reported position, raises questions about the role they played in the tragedy. Did the extraordinary capabilities of the ships in fact contribute to the disaster? Never before has the Franklin Mystery been comprehensively examined through the lens of its sailing technology. This book documents the history, design, modification, and fitting of HMS Terror, one of the world?s most successful polar exploration vessels. Part historical narrative and part technical design manual, this book provides, for the first time, a complete account of Terror's unique career, as well as an assessment of her sailing abilities in polar conditions, a record of her design specifications, and a full set of accurate plans of her final 1845 configuration. Based on meticulous historical research, the book details the ship's every bolt and belaying pin, and ends with the discovery and identification of the wreck in 2016, explaining how the successes and ice-worthiness of Terror may have contributed to the Franklin disaster itself. It is an ideal reference for those interested in the Franklin Mystery, in polar exploration, the Royal Navy, and in ship design and modelling." -- Provided by the publisher. 2020. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 623.82TERROR

Distant freedom : St Helena and the abolition of the slave trade, 1840-1872 /Andrew Pearson. "This book is an examination of the island of St Helena's involvement in slave trade abolition. After the establishment of a British Vice-Admiralty court there in 1840, this tiny and remote South Atlantic colony became the hub of naval activity in the region. It served as a base for the Royal Navy's West Africa Squadron, and as such became the principal receiving depot for intercepted slave ships and their human cargo. During the middle decades of the nineteenth century over 25,000 'recaptive' or 'liberated' Africans were landed at the island. Here, in embryonic refugee camps, these former slaves lived and died, genuine freedom still a distant prospect. This book provides an account and evaluation of this episode. It begins by charting the political contexts which drew St Helena into the fray of abolition, and considers how its involvement, at times, came to occupy those at the highest levels of British politics. In the main, however, it focuses on St Helena itself, and examines how matters played out on the ground. The study utilises documentary sources (many previously untouched) which tell the stories of those whose lives became bound up in the compass of anti-slavery, far from London and long after the Abolition Act of 1807. It puts the Black experience at the foreground, aiming to bring a voice to a forgotten people, many of whom died in limbo, in a place that was physically and conceptually between freedom and slavery."--Provided by the publisher. 2016. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 306.3/6209973

Inquisitive eyes : Slade painters in Edwardian Wessex /Gwen Yarker "This real contribution to the literature on artists and place is a truly fresh look not only at the Slade milieu but at the flavour of landscape painting in early twentieth century Britain. Convincingly argued, this focuses on the importance of Purbeck to some of the most important Edwardian painters. Plein air artists visiting from the 1890s saw the county through the lens of Thomas Hardy and exhibited paintings of a timeless Wessex in London. Slade tutors and students, during its Grand Epoch and 'first crisis of brilliance', mostly visited through their friendship with a friend of Hardy, the little known Dorset-born painter John Everett. Easily accessible by train from London, painters were there in the summer months leading to Augustus John's description that 'Corfe Castle and the neighbourhood would make you mad with painter's cupidity'. Up to 300 painters were attracted to this sketching ground by its unique combination of ancient barrows and mining/clay pits, and dramatic coast, over the period. Painters featured in the book include, Vanessa Bell, Charles Conder, John Everett, Roger Fry, Augustus John, Helen McNicoll, William Orpen, Philip Wilson Steer and Henry Tonks. This book is richly illustrated and has broad appeal for non-specialists interested in landscape painting, as well as to specialists interested in re-assessing artistic reputations and ideas of modernity in early twentieth century British art. A genuinely fresh look at the Slade's first crisis of brilliance, centred in Thomas Hardy's Dorset. An excellent wealth of new and unpublished material with quotes carefully selected to illuminate the interlocking lives of well- and lesser-known modern painters. This includes never before published drawings by Orpen charting the closeness of his friendship with John Everett and fellow Slade students. This story is a lost chapter in British art."--Provided by the publisher. 2016 • BOOK • 1 copy available.

Logistics in the Falklands War : a case study in expeditionary warfare /Kenneth L. Privratsky. "While many books have been written on the Falklands War, this is the first to focus on the vital aspect of logistics. The challenges were huge; the lack of preparation time; the urgency; the huge distances involved; the need to requisition ships from trade to name but four. After a brief discussion of events leading to Argentina's invasion the book describes in detail the rush to re-organise and deploy forces, despatch a large task force, the innovative solutions needed to sustain the Task Force, the vital staging base at Ascension Island, the in-theatre resupply, the set-backs and finally the restoring of order after victory. Had the logistics plan failed, victory would have been impossible and humiliation inevitable, with no food for the troops, no ammunition for the guns, no medical support for casualties etc. The lessons learnt have never been more important with increasing numbers of out-of-area operations required in remote trouble spots at short notice. The Falklands experience is crucial for the education of new generations of military planners and fascinating for military buffs and this book fills an important gap."--Provided by the publisher. 2016. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.48"1982"(829)

Defending the inland shores : Newfoundland in the War of 1812 /Gordon K. Jones. "Defending the Inland Shores: Newfoundland in the War of 1812 describes the significant role that the Newfoundland soldiers played in the defence of Canada during the War of 1812. The Royal Newfoundland Regiment was on the front lines throughout the war, fought with honour and great courage, and experienced many casualties during military actions, such as the Battle of the Maumee, the Battle of Fort George, and the Battle of Lake Erie. This book also discusses several legendary military commanders from the War of 1812, including George Prevost, Isaac Brock, Andrew Bulger, and George Macdonell. The author skilfully describes many prominent battles of the war, such as the siege of Fort Detroit, the capture of an American naval schooner on Lake Ontario, a surprise attack on Ogdensburg, and the heroic defence of a British ship on the Niagara River during an American assault. Defending the Inland Shores: Newfoundland in the War of 1812 tells these incredible stories and recalls important events from Canadian military history."--Provided by publisher. 2016. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.48"1812/1815"(42:73)

Iron dawn : the Monitor, the Merrimack and the sea battle that changed history /Richard Snow. "No single sea battle has had more immediate and far-reaching consequences than the one fought in Hampton Roads, Virginia in early March 1862. The Confederacy, with no fleet of its own, took a radical step to combat the Union blockade, building on the hull of a captured Union frigate named the Merrimack an iron fort containing ten heavy guns. The North got word of the project when it was already well along, and, in panicked desperation, commissioned an eccentric inventor named John Ericsson to build the Monitor, an entirely revolutionary iron warship, and at the time the single most complicated machine ever made. Rushed through to completion in just 100 days, it mounted only two guns, but they were housed in a shot-proof revolving turret. The ship hurried south from Brooklyn - nearly sinking twice on the voyage - only to arrive to find the Merrimack had come out that morning and sunk half the Union fleet, and would be back to finish the job the next day. When she returned, the Monitor was there. She fought the Merrimack to a standstill, and, many believe, saved the Union cause. As soon as word of the fight spread, Great Britain - the foremost sea power of the day - ceased work on all her wooden ships. As well as providing a pivotal victory in the Civil War, a thousand-year-old tradition had ended. The path to the naval future opened - a new future of industrial warfare, with iron colossi taking to the waves. The Monitor and the Merrimack were early models of the carriers and mega-ships that extend military might over the high seas to this day."--Provided by the publisher. 2016. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.49"1862"(73)

The diary of Philip Thomas Smith on board the Royal Admiral en route for Van Diemen's Land : Philip Smith's diary of his journey as a cabin passenger on board the barque Royal Admiral from London to Hobart, 27 November 1831-1 April 1832, and his first impressions of Hobart Town /edited by Richard Fotheringham. Philip Thomas Smith, an unsuccessful London lawyer, arrived in Van Dieman's Land (Tasmania) in 1832 as an early settler and went on to become a leading landowner, citizen and prominent anti-transportation campaigner. His diary records the voyage from London detailing life aboard, describing his fellow passengers and crew, and his first impressions of Hobart and the opportunities available to new settlers there. 2016. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92SMITH, PHILIP

The Battle of the Atlantic : How the allies won the war /Jonathan Dimbleby. "Jonathan Dimbleby's The Battle of the Atlantic offers a detailed and immersive account of this campaign, placing it within the context of the war as a whole. Dimbleby delves into the politics on both sides of the Atlantic, revealing the role of Bletchley Park and the complex and dynamic relationship between America and England. He uses contemporary diaries and letters from leaders and sailors to chilling effect, evoking the lives and experiences of those who fought the longest battle of World War Two. This is the definitive account of the Battle of the Atlantic."--Provided by the publisher. 2016 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.54/293

The social and economic benefits of marine and maritime cultural heritage : towards greater accessibility and effective management /Anthony Firth "The importance of our heritage and its relevance both to our society and to our economy is becoming increasingly recognised. Whether in our towns and cities or in rural landscapes, the character of places draws upon the past, stimulating interest and enjoyment amongst those who live there, and attracting visitors from both near and far. We seem to have lost sight, however, of just how much of our present has been shaped by our age-old relationship with the sea. The UK is surrounded by the sea. It has been fundamental to communication, to our resources, to trade and to culture for millennia. It is often said that we are a maritime nation, but what does this mean today? This report - initiated by the former British Academy & Honor Frost Foundation Steering Committee on Underwater Cultural Heritage - looks at the social and economic benefits of the UK's marine and maritime cultural heritage. Although this heritage is tremendously rich and already has a big impact, its overall contribution seems largely unrecognised. This is the first study to examine how the UK's marine and maritime cultural heritage could be better harnessed and enhanced. The report shows how we can better understand - and better appreciate - the importance and impact of marine and maritime heritage. Many of our predecessors based their communities and made a living from being at the edge of the world's seas and oceans. They left us a fascinating heritage that we can explore, enjoy and use to enrich today's society. This report seeks to identify the current contribution of marine and maritime cultural heritage whilst making the case for greater accessibility and effective management in future. The report focusses on the situation in the UK but it is hoped that it will resonate in many other places around the world where the marine and maritime past forms a vibrant part of the cultural heritage."--Provided by the publisher. 2015. • BOOK • 1 copy available.

Messages from the sea : letters and notes from a lost era found in bottles and on beaches around the world /compiled byPaul Brown. "Messages from the Sea is a collection of found correspondence from a lost era of seafaring. These letters and notes were found washed ashore on beaches and bobbing in water, in corked glass bottles and wax-sealed boxes, inside the mouths of codfish and in the bellies of sharks, carved on pieces of wrecked ships and attached to the necks of seabirds. They tell tales of foundering ships, missing ocean liners and shipwrecked sailors, and contain moving farewells, romantic declarations and intriguing confessions. Some solve the mysteries of lost vessels and crews, while others create new mysteries yet to be solved. The messages date from the late-19th and early-20th centuries, an era before ship-to-shore radio, when a vessel lost contact with the world once it disappeared over the horizon. For many seafarers, the message in a bottle was a vital and valuable form of communication. Found messages were published in national and local newspapers around the world (often in columns titled Messages from the Sea), from which the content of this book is drawn. Together, they demonstrate the brave, lonely and fragile nature of life on the ocean waves. Included among these 100 messages are: a clue to the fate of the missing White Star liner Naronic; a murder confession found in a bottle off the White Cliffs of Dover; an update from John Franklin's lost Arctic expedition; a poem about a newborn baby found inside an 11ft shark; an unlikely apology from fleeing fraudster Violet Charlesworth; evidence for the unnecessary loss of the steamship London with 220 souls; the truth behind the mysterious grave robbery of the Earl of Crawford; and a message from the deck of the sinking Titanic. Each message is placed in context, where possible, with details of the vessel, sender and other circumstances, with attempts to solve the mysteries they present. Also included is an introductory essay on the history and importance of the message in a bottle."--Provided by the publisher. 2016 • BOOK • 1 copy available.

Order and disorder in the British Navy, 1793-1815 : control, resistance, flogging and hanging /Thomas Malcomson. "Churchill once famously remarked that he would not join the navy because it was "all rum, sodomy and the lash". How far this was true of the navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars is the subject of this important new book. Summary punishments, courts martial, flogging and hanging were regularly made use of in this period to establish order in the navy. Based on extensive original research, including a detailed study of ships' captain's logs and muster tables, this book explores the concepts of order and disorder aboard ships and examines how order was preserved. It discusses the different sorts of disorder and why they occurred; argues that officers too sometimes pushed against the official order; and demonstrates that order was much more than the simple enforcement of the Articles of War. The book argues that the behaviours that were punished, how and to what degree reveal what the navy saw as most resistive or dangerous to its authority and the order it wanted established. In addition, it considers the role of patronage in shaping order, outlining how this was affected by Admiralty moves to centralise appointments, and shows that acts of disorder were plentiful, and increasing, in this period, and that the imbalance in court martial outcomes for sailors, marines and warrant officers, in comparison to commissioned officers, points to a flawed system of justice. Overall, the book provides an extremely nuanced picture of order and how it was preserved. Thomas Malcomson is a Professor in the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences at George Brown College, Toronto, Ontario. He completed his doctorate in history at York University, Toronto." --Provided by the publisher. 2016. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.133(42)"1793/1815"

Artists and empire : facing Britain's imperial past /edited by Alison Smith, David Blayney Brown and Carol Jacobi ; with contributions from Gus Casely-Hayford [and 5 others]. "Over the past thirty years, our ideas about the cultures of Empire have been transformed. Contemporary reflections on Empire by writers and artists are widely published and displayed, and museums have witnessed a growing number of exhibitions devoted to aspects of the rich and varied visual culture that emerged in places under British governance, from the Americas to India and Australasia. And yet, since the vast Imperial exhibitions of the early twentieth-century there has been no wide-ranging presentation of the objects made across the British Empire. This publication, which accompanies a major Tate Britain exhibition, fills that gap. Through broad groupings within thematic chapters - Mapping, Collecting, History, Portraiture, Cultural Exchange and the Return of Empire - leading scholars focus on how particular objects tell the history of life under British rule. Paintings by well-known artists such as John Singer Sargent and Sidney Nolan are illustrated alongside Benin bronze heads and Mughal miniatures in a survey that ranges from sixteenth century colonialism through to the projection of Britain?s imperial might in the late nineteenth century to its decline in the post-war era. Exploring how artists have represented and critiqued the diverse places, people and events that make up the legacy of Empire, our expert authors have created a vital book on a subject of broad contemporary interest."--Provided by the publisher. 2015. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 7:941-44

River gunboats : An illustrated encylopaedia /Roger Branfill-Cook "The first recorded engagement by a steam-powered warship took place on a river, when in 1824 the Honourable East India Company?s gunboat Diana went into action on the Irrawaddy in Burma. In the 150 years that followed river gunboats played a significant part in over forty campaigns and individual actions, down to the Portuguese and American ?Brown Water? fighting in Africa and Vietnam respectively at the end of the twentieth century. They proved to be the decisive factor in operations against the Maoris, with Gordon?s Ever Victorious Army in China, during the river campaigns of the American Civil War, in the French conquest of Indochina, during Kitchener?s advance on Khartoum, and on the Rufiji and Tigris during the Great War. River gunboats fought for the Paris Commune, on the rivers of South America, against the Bolsheviks, and during the Second World War in the open waters of the Mediterranean, while armoured Soviet gunboats fought German Panzers, and a pair of ?Girls? attacked the Japanese on the banks of the Irrawaddy. This lavishly illustrated encyclopaedia describes vessels of every nation designed as river gunboats, plus those converted river steamers which took part in combat. Maps of the river systems where they operated are included, together with narratives of the principal actions involving river gunboats. Their story is brought up-to-date with data on current riverine combat vessels in service today."--Provided by the publisher. 2016. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 623.824

Compass and rule : architecture as mathematical practice in England, 1500-1750 /Anthony Gerbino and Stephen Johnston ; with a contribution by Gordon Higgott. Gerbino, Anthony. c2009. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 721.011"15/17"

Blockade : cruiser warfare and the starvation of Germany in World War One /Steve R. Dunn. "Blockade is the story of a long-running battle at sea, a battle for trade which both Britain and Germany had to win in order to survive; in particular, it tells the story of the Northern Barrage and the 10th Cruiser Squadron. The Royal Navy's role during WWI in denying Germany access to the sea, trade and vital resources was crucial in helping win the war on the Western Front; the 'Northern Blockade', located across the inhospitable waters between Iceland and Scotland, was to bring the German economy to its knees and destroy her home front morale. Likewise, the Royal Navy's success in negating Germany's attacks on British commerce prevented much suffering in Britain, and the author vividly describes the final destruction of German surface vessel commerce warfare, culminating in the hard-fought battle between the raider SMS Leopard and two British warships. The American reaction to the British naval blockade and to Germany's war on trade and her treatment of American sailors taken prisoner is looked at, while the changes in strategy on both sides through the war and the use of converted liners and armed merchant vessels as warships (AMCs) are examined in detail."--Provided by the publisher. 2016. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.452

Sir John Franklin's Erebus and Terror expedition : Lost and found /Gillian Hutchinson "In 1845, British explorer Sir John Franklin set out on a voyage to find the North-West Passage - he sea route linking the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. The expedition was expected to complete its mission within three years and return home in triumph but the two ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, and the 129 men aboard them disappeared in the Arctic. The last Europeans to see them alive were the crews of two whaling ships in Baffin Bay in July 1845, just before they entered the labyrinth of the Arctic Archipelago. The loss of this British hero and his crew, and the many rescue expeditions and searches that followed, captured the public imagination, but the mystery surrounding the expedition's fate only deepened as more clues were found. How did Franklin's final expedition end in tragedy? What happened to the crew? The thrilling discoveries in the Arctic of the wrecks of Erebus in 2014 and Terror in 2016 have brought the events of 170 years ago into sharp focus and excited new interest in the Franklin expedition. This richly illustrated book is an essential guide to this story of heroism, endurance, tragedy and dark desperation."--Provided by the publisher. 2017. • BOOK • 2 copies available. 910.4(987)"1845/2016"

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