Library Results | Royal Museums Greenwich

The British on the Belgian coast in the Great War : the North Sea as front line /Luc Vanacker. "Brave Little Belgium motivated many in Britain and her Empire to enlist. Marines and Naval troops were the first to come to assist the Belgians at Antwerp; and their Navy's artillery helped to stop the German advance at Nieuport, on the river Yser. The North Sea became a new front line where the Dover Patrol came to the aid of the Belgian, French and British troops with warships, heavy artillery in the dunes and new fighter planes, showing the importance placed on fighting the German U-boat bases at Zeebrugge and Ostend from the sea as well as from land."--Provided by the publisher 2017 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.414.4

Lawson lies still in the Thames : The extraordinary life of Vice-Admiral Sir John Lawson "At the beginning of his diary, on 1st January 1660, Samuel Pepys noted that 'Lawson lies still in the River'. A mere two weeks before, amid rioting in the streets of London and with Parliament under the control of the army, Vice-Admiral John Lawson had taken a fleet of twenty-two warships into the Thames and, in defence of Parliament, blockaded the city. Despite being a staunch republican, Lawson would later aid the Restoration of Charles II, and died from wounds received in battle during the Second Anglo-Dutch War in 1665. This biography charts the tumultuous life and times of an ordinary seaman born in Scarborough who would come to play a major role in the English Civil War, the Restoration, the Anglo-Dutch Wars and the start of the transformation of England into a global political and economic power in the seventeenth century."--Provided by the publisher 2017. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92LAWSON

The Portuguese in the East : A cultural history of a maritime trading empire /Shihan de Silva Jayasuriya "Vasco da Gama's voyage to India in the late 15th Century opened up new economic and cultural horizons for the Portuguese. At the height of Portugal's maritime influence, it had created an oceanic state ranging from the Cape of Good Hope to China. While Portugal's direct political influence in Asia was comparatively short-lived, its linguistic influence remains. Here Shihan de Silva Jayasuriya charts the influences of the Portuguese in more than fifty Asian tongues, illustrating the extent of Lusitanian links. Luso-Asian influence became engrained in eastern cultures in more subtle ways than other European empires which followed, such as the Portuguese oral traditions in folk literature, now embedded in postcolonial Asian music and song. These Portuguese cultural legacies are a lasting reminder of an unexpected outcome of seaborne commerce."--Provided by the publisher. 2017 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 946.9

Battleship Warspite : detailed in the original builders' plans /Robert Brown. "The technical details of British warships were recorded in a set of plans produced by the builders on completion of every ship. Known as the 'as fitted' general arrangements, these drawings documented the exact appearance and fitting of the ship as it entered service. They were very large -- more than 12 feet long for capital ships -- highly detailed, annotated and labelled, and drawn with exquisite skill in multi-coloured inks and washes. Intended to provide a permanent reference for the Admiralty and the dockyards, they represent the acme of the draughtsman's art. Today these plans form part of the incomparable collection of the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich, which is using the latest scanning technology to make digital copies of the highest quality. This book is the first of a series based entirely on these draughts which will depict famous warships in an unprecedented degree of detail -- complete sets in full colour, with many close-ups and enlargements that make every aspect clear and comprehensible. Extensive captions point the reader to important features to be found in the plans, and an introduction covers the background to the design. The celebrated battleship Warspite is an ideal introduction to this new series -- an apparently familiar subject, but given this treatment the result is an anatomy that will fascinate every warship enthusiast and ship modeller."--Provided by the publisher. 2017. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 623.82WARSPITE

Strong to save : maritime mission in Hong Kong, from Whampoa reach to the mariners' club /Stephen Davies. "Tracing its origins back to 1822 in Whampoa, the Mariners' Club in Hong Kong was established to meet a specific need for an Anglo-Chinese society defined by that most dubious of activities, seafaring. Its creation was anything but straightforward, and in this can be seen the mutable and often tortuous relations between the various religious bodies, the local population, the transient sailors, the emerging captains of industry, and the growing regulatory reach of the colonial government. The club evolved through many embodiments and witnessed the growth of Hong Kong from a collection of mat-sheds on the foreshore, through colony to its current status. Throughout its turbulent past it has been occasionally marginalized but has always served as an important base for the key actors in the main commercial activity in Hong Kong: seafarers. This is a history of one of the most enduring institutions of Hong Kong, and the first of its kind. Using the Club's own records as well as a wide range of sources both from within Hong Kong and from the seafaring world at large, this is a comprehensive account of the life of the Missions, the tenancy of the different chaplains, managers, and stewards, the changes in seafaring practices and shipping, and the transformation of Hong Kong itself."--Provided by the publisher. 2017 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 061.21(512.317)

Operation Tadpole / John Bevan "The exploits of the Italian frogmen in the Mediterranean during World War 2 are well documented; the Royal Navy's counter-sabotage operations are not. What is known of the wartime diving operations of the Royal Navy in Gibraltar is often based on the 1958 film, 'Silent Enemy' which dramatised the events putting Commander Lionel 'Buster' Crabb at the heart of the operations. Buster Crabb had disappeared in mysterious circumstances under a Russian cruiser just 2 years before the film was released and the subsequent media furore was a marketing opportunity the film producers could not afford to miss. Crabb was indeed part of the diving team in Gibraltar at the time and did take part in the heroic underwater operations of the RN diving team. But he was not in charge. The real 'silent hero' of the operations was Lieutenant William 'Bill' Bailey. Operation Tadpole chronicles the actual events of the Royal Navy's underwater operations in Gibraltar and reinstates Lieutenant Bailey's true place in history."--Provided by the publisher. 2017 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.545.9(42:468.2)

Five hundred years of Deptford and Woolwich Royal Dockyards; Marking the 500th anniversary of the foundation of the Thames yards by Henry VIII opened by Dame Joan Ruddock MP for Lewisham Deptford : Transactions of the Naval Dockyard Society Volume 11 January 2019; conference held at the National Maritime Museum Greenwich 20 April 2013. The Naval Dockyard Society. 2019. • FOLIO • 1 copy available.

Captain James Cook / Rob Mundle. A biography of Captain James Cook (1728-1779). As a sailor, the author highlights the sailing and navigational challenges faced by Cook on his voyages. Born in Yorkshire, Cook joined the Royal Navy in 1755, participating in the Seven Years War and mapping the Newfoundland coast before undertaking the three voyages of discovery in the Pacific which made him famous. Commanding the Endeavour, Cook's first voyage in 1768 was to observe the transit of Venus. He went on to circumnavigate and map the coastline of New Zealand before sailing west to make the first recorded European contact with the eastern coast of Australia. Cook returned to the Pacific in 1772 in command of the Resolution to search for the hypothetical Terra Australis, circumnavigating the globe at an extreme southern latitude, one of the earliest to cross the Antarctic circle. Commanding the Resolution again on his third voyage of discovery and in search of the North West Passage, Cook stopped in Hawaii in 1779 where he was killed. Includes a bibliography and glossary of sailing terms. 2017. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92COOK

Picturing India : people, places and the world of the East India Company /John McAleer. "The British engagement with India was an intensely visual one. Images of the subcontinent, produced by artists and travellers in the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century heyday of the East India Company, reflect the role it played in Indian life. They mirror significant shifts in British policy and attitudes towards India. The Company's story is one of wealth, power, and the pursuit of profit. It changed what people in Europe ate, what they drank, and how they dressed. Ultimately, it laid the foundations of the British Raj. But few historians have considered the visual sources that survive and their implications for the link between images and empire, pictures and power. This book draws on the unrivalled riches of the British Library, telling the story of individual images, their creators, and the people and places they depict. It will present a detailed picture of the Company and its complex relationship with India, its people and cultures."--Provided by the publisher. 2017 • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 347.71EAST INDIA

Churchill and the Dardanelles / Christopher M. Bell "The story of the Dardanelles - the campaign which nearly destroyed Churchill's reputation forever. A detailed and authoritative account of the campaign's origins and execution, based on extensive archival research. Strips away the layers of myth that have long surrounded these dramatic events. Clearly shows how simple judgements about the operation - whether pro or contra - are neither possible nor fair. Reveals for the first time the secret machinations that led to Churchill's removal from office - including the high-level leaks fuelling the press campaign to drive Churchill from power. Untangles Churchill's complicated relationship with the dynamic Admiral Jacky Fisher - and Fisher's covert campaign to undermine the Dardanelles campaign. Tells the perhaps even more important story of Churchill after the Dardanelles - and his decades-long battle to defend his record over the campaign."--Provided by the publisher. 2017. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92CHURCHILL

Social history of british naval officers, 1775 -1815/ Evan Wilson "This book explores the world of British naval officers at the height of the Royal Navy's power in the age of sail. It describes the full spectrum of officers, from commissioned officers to the unheralded but essential members of every ship's company, the warrant officers. The book focusses on naval officers' social status and its implications for their careers. The demands of life at sea conflicted with the expectations of genteel behaviour and background in eighteenth-century Britain, and the ways officers grappled with this challenge forms a key theme. Drawing on a large database of more than a thousand officers, the book argues that, contrary to the prevailing view, officers were mostly from the middling sort, not the landed elite. It shows how the navy attracted hordes of hopeful commissioned officers, how unemployment was common for the majority even in wartime, and how only a select group managed to gain promotion to post-captain. The book corrects our understanding of the men who lived and served in the wardrooms of the Royal Navy and refocusses our attention away from those who won fame and fortune and onto ordinary naval officers."--Provided by the publisher. 2017. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.33(42)

Scurvy : The disease of discovery /Jonathan Lamb "Scurvy, a disease often associated with long stretches of maritime travel, generated sensations exceeding the standard of what was normal. Eyes dazzled, skin was morbidly sensitive, emotions veered between disgust and delight. In this book, Jonathan Lamb presents an intellectual history of scurvy unlike any other, probing the speechless encounter with powerful sensations to tell the story of the disease that its victims couldn't because they found their illness too terrible and, in some cases, too exciting. Drawing on historical accounts from scientists and voyagers as well as major literary works, Lamb traces the cultural impact of scurvy during the eighteenth-century age of geographical and scientific discovery. He explains the medical knowledge surrounding scurvy and the debates about its cause, prevention, and attempted cures. He vividly describes the phenomenon and experience of "scorbutic nostalgia," in which victims imagined mirages of food, water, or home, and then wept when such pleasures proved impossible to consume or reach. Lamb argues that a culture of scurvy arose in the colony of Australia, which was prey to the disease in its early years, and identifies a literature of scurvy in the works of such figures as Herman Melville, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Francis Bacon, and Jonathan Swift."--Provided by the publisher. 2017 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 616.392

British Destroyers 1939-45 : Pre-war Classes /Angus Konstam "The Royal Navy entered World War II with a large but eclectic fleet of destroyers. Some of these were veterans of World War I, fit only for escort duties. Most though, had been built during the inter-war period, and were regarded as both reliable and versatile. Danger though lurked across the seas as new destroyers being built in Germany, Italy and Japan were larger and better armoured. So, until the new, larger Tribal-class destroyers could enter service, these vessels would have to hold the line. Used mainly to hunt submarines, protect convoys from aerial attack, and take out other destroyers, these ships served across the globe during the war. This fully illustrated study is the first in a two-part series on the real workhorses of the wartime Royal Navy, focusing on how these ageing ships took on the formidable navies of the Axis powers."--Provided by the publisher. 2017. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 623.823.1(42)

British prisoners of war in First World War Germany / Oliver Wilkinson, University of Wolverhampton. "Over 185,000 British military servicemen were captured by the Germans during the First World War and incarcerated as prisoners of war (POWs). In this original investigation into their experiences of captivity, Wilkinson uses official and private British source material to explore how these servicemen were challenged by, and responded to, their wartime fate. Examining the psychological anguish associated with captivity, and physical trials, such as the controlling camp spaces; harsh routines and regimes; the lack of material necessities; and, for many, forced labour demands, he asks if, how and with what effects British POWs were able to respond to such challenges. The culmination of this research reveals a range of coping strategies embracing resistance; leadership and organisation; networks of support; and links with 'home worlds'. British Prisoners of War in First World War Germany offers an original insight into First World War captivity, the German POW camps, and the mentalities and perceptions of the British servicemen held within."--Provided by the publisher. 2017. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.257.3

Last voyage to Wewak : a tale of the sea, West Africa to the South Pacific /Simon J. Hall. "This is a thought-provoking work, capturing the march of time which overtook the maritime world in the last quarter of the 20th century. The final crumbling of the British register caused officers like Hall to find themselves in a strange new world, sailing under flags of convenience with all the old certainties of life at sea having vanished. There is both sadness and a rage at seeing a way of life disappear forever under the wheels of commerce, made more poignant by the author himself swallowing the anchor and moving on. Expelled from Indonesia as an undesirable, medically discharged in Honolulu, confined in Nigeria, Hall's turbulent life takes him from West Africa to Japan, from Europe to the Persian Gulf to the South Pacific. At last a Master Mariner, he serves on one last break-bulk general cargo ship, before transferring to the new maritime world. The prose is as elegantly expressed as in his earlier works. Wistful, unvarnished, droll, in powerless rage against the changes, this is an important companion to Hall's previous acclaimed books, a fine work that captures, in arresting style, the life of men who go down to the sea in ships."-- [2017] • BOOK • 1 copy available. 910.4/5092

Violent borders : refugees and the right to move /Reece Jones. "Forty thousand people died trying to cross international borders in the past decade, with the high-profile deaths along the shores of Europe only accounting for half of the grisly total. Reece Jones argues that these deaths are not exceptional, but rather the result of state attempts to contain populations and control access to resources and opportunities. 'We may live in an era of globalization,' he writes, 'but much of the world is increasingly focused on limiting the free movement of people.' In Violent Borders, Jones crosses the migrant trails of the world, documenting the billions of dollars spent on border security projects and their dire consequences for countless millions. While the poor are restricted by the lottery of birth to slum dwellings in the aftershocks of decolonization, the wealthy travel without constraint, exploiting pools of cheap labor and lax environmental regulations. With the growth of borders and resource enclosures, the deaths of migrants in search of a better life are intimately connected to climate change, environmental degradation, and the growth of global wealth inequality."--Provided by the publisher. 2017. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 325

The London, Tilbury and Southend Railway : a history of the company and line ; volume 6, the Gravesend Ferry /by Peter Kay. "Work on the history of the ferry was started at the very beginning of the LT&SR project in 1993. It is to be regrettedt however that no work was done on staff and user recollections in the 1990s something that has now almost ceased to tbe possible, at least so far as the ferry's heyday is concerned. On the other hand, if the account had been published in the 1990s it would have been less full and accurate in other ways, so great is the amount of material now accessible via online sources. This volume is intended to be taken in combination with Vol. 5 on Tilbury, however for the benefit of those who interest is 'maritime' or 'Gravesend' only, rather than 'railway', soem effort has been made to include a little background railway history here to make Vol. 6 intelligible on its own. [...] Seeral aspects of the ferry are covered here for the first time, notably: - the Gravesend politics of the 1850s which had so much influence on the way in which the LT&SR was able to take over the ferry - the origins of the West Street site - the LT&SR's use of the Terrace Pier - the true facts about the early railway ferry boats - the long process of debate from 1949 to 1960 on what was to be done about the ferry."--Provided by the publisher. 2017. • FOLIO • 1 copy available.

Cruise ships : A design voyage /Bruce Peter. "There has never been a time in history when large passenger ships have been built in greater numbers than the present. Cruise ships are one of the defining phenomena of our time, associated as they are with leisure, entertainment, conspicuous consumption and the many facets of globalisation. 'Cruise Ships: A Design Voyage' tells the story of cruise ship design and the development of the cruise industry from the late-Victorian era until the present day. The earliest cruises were overseas adventures on small yacht-like ships to the Mediterranean or to Norway's west coast -- cruise destinations still very popular today. Subsequently, in the Edwardian era and between the two world wars, cruising developed from an activity for the wealthy into one increasingly accessible to the middle classes. By the 1960s, America had become the main cruise market -- to serve which the first purpose-built, mass-market Caribbean cruise ships were built. Since then, cruise ships have grown greatly in scale and facilities, transforming from exclusive means of relaxation for the prosperous into vast floating entertainment resorts, accommodating broad cross-sections of society. 'Cruise Ships: A Design Voyage' sets the design of cruise ships and their promotion within wider contexts of architecture, design and economy."--Provided by the publisher. 2017. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 629.123.3(100)"18/20"

The silence of the archive / David Thomas, Simon Fowler and Valerie Johnson. "Evaluating archives in a post-truth society. In recent years big data initiatives, not to mention Hollywood, the video game industry and countless other popular media, have reinforced and even glamorized the public image of the archive as the ultimate repository of facts and the hope of future generations for uncovering 'what actually happened'. The reality is, however, that for all sorts of reasons the record may not have been preserved or survived in the archive. In fact, the record may never have even existed - its creation being as imagined as is its contents. And even if it does exist, it may be silent on the salient facts, or it may obfuscate, mislead or flat out lie. The Silence of the Archive is written by three expert and knowledgeable archivists and draws attention to the many limitations of archives and the inevitability of their having parameters. Silences or gaps in archives range from details of individuals' lives to records of state oppression or of intelligence operations. The book brings together ideas from a wide range of fields, including contemporary history, family history research and Shakespearian studies. It describes why these silences exist, what the impact of them is, how researchers have responded to them, and what the silence of the archive means for researchers in the digital age. It will help provide a framework and context to their activities and enable them to better evaluate archives in a post-truth society."--Provided by the publisher. 2017. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 930.251

Emigrants : why the English sailed to the New World /James Evans. "During the course of the seventeenth century nearly 400,000 people left Britain for the Americas, most of them from England. Crossing the Atlantic was a major undertaking, the voyage long and treacherous. There was little hope of returning to see the friends and family who stayed behind. Why did so many go? A significant number went for religious reasons, either on the MAYFLOWER or as part of the mass migration to New England; some sought their fortunes in gold, fish or fur; some went to farm tobacco in Virginia, a booming trade which would enmesh Europe in a new addiction. Some went because they were loyal to the deposed Stuart king, while others yearned for an entirely new ambition - the freedom to think as they chose. Then there were the desperate: starving and impoverished people who went because things had not worked out in the Old World and there was little to lose from trying again in the New. 'Emigrants' casts light on this unprecedented population shift - a phenomenon that underpins the rise of modern America. Using contemporary sources including diaries, court hearings and letters, James Evans brings to light the extraordinary personal stories of the men and women who made the journey of a lifetime."--Provided by the publisher. 2017. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 325.2(42:73)

Food for the flames : idols and missionaries in central Polynesia /David Shaw King ; photography by Brian Carlson ; foreword by David Attenborough. In this companion to his previous book, The Bible in Early English Literature, David Fowler completes his stimulating and broad-ranging study of medieval English literature in the light of biblical tradition. As in the first volume, he both provides a broad general view of literary trends and closely examines representative works that illustrate these trends. 2011. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 306.460996

Moonshots : 50 years of NASA space exploration seen through Hasselblad cameras /Piers Bizony. "In December 1968, the crew of Apollo 8 captured images depicting Earth hanging like a lonely fruit in the vast darkness of space. The social and spiritual shock of that photograph - and those which followed - never fully diminished, even as Apollo missions followed at an incredible pace, including the first lunar landing on July 20, 1969. Moonshots is the definitive photographic chronicle of NASA space exploration - a giant slipcased book featuring more than 200 remarkable photographs from that eventful era created almost exclusively on large-format Hasselblad cameras. Though a number of these images have been reproduced in books and magazines over the years, one attribute of this incredible collection has seldom been exploited: the sheer size and resolution of the photography. Aerospace author Piers Bizony scoured NASA's archives of Hasselblad film frames to assemble the space fan's ultimate must-have book - a gorgeous large-format hardcover presented in a heavy slipcase with die-cuts to represent the phases of the moon. This resulting volume extracts a stunning selection of photographs captured by astronauts using Hasselblad equipment, many of them seldom previously published, let alone in such a lavish package. The Apollo voyages form the centerpiece of this amazing collection, but equally fabulous images from precursor Gemini missions are also featured, along with later photographs chronicling Space Shuttle missions and even the construction of the International Space Station."--Provided by the publisher. 2017. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 629.45/40973

Dunkirk : The real story in photographs /Tim Lynch "The Second World War saw heroic efforts made by the Allied forces from its very outset, but in May 1940 disaster befell the British Expeditionary Force in France. Isolated from the rest of their allies, they faced insurmountable numbers of enemy troops. All was so very nearly lost, until the German land forces were given the surprise order by Adolf Hitler to halt briefly. Taking advantage of this unexpected but welcome turn of events, the British troops fled for the beaches of Dunkirk and fortified them while the Royal Navy dispatched almost 900 ships and boats to rescue British and Allied soldiers from the jaws of defeat. In all, over 300,000 men were evacuated, while 40,000 brave rearguard troops lost their lives or their freedom for the good of their allies. Operation Dynamo, and its remarkable evacuations from the beaches of Dunkirk, was hailed by Winston Churchill as a 'miracle of deliverance', but he also warned that 'wars are not won by evacuations.' This was only the beginning of a conflict that was to last five long years, but for now the fight for freedom could continue. Here Tim Lynch presents the true story of this miraculous event using stunning, rare images from the Mirrorpix archive."--Provided by the publisher. 2017 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.542.1"1940"

Worldly consumers : the demand for maps in Renaissance Italy /Genevieve Carlton. "Though the practical value of maps during the sixteenth century is well documented, their personal and cultural importance has been relatively underexamined. In Worldly Consumers, Genevieve Carlton explores the growing availability of maps to private consumers during the Italian Renaissance and shows how map acquisition and display became central tools for constructing personal identity and impressing one's peers. Drawing on a variety of sixteenth-century sources, including household inventories, epigrams, dedications, catalogs, travel books, and advice manuals, Worldly Consumers studies how individuals displayed different maps in their homes as deliberate acts of self-fashioning. One citizen decorated with maps of Bruges, Holland, Flanders, and Amsterdam to remind visitors of his military prowess, for example, while another hung maps of cities where his ancestors fought or governed, in homage to his auspicious family history. Renaissance Italians turned domestic spaces into a microcosm of larger geographical places to craft cosmopolitan, erudite identities for themselves, creating a new class of consumers who drew cultural capital from maps of the time."--Provided by the publisher. 2015 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 655.11(45)

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