Library Results | Royal Museums Greenwich

Nelson's letters to Lady Hamilton and related documents / edited by Marianne Czisnik. "This critical edition of Admiral Nelson's letters to Lady Hamilton is to bring together the important letters of Nelson to Lady Hamilton that have only been published in parts over the last 200 years. Only by bringing the letters of Nelson to Lady Hamilton together is it possible to assess their relationship and to present certain insights into Nelson's personality that are not revealed in his official correspondence. Thorough research into this side of Nelson's personality and into the nature of his notorious and unconventional relationship with Lady Hamilton has been hampered in the past by a desire not to look too closely at Nelson's personal morality. To a considerable extent their relationship was regarded as a challenge to traditional gender roles and it indeed did not conform to stereotypes that are usually attributed to men and women in a heterosexual relationship. Lady Hamilton was so obviously lacking in the subservience and passivity expected from women in that era that authors over the course of time started to exclude her in their accounts of the public sphere by reducing her to a private weakness of Nelson's, who could be successful at sea, where he was far away from the enthralling influence of a manipulating woman. The letters in this edition testify how Admiral Nelson's life at sea was not exclusively public nor was Lady Hamilton's life ashore solely private. It also shows how the two supposedly separate spheres of male and female lives were connected. A fresh approach and a thorough discussion of this important and neglected aspect not only of Nelson's life, but of gender history, demands this exact and scholarly edition of the primary material, which consists of about 400 letters that Nelson wrote to Lady Hamilton over the course of the last seven years of his life and about a dozen letters of her to him that have survived."-- [2020] • BOOK • 1 copy available. 061.22NRS

Destroyer Cossack : detailed in the original builders' plans /John Roberts. "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 represented the exact appearance and fitting of the ship as it entered service. Intended to provide a permanent reference for the Admiralty and the dockyards, these highly detailed plans were drawn with exquisite skill in multi-coloured inks and washes that represent the acme of the draughtsman's art. Today they 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 one of a series based entirely on these draughts which 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 subject of this volume is one of the famous Tribal' class, large destroyers intended to substitute for cruisers in many roles. Their complicated evolution is fully covered for the first time, with plans of the different proposals and alternatives considered, along with an outstanding collection of detail drawings ranging from magazine arrangements to a view of the variations in upper deck fittings across the whole class. Wartime modifications are also included. Cossack was the obvious choice to represent the class, not just because of her well-known exploits like boarding the German supply ship Altmark in 1940, but also because the technical documentation of the ship is particularly rich, much of which is reproduced in this volume."--Provided by the publisher. 2020. • FOLIO • 2 copies available. 623.8254

Revenge in the name of honour : the Royal Navy's quest for vengeance in the single ship actions of the war of 1812 /Nicholas James Kaizer. "On 19 August 1812, lookouts of the British frigate HMS Guerriere spotted the American frigate, USS Constitution. Captain James Dacres, Guerriere's commander, was eager for a fight and confident of victory. He had the weight of Britain's naval reputation and confidence behind him. Yet when the guns fell silent Guerriere was a shattered hulk and Dacres had struck to Constitution. By the year's end, three British frigates and two sloops had been defeated in single ship actions against American opponents, throwing the British naval sphere into a crisis. These losses could not have been more shocking to the Royal Navy and the British world. In a strange reversal, the outnumbered British Army along the Canadian border had triumphed but the tiny United States Navy had humiliated the world's largest and most prestigious navy. Further dramatic sea battles between the two powers followed into early 1815, and the British tried to reconcile the perceived stain to the Royal Navy's honour. Many within and outside of the Royal Navy called for vindication. The single ship actions of the War of 1812 have frequently been dismissed by historians of the war, or of naval history in general. The fights of late 1813 and 1814 are often omitted from works of history altogether, as many (correctly) argue that they had no strategic impact on the wider course of the war. Yet to contemporaries, naval and civilian alike, these single ship actions could not have been more important. This volume explores the single ship naval actions during the War of 1812: how they were fought, their strategic context, and their impact on the officers and men who fought them, and the wider British psyche. Trafalgar happened only seven years earlier, and the fighting ethos of the Royal Navy was still hardened by Nelsonic naval culture. Whereas contemporary civilians and modern historians understood the losses as the inevitable result of fighting the vastly superior American 'super' frigates, the officers of the navy struggled to accept that they could not cope with the new American warships. The losses precipitated changes to Admiralty policy and drove an urge for vengeance by the officers of the Royal Navy. This volume explores the drama and impact of the British single ship losses and victories to examine Britain's naval experience in the moments that captivated the British and American world in the last Anglo-American War."--Provided by the publisher. 2020. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.49"1812"(42:73)

Envisioning empire : the new British world from 1763 to 1773 /edited by Robert A. Olwell and James M. Vaughn ''Examining the pivotal period between the end of the Seven Years' War and the dawn of the American Revolution, Envisioning Empire reinterprets the development of the British Empire in the 18th century. With exceptional geographical scope, this book provides new ways of understanding the actors and events in many imperial arenas, including West Africa, North America, the Caribbean, and South Asia. While 1763 has long been seen as marking a turning point in British and British-colonial history, Envisioning Empire treats this epochal year, and the decade that followed, as constituting a discrete 'moment' in Imperial history that is significant in its own right. Exploring the programs and plans that sought to incorporate the vast new territories and millions of new subjects into the British state and imperial system, it demonstrates how the period between the end of the Seven Years' War and the beginning of the American Revolution was one of contested ideas about the future of British overseas expansion. By examining these competing imperial visions and designs from the perspective of Britain's new subjects as well as from that of British ministers, Envisioning Empire both illuminates and complicates the boundaries that have been drawn between the first and second British empires and reveals how the Empire was being conceived, discussed, and debated during an era of rapid transformation.''--Povided by the publisher. 2020 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 941.07/3

Waves across the south : a new history of revolution and empire /Sujit Sivasundaram. "A bracingly fresh account of the origins of the British empire told from the waters of the global South. After revolutions in America and France, a wave of tumult coursed the globe from 1790 to 1850. In this major reassessment, Cambridge historian Sujit Sivasundaram, turns our understanding of this 'age of revolutions' inside out. He approaches the era not primarily from the perspective of European colonial forces, but from indigenous peoples in the Indian and Pacific Oceans as they faced empire, engaged in vibrant public debate and undertook a visionary enagement with modernity and revolutionary change. Waves Across the South brings together Sivasundaram;s work in far-flung archives across the world and the best new academic research. Too often, history is told from the northern hemisphere, with modernity, knowledge, selfhood and politics moving from the Euro-Atlantic to influence the rest of the word. Waves Across the South tells the story from the viewpoint of Aboriginal Australians and Parsis, Mauritians and Malays. It shows how people of colour asserted their place and their future as the British empire expanded, overtaking the French and Dutch to establish global supremacy. This is a new history that is fitting for our times. It charts how colonisation brought with it tragic limitations to liberty, humanity and equality in southern hemisphere communities. Waves Across the South insists, too, on the political significance of the physical environment: the Bay of Bengal and the Tasman Sea were the essential contexts for the crashing waves of revolution, empire and counter-revoltuion. Naval war, imperial rivalry and oceanic trade had their parts to play, but so did hope, false promise, rebellion, knowledge and the pursuit of modernity. A compulsive story full of cultural depth and range, this is a world history that speaks to the urgent concerns of today. Only when looking from the water can we fully understand where we are now."--Provided by the publisher. 2020. • BOOK • 2 copies available. 909/.09724

Giants of the sea : ships & men who changed the world : the fascinating story of the colossal cargo ships that make today's world trade possible & the pantheon of nine visionary titans who created them /John D. McCown, Jr. "Giants Of The Sea: Ships & Men Who Changed The World" covers the history and development of the modern cargo shipping industry in 330 pages spread across 30 discrete chapters. The history of cargo shipping going back to the Egyptians moving obelisks by barge on the Nile is covered, but the focus is on the post-war revolution in shipping cost efficiency through specialization and geometric increases in vessel size. With detailed information on what comprises each major shipping segment today, it also includes chapters on the nine men whose fingerprints are still all over the industry. Three Americans, two Danes, two Greeks and two Chinese. The modern worldwide cargo shipping industry stands on the shoulders of these giants. The author, who worked on a daily basis for twenty years with Malcom McLean, the inventor of container shipping, demonstrates the direct link between the efficiency of the shipping industry and the explosion in world trade it has enabled. The book outlines how today's shipping industry touches almost everyone on the planet in ways that they may not even be aware. In addition to highlighting the industry's contribution to the global economy, the book makes the case that it has been a prime catalyst in reducing poverty and even increasing peace around the world. Packed with interesting and fun facts in an 8 1/2" x 11" hardcover format, it is the author's hope that this broad sweep of a largely invisible industry is an informative and enjoyable read for people both inside and outside of shipping."--Amazon.com. 2020 • BOOK • 1 copy available. txt

Britain's war against the slave trade : the operations of the Royal Navy's West Africa Squadron, 1807-1867 /Anthony Sullivan. "Long before recorded history, men, women and children had been seized by conquering tribes and nations to be employed or traded as slaves. Greeks, Romans, Vikings and Arabs were among the earliest of many peoples involved in the slave trade, and across Africa the buying and selling of slaves was widespread. There was, at the time, nothing unusual in Britain's somewhat belated entry into the slave trade, transporting natives from Africa's west coast to the plantations of the New World. What was unusual was Britain's decision, in 1807, to ban the slave trade throughout the British Empire. Britain later persuaded other countries to follow suit, but this did not stop this lucrative business. So the Royal Navy went to war against the slavers, in due course establishing the West Africa Squadron which was based at Freetown in Sierra Leone. This force grew throughout the nineteenth century until a sixth of the Royal Navy's ships and marines was employed in the battle against the slave trade. Between 1808 and 1860, the West Africa Squadron captured 1,600 slave ships and freed 150,000 Africans. The slavers tried every tactic to evade the Royal Navy enforcers. Over the years that followed more than 1,500 naval personnel died of disease or were killed in action, in what was difficult and dangerous, and at times saddening, work. In Britain's War Against the Slave Trade, naval historian Anthony Sullivan reveals the story behind this little-known campaign by Britain to end the slave trade. Whereas Britain is usually, and justifiably, condemned for its earlier involvement in the slave trade, the truth is that in time the Royal Navy undertook a major and expensive operation to end what was, and is, an evil business."--Provided by the publisher. 2020. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 306.362

Historical development of the date line (1522- 2012) : first comprehensive survey in 2022 ; 500 years date line /by H.-D. Woreschk. "The book falls into two parts. In the first part, the historical framework conditions that led to the formation of the political-economic dateline are presented. The second part deals with the formation of this variant of the dateline itself - a process which, with the help of the latest chart material from the Hydrographic Department of the British Navy (Royal Navy), also takes into account recent developments in the southern and central Pacific. The question of changing the dateline is also pursued from a legal point of view, since it is precisely in this area that one encounters misconceptions in many places. Focal points: impact of imperialist colonialism on the ownership structure in the Pacific Ocean with Hawaii, Fiji, Tonga and Samoa; influence of the novel means of transport railway, Steamship and electric telegraph on the formation of the date line; Breakdown of the longitude unification (striving to reduce the zero meridians in the meridian-dependent sciences of nautics, cartography, geography, and astronomy) and its influence on the orbit of the date line (Conference of Venice (1881), Rome (1883), Washington (1884); World and Zone Time); Difficulties due to initial meridian diversity in the meridian-dependent sciences with the emphasis on navigation and railway timetable design; beginning of the exploration of Oceania (scientific expeditions of the 'Novara', 'Challenger', 'Gazelle', 'Tuscarora' and 'Egeria'; deep-sea sounding, laying of submarine, continental telegraph cables and a.); first coordinates of the hydrographic divisions of the 'Royal Navy' and the 'US Navy' to the date line that is being formed; Clarification of the question 'Who determines the path of the date line?' Clarification of the multi-layered term 'dateline'; Summary of the 500-year developmental period of today's dateline in the form of a collection of maps and sketches covering three centuries; Detailed representation of the most recent change of the line by Kiribati, Samoa and Tokelau Outlook at possible further changes in the course of the date line; excursions to clarify the developmental background of the emerging political-economic line of the date change; Original sources from 1790 to 2017 from various countries numerous sketches, illustrations and graphics"--Provided by the publisher. 2020. • BOOK • 2 copies available.

Anna of Denmark : the material and visual culture of the Stuart courts, 1589-1619 /Jemma Field. "This book analyses Anna of Denmark's material and visual patronage at the Stuart courts, examining her engagement with a wide array of expressive media including architecture, garden design, painting, music, dress, and jewellery. Encompassing Anna's time in Denmark, England, and Scotland, it establishes patterns of interest and influence in her agency, while furthering our knowledge of Baltic-British transfer in the early modern period. Substantial archival work has facilitated a formative re-conceptualisation of James and Anna's relationship, extended our knowledge of the constituents of consortship in the period, and has uncovered evidence to challenge the view that Anna followed the cultural accomplishments of her son, Prince Henry. This book reclaims Anna of Denmark as the influential and culturally active royal woman that her contemporaries knew. Combining politics, culture, and religion across the courts of Denmark, Scotland, and England, it enriches our understanding of royal women's roles in early modern patriarchal societies and their impact on the development of cultural modes and fashions. This book will be of interest to upper level undergraduate and postgraduate students taking courses on early modern Europe in the disciplines of Art and Architectural History, English Literature, Theatre Studies, History, and Gender Studies. It will also attract a wide range of academics working on early modern material and visual culture, and female patronage, while members of the public who enjoy the history of courts and the British royals will also find it distinctively appealing."--Provided by the publisher. 2020. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 941.06/1092

Migrants in medieval England, c. 500-c. 1500 / edited by W. Mark Ormrod, Joanna Story and Elizabeth M. Tyler. "This is the only book on the market to provide an in-depth analysis and discussion of the theme of migration in medieval England. Its themes - the movement of people and the social and cultural effects of migration - chime strongly with current debates in the UK on immigration; the book demonstrates that movement was a constant influence on the development of the kingdom of England and the concept of Englishness."--Back cover. 2020 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 304.84200902

The wedding of Charles I and Henrietta Maria, 1625 : celebrations and controversy /edited by Marie-Claude Canova-Green and Sara J. Wolfson. "On 11 May 1625 Charles I married Henrietta Maria, the youngest sister of Louis XIII of France. The match signalled Britain's firm alignment with France against Habsburg Spain and promised well for future relations between the two countries. However, the union between a Protestant king and a Catholic princess was controversial from the start and the marriage celebrations were fraught with tensions. They were further disrupted by the sudden death of James I and an outbreak of the plague, which prevented large-scale public celebrations in London. The British weather also played its part. In fact, unlike other state occasions, the celebrations exposed weaknesses in the display of royal grandeur and national superiority. To a large extent they also failed to hide the tensions in the Stuart-Bourbon alliance. Instead they revealed the conflicting expectations of the two countries, each convinced of its own superiority and intent on furthering its own national interests. Less than two years later Britain was effectively in a state of war against France. In this volume, leading scholars from a variety of disciplines explore for the first time the marriage celebrations of 1625, with a view to uncovering the differences and misunderstandings beneath the outward celebration of union and concord. By taking into account the ceremonial, political, religious and international dimensions of the event, the collection paints a rounded portrait of a union that would become personally successful, but complicated by the various tensions played out in the marriage celebrations and discussed here."--Provided by the publisher. [2020] • BOOK • 1 copy available. 941.06/2092

About ourselves. • JOURNAL • 113 copies available.

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