Library Results | Royal Museums Greenwich

The band that went to war : the Royal Marines band in the Falklands War /Brian Short. "The Royal Marines are renowned for their military skill and also for having one of the finest military bands in the world. These highly trained and talented musicians are equally at home parading at Buckingham Palace, playing at the Royal Albert Hall, or on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier in a foreign port. Why then when the Argentines invaded the Falklands in April 1982 did these superb musicians get involved in what became a serious and deadly military campaign? The answer is that, in addition to their musical expertise, the RM Band Service members are trained for military service and fully qualified in a multitude of military and medical skills, providing support to their comrades, the fighting commandos. The Band That Went to War is a graphic first-hand account of the Falklands War as it has never been told before. It describes the roles played by Royal Marine musicians in the conflict; unloading the wounded from helicopters, moving tons of stores and ammunition, burying their dead at sea and guarding and repatriating Argentine prisoners of war. These and other unseen tasks were achieved while still ready to provide morale boosting music to their commando brethren and other frontline troops. These men are not just musicians; they are Royal Marines."--Provided by the publisher. 2021. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 997.11024

Merchants : the community that shaped England's trade and empire, 1550-1650 /Edmond Smith. "In the century following Elizabeth I's rise to the throne, English trade blossomed as thousands of merchants launched ventures across the globe. Through the efforts of these 'mere merchants', England developed from a peripheral power on the fringes of Europe to a country at the center of a global commercial web, with interests stretching from Virginia to Ahmadabad and Arkhangelsk to Benin. Edmond Smith traces the lives of English merchants from their earliest steps into business to the heights of their successes. Smith unpicks their behavior, relationships, and experiences, from exporting wool to Russia, importing exotic luxuries from India, and building plantations in America. He reveals that the origins of 'global' Britain are found in the stories of these men whose livelihoods depended on their skills, entrepreneurship, and ability to work together to compete in cutthroat international markets. As a community, their efforts would come to revolutionize Britain's relationship with the world."--Provided by the publisher. 2021. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 381.09410903

Elizabeth's sea dogs and their war against Spain / Brian Best. Best, Brian, 2021. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 910.92242

The birth of an icon : Scott Linton and the building of the Cutty Sark : the true story/Alan Platt & Robert T. Sexton "The Cutty Sark is the world's most famous surviving merchant sailing ship and stands proudly amongst the top few maritime survivors of any kind. She is an icon, a brand, and her memorably intriguing name joins Auld Lang Syne as the most widely known words from the Scots of Robert Burns. That she was built at Dumbarton in Scotland in 1869-70 for Scottish owners is well known, but that much of the money which it took to build her was unwittingly provided by Scottish creditors is explained here for the first time. London, however, was her home port when she was under the Red Duster gaining her reputation amongst the glorious clippers which brought tea to the Thames from China and from her phenomenal voyages in the Australian wool trade."--Provided by the publisher. 2021. • BOOK • 2 copies available.

We are displaced : my journey and stories from refugee girls around the world /Malala Yousafzai ; with Liz Welch. "In this powerful and emotional New York Times bestseller, Nobel Peace Prize winner and activist Malala Yousafzai shares various stories of displacement, including her own. Part memoir, part communal storytelling, We Are Displaced introduces readers to some of the incredible girls Malala has met on her many journeys and lets each tell her story - girls who have lost their community, relatives and often the only world they've ever known, but have not lost hope. Longing for home and fear of an uncertain future binds all of these young women, but each is unique. In a time of immigration crises, war and border conflicts, We Are Displaced is an important reminder that every single one of the 79.5 million currently displaced is a person - often a young person - with dreams for a better, safer world." --Provided by the publisher 2021. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 305.9069140922

Recollections of the emigration service to Australia in sailing ships in long-past years Skirving, R. Scot 1942 • PAMPHLET • 1 copy available. 613.68

Lame captains and left-handed admirals : amputee officers in Nelson's Navy /Teresa Michals. Michals, Teresa, 2021. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.2/745092241

Colonial chaos in the southern Red Sea : a history of violence from 1830 to the twentieth century /Nicholas W. Stephenson Smith, [Northwestern University, Illinois]. "Today, the countries bordering the Red Sea are riven with instability. Why are the region's contemporary problems so persistent and interlinked? Through the stories of three compelling characters, Colonial Chaos in the Southern Red Sea sheds light on the unfurling of anarchy and violence during the colonial era. A noble Somali sultan, a cunning Yemeni militia leader and a Machiavellian French merchant ran amok in the southern Red Sea in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In response to colonial hostility and gunboat diplomacy, they attacked shipwrecks, launched piratical attacks and traded arms, slaves and drugs. Their actions contributed to the transformation of the region's international relations, redrew the political map, upended its diplomatic culture and remodelled its traditions of maritime law, sowing the seeds of future unrest. Colonisation created chaos in the southern Red Sea. This book offers an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the relationship between the region's colonial past and its contemporary instability."-- 2021. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 953/.04

Blood waters : war, disease and race in the eighteenth-century British Caribbean /Nicholas Rogers. "This book paints a picture of the eighteenth-century British Caribbean as a frontier zone in which war, international rivalry, disease and slavery are paramount themes. It explores the lure of the region as a vaunted site of potential wealth and derring-do, the fragility of tropical campaigns, the nature of slave insurrection, and the efforts of indigenous peoples (here, the Miskito of the Mosquito Coast and the Black Caribs of St Vincent) to carve out some autonomy from the British and Bourbon powers. It also explores the mutiny of a slave-ship and its unsuccessful raiding ventures in order to show how the dominant European powers sought to contain piracy in an expanding plantation complex. The book emphasizes the contrarieties of struggle, the difficulties preventing subaltern groups, whether slaves, free blacks, indigenous peoples or soldiers and sailors, from forging broader alliances, and the importance of tropical disease in shaping military outcomes. It warns against romanticizing resistance in the eighteenth-century Caribbean, showing that it was instead a 'marchlands' in which violence was a way of life and where solidarities were transitory and highly volatile."--Provided by the publisher. 2021. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 972.9/03

Brit(ish) : on race, identity and belonging /Afua Hirsch. "Where are you really from? You're British. Your parents are British. You were raised in Britain. Your partner, your children and most of your friends are British. So why do people keep asking you where are from? Brit(ish) is about a search for identity. It is about the everyday racism that plagues British society. It is about our awkward, troubled relationship with our history. It is about why liberal attempts to be 'colour-blind' have caused more problems than they have solved. It is about why we continue to avoid talking about race. In this personal and provocative investigation, Afua Hirsch explores a very British crisis of identity. We are a nation in denial about our past and our present. We believe we are the nation of abolition, but forget we are the nation of slavery. We are convinced that fairness is one of our values, but that immigration is one of our problems. Brit(ish) is the story of how and why this came to be, and an urgent call for change."--Provided by the publisher. 2018. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 305.8/00941

The Eastern Fleet and the Indian Ocean, 1942-1944 : the fleet that had to hide /Charles Stephenson. "The story of the British Eastern Fleet, which operated in the Indian Ocean against Japan, has rarely been told. Although it was the largest fleet deployed by the Royal Navy prior to 1945 and played a vital part in the theatre it was sent to protect, it has no place in the popular consciousness of the naval history of the Second World War. So Charles Stephenson's deeply researched and absorbing narrative gives this forgotten fleet the recognition it deserves. British pre-war naval planning for the Far East is part of the story, as is the disastrous loss of the battleship Prince of Wales and battlecruiser Repulse in 1941, but the body of the book focuses on the new fleet, commanded by Admiral Sir James Somerville, and its operations against the Japanese navy and aircraft as well as Japanese and German submarines. Later in the war, once the fleet had been reinforced with an American aircraft carrier, it was strong enough to take more aggressive actions against the Japanese, and these are described in vivid detail. Charles Stephenson's authoritative study should appeal to readers who have a special interest in the war with Japan, in naval history more generally and Royal Navy in particular."--Provided by the publisher. 2021. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.5429

The development of crude oil tankers : a historical miscellany /Dr Ray Solly. "In this engaging book, Dr. Solly examines the history of crude oil tankers from early days when this vital commodity was carried aboard ordinary sailing vessels, through the innovative designs that resulted in significant breakthroughs leading to early single-hulled VLCCs, and the later stronger hence safer double-hulled vessel. The professional reader will identify with much of the author's thinking, especially his handling of the enormous advances in shipboard techniques, and examination of excellent contributions made by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) from its conception in 1948, to its penetratingly effective work of today. Special attention is paid to their profound influence on the industry through MARPOL and SOLAS innovations, including arguably the greatest contribution made to tanker safety and environmental protection by Inert Gas Systems (IGS) and Crude Oil Washing (COW). Non-seagoing readers in allied shipping professions, and that huge army of ship enthusiasts, will learn a great deal about the ins-and-outs of an industry which, for the immediate future, underpins virtually every aspect of practical 21st Century living. Ray Solly's authoritative story is lavishly supported by 211 images (many of which have never previously been published), plus accounts of two recent voyages aboard a Norwegian North sea shuttle tanker, and a product carrier. Both passenger trips not only updated his professional knowledge but provided penetrating insight into current maritime practices. Each confirmed his convincing observation that today's crude oil carriers present the safest and most regulated form of transportation in the world."--Provided by the publisher. 2021. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 623.8245

How maritime trade and the Indian subcontinent shaped the world : ice age to mid-eighth century /Nick Collins. "World-wide maritime trade has been the essential driver of wealth-creation, economic progress and global human contact. Trade and exchange of ideas have been at the heart of economic, social, political, cultural and religious life and maritime international law. These claims are borne out by the history of maritime trade beginning in the Indian Ocean and connecting to Southeast Asia, Japan, the Americas, East Africa, the Middle East especially the Persian Gulf, the Mediterranean and Europe. This development pre-dates the end of the Ice Age with world-wide flooding and stimulated the establishment of land-based civilisations in the above regions with particular effect on the Greek and Roman empires and even China's 'Celestial' empire. The Indian subcontinent was the original major player in maritime trade, linking oceans and regions. Global maritime trade declined with the fall of Mediterranean empires and the 'dark age' in Europe but revived with Indian Ocean and Asian maritime networks. Shipping and trade studies are hugely practical but can be technical, legalistic and even dull for non-specialists. But this history is a broadly-based and exciting account of human interaction at multiple levels, for general readers, specialists and practitioners. It is based on huge reading and rare sources and with an attractive writing style, and full of fascinating sidelights illuminating the historical narrative - and from an author with life-long experience in international shipping. "--Provided by the publisher. 2021. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 387.52

In the treacle mine : the life of a marine engineer /J. W. Richardson. "If anyone has ever wondered what happens in the engine room when the Captain on the bridge rings 'Full Ahead' on the telegraph then this book will enlighten the reader. This is a story of one man's life at sea, from his beginnings as a lowly cadet to his qualification as a Chief Engineer. There are many anecdotes about his experiences - some amusing and some terrifying - together with pen portraits of a few of his fellow seafarers and the places he visited. In the Treacle Mine starts in the 1960s when steam power was still the preferred option for larger and more powerful ships but over the following decade, the availability of diesel engines sounded the death knell for steam propulsion. Now there are only a few preserved steamships left as a reminder of how things used to be down below in the 'treacle mine', which was how Geordie marine engineers described the engine-room. Following his experiences with steam, the author eventually began working on motor ships but these were also not without incident and there is much in this book that will spark the interest of anyone who enjoys stories of the sea and seafarers."--Provided by the publisher. [2021] • BOOK • 1 copy available. 623.87092

Pots, prints and politics : ceramics with an agenda, from the 14th to the 20th century /edited by Patricia F. Ferguson. "From the introduction of woodblock printing in China to the development of copper-plate engraving in Europe, the print medium has been used around the world to circulate knowledge. Ceramic artists across time and cultures have adapted these graphic sources as painted or transfer-printed images applied onto glazed or unglazed surfaces to express political and social issues including propaganda, self-promotion, piety, gender, national and regional identities. Long before photography, printers also included pots in engravings or other two-dimensional techniques which have broadened scholarship and encouraged debate. Pots, Prints and Politics examines how European and Asian ceramics traditionally associated with the domestic sphere have been used by potters to challenge convention and tackle serious issues from the 14th to the 20th century. Using the British Museum's world-renowned ceramics and prints collections as a base, the authors have challenged and interrogated a variety of ceramic objects - from teapots to chamber pots - to discover new meanings that are as relevant today as they were when they were first conceived."--Provided by the publisher. 2021 • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 738.09

The neptune factor : Alfred Thayer Mahan and the concept of sea power /Nicholas A. Lambert. "Alfred Thayer Mahan's work has long been seen as foundational to the understanding of the purpose of a navy, yet interpretations of what he argued have become misrepresented over time. Far from presenting sea power in terms of combat, as is usually thought, The Neptune Factor demonstrates that Mahan ultimately defined it in terms of economics. Proceeding from the conviction that, historically, international trade carried across the world's oceans was the single greatest driver of national wealth (and thus power), Mahan charactized sea power as the ability to regulate access to the common and influence the flows of transoceanic trade."-- 2023. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 359/.03

From war to peace : the conversion of naval vessels after two world warws /Nick Robins. "From War to Peace tells the story of the resourceful conversion of naval ships to peacetime roles after the two world wars. Numerous classes of warships which became surplus to requirements with the advent of peace were converted and adapted for commercial use, filling significant gaps in merchant ship fleets around the world. The most successful classes to transfer to the merchant service were the Hunt Class minesweepers of the Great War, Tank Landing Craft, the salvage tugs of World War Two, and the wooden-hulled Fairmille launches which became familiar at seaside resorts in the 1950s and '60s; and, of course, the MFV classes that helped the fishing industry in the postwar years. The story includes the successful commercial conversions of many of the Flower and Castle Class corvettes and River Class frigates, notably the 1954 conversion of HMCS Stormont to a luxury yacht for the Greep shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis. The author also reveals how warship design promoted developments in postwar merchant ship design. Former naval vessels showed the war for the early development of the Ro-Ro ferry for instance, and their layouts helped to introduce numerous other design inovations such as the raised foredeck common for so many years on salvage tugs. Most importantly, in the economically straitened years after both world wars, many ex warships, stripped of their military hardware, provided opportunities for modest investment where otherwise there would have been none."--Provided by the publisher. 2021. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 359.830904

Hero in the footnotes : the life and times of Richard Cadman Etches : entrepreneur and British spy /Michael Etches. "The book tells the story of Richard Cadman Etches, born in Warwickshire in 1753, who left home while still a youth to seek his fortune in London. He set up a successful liquor and wine importing business and soon acquired his own ship to deal directly with European suppliers. When, in 1784, news came from James Cook's fatal expedition that huge profits could be made from buying sea otter pelts from local tribes on the North Pacific coast of America and selling them in China, he seized his opportunity and set up a trading base in Nootka Sound. Unfortunately, one of his vessels was captured by Spanish forces who believed they controlled the coast, and this almost led to a war with Britain. Richard then became a full time British agent during the turbulent times of the French Revolution and Napoleonic wars and, among his many exploits was the organisation of Sir Sidney Smith's escape from a Paris gaol. He died in penury in a debtors' prison in London in 1817."--Provided by the publisher. 2021. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 942.07092

Asleep in the deep : nursing sister Anna Stamers and the First World War /Dianne Kelly. "On June 27, 1918, the Llandovery Castle, a Canadian hospital ship returning to England, was sunk by a German U-boat in contradiction of international law. Two hundred and thirty-four crew members died, including 14 nursing sisters. It was the most significant Canadian naval disaster of the First World War. Anna Stamers, a thirty-year-old nursing sister from Saint John, was on the ship. Now, in this well-researched volume, her story will finally be told. Dianne Kelly draws on official records, newspaper reports, archival images, and diaries left behind by some of Stamers's fellow nurses to tell Stamers's story : her early years and education, her decision to enlist as a military nurse, her service in field hospitals in England and France, and her final posting aboard HMHS Llandovery Castle. The vivid reconstruction of Stamers's life is both an illuminating biography of a young woman's experience of war and an important record of the role Canadian nursing sisters played during the Great War."-- 2021 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.4/7571092

Battleship Duke of York : an anatomy from building to breaking /Ian Buxton and Ian Johnston. "Unlike the United States, which has preserved a number of battleships as museums or memorials, not a single British dreadnought survives in the country that invented them. This book is an ambitious attempt to achieve the next best thing - a level of documentation in plans, photographs and words that portrays every aspect of the ship, albeit in two dimensions. Although the ship was chosen primarily because of the wealth of source material, Duke of York enjoyed a distinguished wartime career that included sinking the German battleship Scharnhorst in 1943 and serving as the flagship of the British Pacific Fleet in 1945, so is a fitting subject for such in-depth treatment. The core of the book is the reproduction in full colour of a complete set of as-fitted plans of the ship, including many details and close-ups. These are complemented by an unusually thorough set drawn after the ship's major refit in March 1945, showing all the modifications undertaken to prepare the ship for service alongside the US Navy in the Pacific. Photographic coverage begins with the stunning views taken by the builder's professional cameraman during every stage of construction, and concludes with an illustrated chronology of the breaking up. This last is included not just for completeness but because photos of the ship at various stages of demolition demonstrate many aspects of the interior structure, compartments and their fittings that are otherwise invisible. While the emphasis may be primarily visual, the accompanying narrative and captions display the expertise and in-depth knowledge of the authors, making the text as enlightening as the illustration. The result is a uniquely comprehensive portrait of a great ship in all its complexity, and a book that no warship enthusiast will want to miss."--Provided by the publisher. 2021. • FOLIO • 1 copy available.

Flying light helicopters with the Royal Marines : collective tales from Marine Air 489/Robert Wilsey. "Little has been written about Royal Marines rotary aviation, the small and select unit which operated light helicopters between 1965 and 1995. Officer and senior non-commissioned officer pilots had the unique privilege of being both Commandos and aviators, flying from warships and operating ashore in support of the Royal Marines. Initially called Unit Air Troops, which then coalesced into 3 Commando Brigade Air Squadron Royal Marines, they operated in hostile environments, including the Arctic, mountains, jungles and deserts. Robert Wilsey served in the Royal Marines from 1969 to 2000. Having qualified as a pilot he served through much of the existence of the Royal Marines Air Squadron, from a junior pilot right up to becoming its commanding officer. In this unique book, the author tells of the evolution and technological advances of Royal Marines aviation, flying the Westland Sioux, Scout, Gazelle, and, ultimately, Lynx helicopters. He describes the rigorous training undertaken, including flying from ships at sea, and of operating globally from Malta, Northern Ireland, the jungles of Brunei, the Pyrenees, Arctic Norway and, in 1991, Northern Iraq, protecting the Kurds during Operation Haven. Colonel Wilsey also describes the challenges of the British military's basic and advanced rotary flying training, from both a student's and flying instructor's perspectives. He explains the pressures of leading a flying display team and relates stories of numerous incidents and accidents, many amusing, several chaotic and some tragic. This is a vivid first-hand account of military rotary wing flying which will appeal to aircrew both civil and military, aviation enthusiasts and military historians."--Provided by the publisher. 2021. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 359.96092

Beyond the sea : a Wren at war /Christian Lamb. "Love, duty and true-life adventure in the shadow of the Second World War. Christian Lamb is one of the last surviving Wren Officers to have served her country throughout the whole of WW2. Having joined the Women's Royal Naval Service at nineteen, she quickly rose through the ranks, serving at a degaussing range before being posted to Operations and Radar in Belfast. There she joined the team tracking the movements of the Royal Navy and the dreaded Kriegsmarine in the Battle of the Atlantic, the biggest sea battle of the war. Plotting the progress of the Royal Navy's ships became an intensely personal mission for Christian when her fiance John's ship HMS Oribi was surrounded by a U Boat 'wolf pack'. Though her colleagues tried to persuade her to cut short her shift, Christian insisted on remaining at her post to mark Oribi's progress as the terrifying attack unfolded. Thankfully, HMS Oribi and John made it to shore. Newly married, Christian was next posted to a vital role back in London COHQ. In a basement office in Whitehall, she worked on top secret maps for the D Day landings, while Winston Churchill paced the floor upstairs. Now in her 101st year, Christian is keen to share her remembrances of duty, danger, love and marriage in war before they are beyond living memory"--Provided by publisher. 2021. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.545941092

Mountain commandos at war in the Falklands : the Royal Marines Mountain and Arctic Warfare Cadre in action during the 1982 conflict /Rod Boswell. "Sunset, 8 June 1982, East Falkland. Eight specially trained Royal Marines infiltrate Goat Ridge, a long rocky hilltop between Mount Harriet and Two Sisters which are occupied by a battalion of 600 Argentine infantry. The next day, from their hiding place just metres away from the enemy, they note and sketch the Argentine positions, then withdraw as stealthily as they had come. Their daring patrol provides essential intelligence that guided the British assault which overwhelmed the Argentine defences two days later. This was just one example of the missions undertaken by the Royal Marines Mountain and Arctic Warfare Cadre during the Falklands War, all of which are described in graphic detail in Rod Boswell s eyewitness account. Using his own recollections and those of his comrades, he describes their operations in the Falklands the observation posts set up in the no man s land between San Carlos and Port Stanley, their role in the raid at Top Malo House, and the reconnaissance patrols they carried out close to the Argentine lines during the conflict. His first-hand account gives a fascinating insight into the operational skills of a small, specially trained unit and shows the important contribution it made to the success of the British advance. It also records the entire experience of the Falklands War from their point of view the long voyage south through the Atlantic, the landings, the advance and the liberation of Stanley."--Provided by the publisher. 2021. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 997.11024

The gun, the ship, and the pen : warfare, constitutions, and the making of the modern world /Linda Colley. "A work of extraordinary range and originality, The Gun, the Ship and the Pen traces the global history of written constitutions from the 1750s to the twentieth century, modifying accepted narratives and uncovering the close connections between constitutions and war. In the process, Linda Colley both reappraises famous constitutions and recovers those that have been marginalised but were central to the rise fo the modern world. Colley shows how - while advancing epic revolutions and progressively enfranchising white males - constiutions also served over the long nineteenth century to marginalise indigenous peoples, exclude women and people of colour, and expropriate land. Simultaneously she investigates how these devices were adapted by peoples and activists outside the West seekign to resist European and American power. She describes how Tunisia generated the first modern Islamic constitution in 1861; how Africanus Horton of Sierra Leone devised pioneering plans for self-governing nations in West Africa; and how Japan's Meiji constitution of 1889 became a model for many Indian, Chinese and Ottoman nationalists and reformers. Throughout, Colley illumines the links between the rise of constitutions and wider cultural histories and brigns to life some of the remarkable men and women invovled in their writing."--Provided by the publisher. 2021. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 320.3

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