Library Results | Royal Museums Greenwich

Oceania under steam : sea transport and the cultures of colonialism, c. 1870-1914 /Frances Steel. "The age of steam was the age of Britain's global maritime dominance, the age of enormous ocean liners and human mastery over the seas. The world seemed to shrink as timetabled shipping mapped out faster, more efficient and more reliable transoceanic networks. But what did this transport revolution look like at the other end of the line, at the edge of empire in the South Pacific? Through the historical example of the largest and most important regional maritime enterprise - the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand - Frances Steel eloquently charts the diverse and often conflicting interests, itineraries and experiences of commercial and political elites, common seamen and stewardesses, and Islander dock workers and passengers. Drawing on a variety of sources, including shipping company archives, imperial conference proceedings, diaries, newspapers and photographs, this book will appeal to cultural historians and geographers of British imperialism, scholars of transport and mobility studies, and historians of New Zealand and the Pacific."--Provided by the publisher. 2011. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 656.61.74(42:9)

1759 : the year Britain became master of the world /Frank McLynn. "Although 1759 is not a date as well known in British history as 1215, 1588, or 1688, there is a strong case to be made that it is the most significant year since 1066. In 1759 - the fourth year of the Seven Years War - the British defeated the French in arduous campaigns on four continents and also achieved absolute mastery of the seas. Drawing on a mass of primary materials - from texts in the Vatican archives to oral histories of the North American Indians - Frank McLynn shows how the conflict between Brtiain and France triggered the first 'world war', raging from Europe to Africa; the Caribbean to the Pacific; the plains of the Ganges to the Great Lakes of North America. It also brought about the War of Independence, the acquisition by Britain of the Falkland Islands and, ultimately, the French Revolution."--Provided by the publisher. 2008 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.48"1759"

The Atlantic slave trade from West Central Africa, 1780-1867 / Daniel B. Domingues da Silva. "The Atlantic Slave Trade from West Central Africa, 1780?1867, traces the inland origins of slaves leaving West Central Africa at the peak period of the transatlantic slave trade. Drawing on archival sources from Angola, Brazil, England, and Portugal, Daniel B. Domingues da Silva explores not only the origins of the slaves forced into the trade but also the commodities for which they were exchanged and their methods of enslavement. Further, the book examines the evolution of the trade over time, its organization, the demographic profile of the population transported, the enslavers' motivations to participate in this activity, and the Africans' experience of enslavement and transportation across the Atlantic. Domingues da Silva also offers a detailed 'geography of enslavement', including information on the homelands of the enslaved Africans and their destination in the Americas."--Provided by the publisher. 2017. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 326.1(66)

Scottish lighthouse pioneers : travels with the Stevensons in Orkney and Shetland /Paul A. Lynn. "In the 19th century, the Stevenson engineers pioneered marvellous lighthouses around the coasts of Scotland -- lighthouses which inspire with their architectural elegance, and speak of compassion for sailors and fishermen risking their lives in these notoriously dangerous waters. But what was it actually like to be a Scottish lighthouse engineer, and how did the professional activities interact with social and economic conditions in Scotland at the time? How did the Northern Lighthouse Board's Engineer (almost invariably a Stevenson) cope with weeks aboard a small lighthouse vessel, travelling around the rugged Scottish coastline on dangerous tours of inspection and interacting with local people in some of the remotest regions of Europe? The author reveals the fascinating story of the Stevensons as family members as well as engineers -- brilliant yet fallible, tough yet vulnerable, with private lives that are little known, even to lighthouse enthusiasts. It sets their work in a historical and social context, drawing heavily on eye-witness accounts by two of Scotland's most celebrated literary sons: Walter Scott, internationally famous poet and member of the Edinburgh establishment; and Robert Louis Stevenson, young family member and disenchanted engineering apprentice desperate to become an author. The reader is taken to the Orkney and Shetland Islands with descriptions of the chain of Stevenson lighthouses that illuminate a vital shipping route between the North Sea, Baltic, and North Atlantic. Finally we travel to Muckle Flugga, the northernmost outpost of the British Isles and last link in the chain, a vicious rock on which David and Thomas Stevenson dared to build their 'impossible lighthouse'."--Provided by the publisher. 2017 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 627.715(411.1/.2)

Exploring the Britannic : the life, last voyage and wreck of Titanic's tragic twin /Simon Mills. "Launched in 1914, two years after the ill-fated voyage of her sister ship, RMS Titanic, the Britannic was intended to be superior to her tragic twin in every way. But war intervened and in 1915 she was requisitioned as a hospital ship. Just one year later, while on her way to collect troops wounded in the Balkans campaign, she fell victim to a mine laid by a German U-boat and tragically sank in the middle of the Aegean Sea. There her wreck lay, at a depth of 400 feet, until it was discovered 59 years later by legendary explorer Jacques Cousteau. In 1996 the wreck was bought by the author of this book, Simon Mills. Exploring the Britannic tells the complete story of this enigmatic ship: her construction, launch and life, her fateful last voyage, and the historical findings resulting from the exploration of the well-preserved wreck over a period of 40 years. With remarkable sonar scans and many never before seen photographs of the wreck, plus fold-out sections of the original Harland & Wolff ship plans, not previously published in their entirety, Exploring the Britannic finally details how the mysteries surrounding the 100-year-old enigma were laid to rest, and what the future might also hold for her."--Provided by the publisher 2019. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 629.123BRITANNIC

The politics of empire at the accession of George III : the East India Company and the crisis and transformation of Britain's imperial state /James M. Vaughn. "In this bold debut work, historian James M. Vaughn challenges the scholarly consensus that British India and the Second Empire were founded in 'a fit of absence of mind.' He instead argues that the origins of the Raj and the largest empire of the modern world were rooted in political conflicts and movements in Britain. It was British conservatives who shaped the Second Empire into one of conquest and dominion, emphasizing the extraction of resources and the subjugation of colonial populations. Drawing on a wide array of sources, Vaughn shows how the East India Company was transformed from a corporation into an imperial power in the service of British political forces opposed to the rising radicalism of the period. The Company's dominion in Bengal, where it raised territorial revenue and maintained a large army, was an autocratic bulwark of Britain's established order. A major work of political and imperial history, this volume offers an important new understanding of the era and its global ramifications."--Provided by the publisher. 2019 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 347.71EAST INDIA

Thomas Summers & Co. : Boatbuilders of Fraserburgh /Mike Smylie. ''After the end of hostilities in 1945, the fishing industry was quick to establish some semblance of recovery and a surge of new builds and restoration of Admiralty motor fishing vessels soon followed. In Fraserburgh, on Scotland's east coast, several established yards satiated this desire amongst the fishing-boat owners for new craft. Thus it wasn't surprising that a new yard sprung up at the end of the 1940s when three local apprentices from one of the yards decided to set up their own boatbuilding yard on the breakwater, in what was a very exposed position. And so the yard of Thomas Summers & Co. was born, a yard that became synonymous with fine seaworthy fishing boats suited to various methods of fishing. In the space of just thirteen years they produced eighty-eight fishing vessels and their output was more prolific than most of the other Scottish boatyards. Many of these boats survive to this day, some still working as fishing vessels, and others converted to pleasure, a testament to their superb design and solid construction.''--Povided by the publisher. 2020. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 338.4/762382/82

Madhouse at the end of the Earth : the Belgica's journey into the dark Antarctic night /Julian Sancton. "August 1897: The Belgica set sail, eager to become the first scientific expedition to reach the white wilderness of the South Pole. But the ship soon became stuck fast in the ice of the Bellinghausen sea, condemning the ship's crew to overwintering in Antarctica and months of endless polar night. In the darkness, plagued by a mysterious illness, their minds ravaged by the sound of dozens of rats teeming in the hold, they descended into madness. In this epic tale, Julian Sancton unfolds a story of adventure gone horribly awry. As the crew teetered on the brink, the Captain increasingly relied on two young officers whose friendship had blossomed in captivity - Dr. Frederick Cook, the wild American whose later infamy would overshadow his brilliance on the Belgica; and the ship's first mate, soon-to-be legendary Roald Amundsen, who later raced Captain Scott to the South Pole. Together, Cook and Amundsen would plan a last-ditch, desperate escape from the ice-one that would either etch their names into history or doom them to a terrible fate in the frozen ocean. Drawing on first-hand crew diaries and journals, and exclusive access to the ship's logbook, the result is equal parts maritime thriller and gothic horror. This is an unforgettable journey into the deep."--Provided by the publisher. 2021. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 919.8904

Legacy of Violence : A History of the British Empire /Caroline Elkins. "A searing, landmark study of the British Empire that lays bare its pervasive use of violence throughout the twentieth century. Sprawling across a quarter of the world's land mass and claiming nearly seven hundred million people, Britain's empire was the largest in human history. For many, it epitomized the nation's cultural superiority, but what legacy have we delivered to the world? Spanning more than two hundred years of history, Caroline Elkins reveals an evolutionary and racialized doctrine that espoused an unrelenting deployment of violence to secure and preserve British imperial interests. She outlines how ideological foundations of violence were rooted in Victorian calls for punishing indigenous peoples who resisted subjugation, and how over time this treatment became increasingly systematised. And she makes clear that when Britain could no longer maintain control over the violence it provoked and enacted, Britain retreated from its empire, destroying and hiding incriminating evidence of its policies and practices. Drawing on more than a decade of research on four continents, Legacy of Violence implicates all sides of the political divide regarding the creation, execution, and cover-up of imperial violence. By demonstrating how and why violence was the most salient factor underwriting both the empire and British imperial identity, Elkins explodes long-held myths and sheds a disturbing new light on empire's role in shaping the world today"--Provided by the publisher. 2022. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 909.0971241082

Royal Navy torpedo-bombers vs Axis warships : 1939-45 /Matthew Willis "Drawing on rare, historical photography and specially commissioned artwork, Matthew Willis explores the heroic feats of the few Royal Navy's obsolescent biplanes that stood between the state-of-the-art Axis warships and their objectives. Focusing on the technical specifications of both opponents, using original records, and detailed armament and cockpit views, this book explores the key attributes and drawbacks of the disadvantaged Royal Navy torpedo-bombers against the mighty Regia Marina and Kriegsmarine destroyers and raiders, covering a wide range of sea battles, from the more famous attacks such as the strike on the Bismarck, the tragic events of the Channel Dash or the clash with the Italian battle fleet at Taranto, to less covered sea battles such as the Battle of Matapan. Despite their powerful weaponry and heavy armour protection, the Axis warships proved vulnerable to a skillfully and audaciously flown torpedo-bomber, thanks to innovative commanders exploiting every possible advantage. Including rare personal recollections from the airmen who flew the torpedo-bombers and historical accounts from the Axis warship crews, this book describes each and every facet of this dramatic duel."--Provided by the publisher. 2022. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.544941

On savage shores : how indigenous Americans discovered Europe /Caroline Dodds Pennock. "We have long been taught to presume that modern global history began when the Old World encountered the New, when Christopher Columbus 'discovered' America in 1492. But, as Caroline Dodds Pennock conclusively shows in this groundbreaking book, for tens of thousands of Aztecs, Maya, Totonacs, Inuit and others - enslaved people, diplomats, explorers, servants, traders - the reverse was true: they discovered Europe. For them, Europe comprised savage shores, a land of riches and marvels, yet perplexing for its brutal disparities of wealth and quality of life, and its baffling beliefs. The story of these indigenous Americans abroad is a story of abduction, loss, cultural appropriation, and, as they saw it, of apocalypse - a story that has largely been absent from our collective imagination of the times. From the Brazilian king who met Henry VIII to the Aztecs who mocked up human sacrifice at the court of Charles V; from the Inuk baby who was put on show in a London pub to the mestizo children of Spaniards who returned 'home' with their fathers; from the Inuit who harpooned ducks on the Avon river to the many servants employed by Europeans of every rank: here are a people who were rendered exotic, demeaned, and marginalised, but whose world views and cultures had a profound impact on European civilisation. Drawing on their surviving literature and poetry and subtly layering European eyewitness accounts against the grain, Pennock gives us a sweeping account of the indigenous American presence in, and impact on, early modern Europe."--Provided by the publisher. 2022. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.048997

Inventing the English massacre : Amboyna in history and memory /Alison Games. "My Lai, Wounded Knee, Sandy Hook: the place names evoke grief and horror, each the site of a massacre. Massacres - the mass slaughter of people - might seem as old as time, but the word itself is not. It worked its way into the English language in the late sixteenth century, and ultimately came to signify a specific type of death, one characterized by cruelty, intimacy, and treachery. How that happened is the story of yet another place, Amboyna, an island in the Indonesian archipelago where English and Dutch merchants fought over the spice trade. There a conspiracy trial featuring English, Japanese, and Indo-Portuguese plotters took place in 1623 and led to the beheading of more than a dozen men in a public execution. Inventing the English Massacre shows how the English East India Company transformed that conspiracy into a massacre through printed works, both books and images, which ensured the story's tenacity over four centuries. By the eighteenth century, the story emerged as a familiar and shared cultural touchstone and a term that needed no further explanation. By the nineteenth century, the Amboyna Massacre became the linchpin of the British empire, an event that historians argued well into the twentieth century had changed the course of history and explained why the British had a stronghold in India. The broad familiarity with the incident and the Amboyna Massacre's position as an early and formative violent event turned the episode into the first English massacre. Drawing on archival documents in Dutch, French, and English, Alison Games masterfully recovers the history, ramifications, and afterlives of this event, which shaped the meaning of subsequent acts of violence and made intimacy, treachery, and cruelty indelibly connected with massacres.."-- [2020] • BOOK • 1 copy available. 959.8/021

Sea of dangers : Captain Cook and his rivals in the South Pacific /Geoffrey Blainey. In 1769 two ships set out independently in search of a missing continent: a French merchant ship commanded by Jean de Surville, and a small British naval vessel, the Endeavour, commanded by Captain James Cook. Neither knew of the other's existence. Cook's first long voyage was one of the most remarkable in recorded history: in a ship not much larger in area than a tennis court, he not only sailed around the world, following the most difficult route any navigator had ever attempted, but also changed the map of the world. He was the first to explore most of the New Zealand coast and much of the east coast of Australia. He lost a third of his crew to tropical illnesses, after earlier saving them from scurvy. Historian Geoffrey Blainey brings his storytelling powers to bear on this fascinating and important adventure, drawing us into the lives of the major figures.--From publisher description. 2009. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92COOK:92SURVILLE

Women and English piracy, 1540-1720 : partners and victims of crime /John C. Appleby. "Piracy was one of the most gendered criminal activities during the early modern period. As a form of maritime enterprise and organized criminality, it attracted thousands of male recruits whose venturing acquired a global dimension as piratical activity spread across the oceans and seas of the world. At the same time, piracy affected the lives of women in varied ways. Adopting a fresh approach to the subject, this study explores the relationships and contacts between women and pirates during a prolonged period of intense and shifting enterprise. Drawing on a wide body of evidence and based on English and Anglo-American patterns of activity, it argues that the support of female receivers and maintainers was vital to the persistence of piracy around the British Isles at least until the early seventeenth century. The emergence of long-distance and globalized predation had far-reaching consequences for female agency. Within colonial America, women continued to play a role in networks of support for mixed groups of pirates and sea rovers; at the same time, such groups of predators established contacts with women of varied backgrounds in the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean. As such, female agency formed part of the economic and social infrastructure which supported maritime enterprise of contested legality. But it co-existed with the victimisation of women by pirates, including the Barbary corsairs. As this study demonstrates, the interplay between agency and victimhood was manifest in a campaign of petitioning which challenged male perceptions of women's status as victims. Against this background, the book also examines the role of a small number of women pirates, including the lives of Mary Read and Ann Bonny, while addressing the broader issue of limited female recruitment into piracy."--P. [4] of cover. 2013. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 341.362.1-055.2

The Battle of Jutland / by Jon Sutherland and Diane Canwell. "The Battle of Jutland was the greatest naval engagement of the First World War, if not any war. The events leading up to the battle gave the indication that it would be a major British naval victory. But as it would transpire the results were a lot less clearcut. It had been the German vessels that had soured relations between Britain and Germany, but in the end the fleet had proved inadequate. Whilst the Germans claimed a victory, in Britain, Jutland was celebrated as another Trafalgar. Detailing the account of this colossal sea battle, the authors draw on official reports and despatches, as well as notable accounts by those such as Rudyard Kipling. The battle is placed in its context in the war and the opposing fleets and commanders are examined. The initial German plan and the British response provided the catalyst for the engagement and the battle cruiser and fleet action is examined in detail, drawing on eyewitness accounts. The five distinct phases of the battle began with the first encounter between the opposing battle cruisers. The second phase saw the Germans pursuing what they believed to be the British fleet. Then suddenly they came under heavy bombardment from the British main fleet under Jellicoe. After Admiral Scheer failed to escape into the Baltic, the final phase was fought with the Germans in full retreat. The book analyses the damage assessment on both sides and their true losses. A full order of battle is provided, with many illustrations of the key commanders. An extensive bibliography and reference section supports the work."--Provided by the publisher. 2007. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.456

City of fortune : how Venice ruled the seas /Roger Crowley. "The New York Times bestselling author of Empires of the Sea charts Venice's astounding five-hundred-year voyage to the pinnacle of power in an epic story that stands unrivaled for drama, intrigue, and sheer opulent majesty. City of Fortune traces the full arc of the Venetian imperial saga, from the ill-fated Fourth Crusade, which culminates in the sacking of Constantinople in 1204, to the Ottoman-Venetian War of 1499-1503, which sees the Ottoman Turks supplant the Venetians as the preeminent naval power in the Mediterranean. In between are three centuries of Venetian maritime dominance, during which a tiny city of "lagoon dwellers" grow into the richest place on earth. Drawing on firsthand accounts of pitched sea battles, skillful negotiations, and diplomatic maneuvers, Crowley paints a vivid picture of this avaricious, enterprising people and the bountiful lands that came under their dominion. From the opening of the spice routes to the clash between Christianity and Islam, Venice played a leading role in the defining conflicts of its time - the reverberations of which are still being felt today."--Provided by the publisher. 2013. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 38(450.341)"10/15"

Slave trade profiteers in the Western Indian Ocean : suppression and resistance in the nineteenth century /Hideaki Suzuki. "This book examines how slave traders interacted with and resisted the British suppression campaign in the nineteenth-century western Indian Ocean. By focusing on the transporters, buyers, sellers, and users of slaves in the region, the book traces the many links between slave trafficking and other types of trade. Drawing upon first-person slave accounts, travelogues, and archival sources, it documents the impact of abolition on Zanzibar politics, Indian merchants, East African coastal urban societies, and the entirety of maritime trade in the region. Ultimately, this ground-breaking work uncovers how western Indian Ocean societies experienced the slave trade suppression campaign as a political intervention, with important implications for Indian Ocean history and the history of the slave trade."--Provided by the publisher. 2017 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 326.1(267)

Black women abolitionists : a study in activism, 1828-1860 /Shirley J. Yee. "By virtue of being both black and female in antebellum America, black women abolitionists confronted a particular set of tensions. Whether they supported the movement directly or indirectly, cooperated with whites or primarily with other blacks, worked in groups or independently, were well off financially or struggled to make ends meet, their lives reflected the complex dynamics of race, sex, and class. Against the background of slavery, constructing a life in "freedom" meant adopting many of the values of free white society, symbolized in part by male dominance and female subordination. In championing both their race and their sex, female black abolitionists found themselves caught between the sexism of the antislavery movement and the racism of the (white) women's movement. Throughout their writing, speeches, petitions, and participation in antislavery, and self-help organizations, these women established a pattern of black female activism--centered on community-building, political organizing, and forging a network of friendships with other activists--that served as a model for later generations of black women. Drawing on a wide array of previously untapped primary sources, Shirley Yee examines the activism of black women in the Northeast, the Midwest, and to some extent, California and Canada. The activists' experiences render heartbreakingly clear the pervasiveness of middle-class white values in antebellum America and the contradictions and ironies inherent in prevailing conceptions of "freedom"--Provided by the publisher. 1993. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 305.48/896073

The origin of others / Toni Morrison ; with a foreword by Ta-Nehisi Coates. "America's foremost novelist reflects on the themes that preoccupy her work and increasingly dominate national and world politics: race, fear, borders, the mass movement of peoples, the desire for belonging. What is race and why does it matter? What motivates the human tendency to construct Others? Why does the presence of Others make us so afraid? Drawing on her Norton Lectures, Toni Morrison takes up these and other vital questions bearing on identity in The Origin of Others. In her search for answers, the novelist considers her own memories as well as history, politics, and especially literature. Harriet Beecher Stowe, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor, and Camara Laye are among the authors she examines. Readers of Morrison's fiction will welcome her discussions of some of her most celebrated books - Beloved, Paradise, and A Mercy. If we learn racism by example, then literature plays an important part in the history of race in America, both negatively and positively. Morrison writes about nineteenth-century literary efforts to romance slavery, contrasting them with the scientific racism of Samuel Cartwright and the banal diaries of the plantation overseer and slaveholder Thomas Thistlewood. She looks at configurations of blackness, notions of racial purity, and the ways in which literature employs skin color to reveal character or drive narrative. Expanding the scope of her concern, she also addresses globalization and the mass movement of peoples in this century. National Book Award winner Ta-Nehisi Coates provides a foreword to Morrison's most personal work of nonfiction to date."--Provided by the publisher. 2017. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 808.835

Legacies of British slave-ownership : colonial slavery and the formation of Victorian Britain /Catherine Hall, Nicholas Draper, Keith McClelland, Katie Donington and Rachel Lang. "This book re-examines the relationship between Britain and colonial slavery in a crucial period in the birth of modern Britain. Drawing on a comprehensive analysis of British slave-owners and mortgagees who received compensation from the state for the end of slavery, and tracing their trajectories in British life, the volume explores the commercial, political, cultural, social, intellectual, physical and imperial legacies of slave-ownership. It transcends conventional divisions in history-writing to provide an integrated account of one powerful way in which Empire came home to Victorian Britain, and to reassess narratives of West Indian 'decline'. It will be of value to scholars not only of British economic and social history, but also of the histories of the Atlantic world, of the Caribbean and of slavery, as well as to those concerned with the evolution of ideas of race and difference and with the relationship between past and present."--Provided by the publisher. 2014. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 326(41-44)"18"

The Battle of Jutland / by Jonathan Sutherland and Diane Canwell. "The Battle of Jutland was the greatest naval engagement of the First World War, if not any war. The events leading up to the battle gave the indication that it would be a major British naval victory. But as it would transpire the results were a lot less clearcut. It had been the German vessels that had soured relations between Britain and Germany, but in the end the fleet had proved inadequate. Whilst the Germans claimed a victory, in Britain, Jutland was celebrated as another Trafalgar. Detailing the account of this colossal sea battle, the authors draw on official reports and despatches, as well as notable accounts by those such as Rudyard Kipling. The battle is placed in its context in the war and the opposing fleets and commanders are examined. The initial German plan and the British response provided the catalyst for the engagement and the battle cruiser and fleet action is examined in detail, drawing on eyewitness accounts. The five distinct phases of the battle began with the first encounter between the opposing battle cruisers. The second phase saw the Germans pursuing what they believed to be the British fleet. Then suddenly they came under heavy bombardment from the British main fleet under Jellicoe. After Admiral Scheer failed to escape into the Baltic, the final phase was fought with the Germans in full retreat. The book analyses the damage assessment on both sides and their true losses. A full order of battle is provided, with many illustrations of the key commanders. An extensive bibliography and reference section supports the work. " -- Provided by the publisher. 2014. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.456(489)

Paths of glory : the life and death of General James Wolfe /Stephen Brumwell. "Ugly, gangling, and tormented by agonising illness, Major General James Wolfe was an unlikely hero. Yet in 1759, on the Plains of Abraham before Quebec, he won a battle with momentous consequences. Wolfe's victory, bought at the cost of his life, ensured that English, not French, would become the dominant language in North America. Ironically, by crippling French ambitions on this continent Wolfe paved the way for American independence from Britain. Already renowned for bold leadership, Wolfe's death at the very moment of victory at Quebec cemented his heroic status on both sides of the Atlantic. He became an icon of patriotic self-sacrifice, immortalised in epic paintings and verse. During the past half century, however, Wolfe's reputation has undergone sustained assault by revisionist historians who see him as a bloodthirsty and self-righteous mediocrity, famous for one singularly lucky - though crucial - victory. Was there more to James Wolfe than a celebrated death? Stephen Brumwell's internationally praised biography seeks to answer that question, drawing on extensive research to offer a boldly argued reassessment of a soldier whose short but dramatic life changed the course of world history." --Provided by the publisher. Ã2006. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92WOLFE

The rise and demise of slavery and the slave trade in the Atlantic world / edited by Philip Misevich and Kristin Mann. "Drawing on new quantitative and qualitative evidence, this study reexamines the rise, transformation, and slow demise of slavery and the slave trade in the Atlantic world. The twelve essays here reveal the legacies and consequences of abolition and chronicle the first formative global human rights movement. They also cast new light on the origins and development of the African diaspora created by the transatlantic slave trade. Engagingly written and attuned to twenty-first century as well as historical problems and debates, this book will appeal to specialists interested in cultural, economic, and political analysis of the slave trade as well as to nonspecialists seeking to understand anew how transatlantic slavery forever changed Europe, the Americas, and Africa." --Provided by the publisher. 2016. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 326.1

Erich Raeder : Admiral of the Third Reich /Keith W. Bird "Erich Raeder led the German navy from 1928 to 1943, a period that included the last turbulent years of the Weimar Republic, the rise of Hitler, and World War II. Yet until now, no full-length biography has been written about this extraordinary naval figure. While most historians have viewed Raeder as a product of the Wilhelmian era and heir to Admiral von Tirpitz's sea power ideology, this work clearly demonstrates Raeder's affinity with Hitler's fascism. Keith Bird refutes Admiral Raeder's own argument that his navy was nonpolitical and independent; Bird shows him to be a political activist and the architect of German naval policy. Drawing on archival resources and the rich scholarship of German naval history over the past five decades, Bird examines the evolution of Raeder's concept of naval strategy and his attempts to achieve the political and military means necessary to attain the navy's global naval ambitions. He describes the admiral as ultimately being defeated by the contradictions in his own policies as well as Hitler's and by the realities of Germany's resources and military necessities. Here for the first time, Raeder's strict leadership of the navy after 1928 and his relationship to Hitler and the National Socialist state are placed in the context of Raeder's formative years as an Imperial naval officer, his World War I combat experience, and his critical role in the survival and development of the postwar Reichsmarine. The impact of Hitler's influence on both the pace and the nature of naval rearmament and the conduct of the Kriegsmarine in war are also examined here, as are Raeder's furtive attempts to influence Germany's strategic thinking in favor of a maritime strategy."--Provided by the publisher. 2018. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92RAEDER

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