Library Results | Royal Museums Greenwich

Natural rebels : a social history of enslaved Black women in Barbados /Hilary McD. Beckles. "Although we are learning a lot from historians about the lives of slaves in the United States, we still know little about slavery in the Caribbean. Hilary Beckles's book on the social, economic, and labor history of slave women in Barbados, from the mid-seventeenth to the mid-nineteenth century, is a major addition to this literature. Drawing on contemporary documents and records, newspapers, and personal correspondence, Beckles reveals how slave women were central to the plantation economy of Barbados. They had two kinds of value for sugar planters: they could work just as hard as men, and they could literally reproduce the slave class. Beckles details the daily lives of slave women in conditions of extreme exploitation. They suffered from harsh conditions, cruel punishments, malnutrition, disease, high morality, and fear of abandonment when they were too old to work. He describes the various categories and responsibilities of slaves, and the roles of children in the slave economy. Beckles looks at family structures and the complexities of interracial unions. He also shows how female slaves regulary resisted slavery, using both violent and non-violent means."--Provided by the publisher. 2000. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 305.5/67/082

Aquatint : from its origins to Goya /Rena M. Hoisington. "Driven by a growing interest in collecting and multiplying drawings, artists and amateurs in the eighteenth century sought a new technique capable of replicating the subtlety of ink, wash, and watercolor. They devised an innovative and versatile new medium--aquatint--which would spread in use across Europe within a few decades, its distinctive dark tones making possible a remarkable variety of ingenious imagery. In this illuminating book, Rena M. Hoisington traces how the aquatint technique flourished as a cross-cultural and cosmopolitan phenomenon that contributed to the rise of art publishing, connoisseurship, leisure travel, drawing instruction, and the popularity of neoclassicism. She offers new insights into sophisticated experiments by artists such as Francisco Goya, Maria Catharina Prestel, Paul Sandby, and Jean-Baptiste Le Prince. Marvelously illustrated with rare works from the National Gallery of Art's collection of early aquatints, this engaging book provides a fresh look at how printmaking contributed to a vibrant exchange of information and ideas in Europe during the Enlightenment."--Provided by the publisher. [2021] • BOOK • 1 copy available. 760

The Development of Nuclear Propulsion in the Royal Navy, 1946-1975 / Gareth Michael Jones. "This book examines the development of nuclear propulsion in the Royal Navy from the first proposal in 1946 to the start-up of the last core improvement for the first submarine reactor power plant PWR 1 in December 1974. Drawing from unreleased records and archives, the book answers questions around three main themes. Political: what problems were encountered in transferring nuclear knowledge from the USA to the UK in the post-war period, and how much support was there for the development of nuclear propulsion? Military: why was there a requirement to develop nuclear propulsion, and in particular, why submarines? Technical: were the problems associated with nuclear energy fully appreciated, and did the UK have the technical and engineering capability to develop nuclear propulsion? Aside from the political considerations and military motives for developing nuclear propulsion in the Royal Navy, the author focuses on the technical problems that had to be overcome by all participants in the Royal Navy's development of nuclear propulsion, adding significantly to naval historiography. Providing a critical analysis of the political, technological, operational and industrial issues of introducing nuclear propulsion into the Royal Navy, the author situates his research in the context of the evolving Cold War, changing Anglo-American relations, the end of Empire and the relative decline of British power."--Provided by the publisher. [2022] • BOOK • 1 copy available. txt

Adventurers : the improbable rise of the East India Company, 1550-1650 /David Howarth. "The East India Company was the largest commercial enterprise in British history, yet its roots in Tudor England are often overlooked. The Tudor revolution in commerce led ambitious merchants to search for new forms of investment, not least in risky overseas enterprises - and for these 'adventurers' the most profitable bet of all would be on the company. Through a host of stories and fascinating details, David Howarth brings to life the company's way of doing business - from the leaky ships and petty seafarers of its embattled early days to later sweeping commercial success. While the company's efforts met with disappointment in Japan, they sowed the seeds of success in India, setting the outline for what would later become the Raj. Drawing on an abundance of sources, Howarth shows how competition from European powers was vital to success - and considers whether the company was truly 'English' at all, or rather part of a Europe-wide movement."--Provided by the publisher. 2022. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 382.094105

The first British empire : global expansion in the early modern age /John Oliphant "The First British Empire is an authoritative, highly readable and substantial account of the origins, growth and transformation of the British Empire from its European beginnings until the aftermath of the American Revolution. Taking a regional and chronological approach, and highlighting the dual drivers of profit and power, it shows that the early empire was a mechanism not for dominance but for survival. From the naval war against Spain to the 'Glorious Revolution' and the wars against Napoleon, with a population perhaps one third that of France, England needed an oceanic empire to offset its European weakness. Expansion from mainland North America to the Caribbean and West Africa to the Indian sub-continent is seen in terms of the needs of the metropole, the narrower perspectives of settler societies, and the experiences of the colonised, the collaborators and the enslaved. Drawing on recent research, it demonstrates the fragility of British power in India, that the loss of North America was neither inevitable nor complete, and that the first Australian colony was a strategic investment rather than a dumping ground for convicts. Above all, it shows that the long, painful and often haphazard rise of this 'first' empire history is an essential key to modern British and world history."--Provided by the publisher. 2023. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 909.0971241

Shipping and development in Dubai : infrastructure, innovation and institutions in the Gulf /Keith Nuttall. "A small town on a sandy creek half a century ago, Dubai is now the largest trading, commercial, leisure and transport entrepot in the Gulf and wider region. This book explains the reasons for the emergence of Dubai and its distinctive development trajectory, arguing that the decision, in the 1970s, to invest in infrastructure made possible by shipping containerization laid the foundations for its future expansion. The book shows that in contrast to its competitors' hydrocarbon rentier economic model, Dubai's creation and expansion of ports and airports, together with 'value-added' logistics and business-friendly enhancements, were used to out-compete regional rivals. Drawing on a range of primary and secondary sources, including interviews with logistics business-people, government records and memoirs, it fills a significant lacuna in the history of Dubai's development and emergence as a global trade hub."--Provided by the publisher. 2022. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 338.95357

In all respects ready : Australia's Navy in World War One /David Stevens. "Written by Australia's foremost naval historian, In All Respects Ready presents the most comprehensive and authoritative account of the Australian Navy's involvement in World War I yet published. When the newly built Australian fleet sailed into Sydney for the first time in October 1913, it was portrayed as a sign of peace that came from being prepared for war. Within a year that war had broken out, and the Royal Australian Navy, fully trained and ready, was the most professional and effective force Australia had to offer the British Empire. Throughout the next four years of conflict Australian ships and sailors would operate across the seas and oceans of the world, establishing a tradition of intrepid courage and dogged endurance while forging their own unique naval and national identity. Impeccably researched, and drawing on a wealth of previously untapped official reports, intelligence summaries and private diaries, this book offers far more than a chronicle of historical fact. Crafting the definitive work on this largely ignored chapter of Australian history, the author presents an engaging narrative of the war at sea that brings to life both the human element and a richly depicted sense of place."--Provided by the publisher. 2014. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.49"1914/1918"(94)

Opposing the slavers : the Royal Navy's campaign against the Atlantic slave trade /Peter Grindal. "Much is known about Britain s role in the Atlantic slave trade during the eighteenth century but few are aware of the sustained campaign against slaving conducted by the Royal Navy after the passing of the Slave Trade Abolition Act of 1807. Peter Grindal provides the definitive account of this little known yet important part of the British, European and American history. Drawing on original sources to provide a comprehensive and engaging narrative of the naval operations against slavers of all nations in particular Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands and Brazil, he describes how illegal traders sought to evade treaty obligations, reveals the obduracy of the USA that prolonged the slave trade, and shows how, despite inadequate resources, the Royal navy s sixty year campaign forced slavers to expend ever greater sums top conduct their business and confront the losses inflicted by capture and condemnation. A work that will transform our understanding of the Royal Navy s campaign against the Atlantic slave trade."--Provided by the publisher. 2016. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 326.4(42)

Britain's history and memory of transatlantic slavery : local nuances of a 'national sin' /edited by Katie Donington, Ryan Hanley and Jessica Moody. "Transatlantic slavery, just like the abolition movements, affected every space and community in Britain, from Cornwall to the Clyde, from dockyard alehouses to country estates. Today, its financial, architectural and societal legacies remain, scattered across the country in museums and memorials, philanthropic institutions and civic buildings, empty spaces and unmarked graves. Just as they did in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, British people continue to make sense of this 'national sin' by looking close to home, drawing on local histories and myths to negotiate their relationship to the distant horrors of the 'Middle Passage', and the Caribbean plantation. For the first time, this collection brings together localised case studies of Britain's history and memory of its involvement in the transatlantic slave trade, and slavery. These essays, ranging in focus from eighteenth-century Liverpool to twenty-first-century rural Cambridgeshire, from racist ideologues to Methodist preachers, examine how transatlantic slavery impacted on, and continues to impact, people and places across Britain."--Provided by the publisher. 2016. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 306.3620941

The European Antarctic: science and strategy in Scandinavia and the British Empire /Peder Roberts. "This is the first transnational study of British, Norwegian, and Swedish engagement with the Antarctic, from the years before the Great War to the early years of the Cold War. Rather than charting how Europeans unveiled the Antarctic, it uses the history of Antarctic activity as a window into the political and cultural worlds of twentieth-century Britain and Scandinavia. Science was a resource for states attempting to reveal - and control - the Antarctic and its resources. But it was also a source of personal and institutional capital, a means of earning civic status and professional advancement. The book ranges from the politics of whaling management to the changing value of geographical exploration in the academy and the rise of specialized, state-sponsored research, presenting an episodic rather than a linear narrative focused on historically specific networks and strategies. Drawing upon scholarship in critical geopolitics, imperial environmental history, and the cultural history of science, author Peder Roberts argues that despite its splendid geographical isolation, the Antarctic was a field for distinctly local European dreams"-- 2011. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 910.4(99:42:48)

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)

The Saltwater Frontier : Indians and the Contest for the American Coast /Andrew Lipman. "Andrew Lipman's eye-opening first book is the previously untold story of how the ocean became a "frontier" between colonists and Indians. When the English and Dutch empires both tried to claim the same patch of coast between the Hudson River and Cape Cod, the sea itself became the arena of contact and conflict. During the violent European invasions, the region's Algonquian-speaking Natives were navigators, boatbuilders, fishermen, pirates, and merchants who became active players in the emergence of the Atlantic World. Drawing from a wide range of English, Dutch, and archeological sources, Lipman uncovers a new geography of Native America that incorporates seawater as well as soil. Looking past Europeans' arbitrary land boundaries, he reveals unseen links between local episodes and global events on distant shores."--Provided by the publisher 2015 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 910.4(42:492)(=97)

Picturing the Pacific : Joseph Banks and the shipboard artists of Cook and Flinders /James Taylor "For over 50 years between the 1760s and the early 19th century, the pioneers who sailed from Europe to explore the Pacific brought back glimpses of this new world in the form of oil paintings, watercolours and drawings - a sensational view of a part of the world few would ever see. Today these works represent a fascinating and inspiring perspective from the frontier of discovery. It was Sir Joseph Banks, President of the Royal Society, who popularised the placement of professional artists on British ships of exploration. They captured striking and memorable images of everything they encountered: exotic landscapes, beautiful flora and fauna, as well as remarkable portraits of indigenous peoples. These earliest views of the Pacific, particularly Australia, were designed to promote the new world as enticing, to make it seem familiar, to encourage further exploration and, ultimately, British settlement. Drawing on both private and public collections from around the world, this lavish book collects together oil paintings, watercolours, drawings, prints and other documents from those voyages, and presents a unique glimpse into an age where science and art became irrevocably entwined."--Provided by the publisher. 2018. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 7:910.4(265/266)

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

Bering : the Russian discovery of America /Orcutt Frost. "Vitus Jonassen Bering (1681-1741) is a towering figure in the history of exploration. In the course of two expeditions that consumed most of his adult life - and eventually led to his death - he journeyed from St. Petersburg to Siberia and ultimately to the northwest coast of America. Along with the members of his expedition (thousands participated in the second expedition), Bering greatly expanded the Russian empire, pioneered the geography of the North Pacific Ocean, and laid the groundwork for Russian trade and settlement in the American West. In the first biography of Bering written in over a century, Orcutt Frost chronicles the life of this extraordinary explorer. Drawing on a wide range of new evidence - including personal letters and archaeological evidence derived from the recent discovery of Bering's grave site - the author reconstructs Bering's personality, his perilous voyages, and his uneasy relationship with the naturalist Georg Steller, who unobtrusively guided the stranded expedition as Bering lay dying. A riveting narrative of adventure and disaster on the high seas, this biography is also a major contribution to the history of maritime exploration."--Provided by the publisher. 2003. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92BERING, VITUS JONASSEN

Moon : art, science, culture /Robert Massey & Alexandra Loske. "A source of light in the dark of night and our ever-changing cosmic companion, the Moon has fasinated humankind since we first gazed into the sky. In this extensively illustrated and illuminating volume, astronomer Rober Massey and art historian Alexandra Loske present a rich and curious history. From its violent birth through to the thrilling story of the Space Race and current exploration efforts, discover the many faces of the Mon and how they have shaped humanity's existence."--Provided by the publisher. 2018. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 523.3

Wilberforce : family and friends /Anne Stott. A study of the abolitionist William Wilberforce concentrating on his private life, his family and the group of Evangelical philanthropists, retrospectively known as the Clapham Sect, who were his friends. Originally located around Clapham Common, the group of friends were associated most closely with the abolition of the slave trade but were also concerned with the moral reformation of society and the extension of Christianity in the British Empire. Largely drawing on family records and the perspective of women in the group, themes considered are those of family, gender, childhood, education, sexuality and intimacy. Focussing on the Wilberforce, Thornton and Macaulay families, family trees illustrate the relationships between the Wilberforce and Thornton families, the Wilberforce, Spooner and Calthorpe families, and the Wilberforce, Bird and Sargent families. A bibliography is provided. 2012. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92WILBERFORCE

English paleography and manuscript culture, 1500-1800 / Kathryn James. "An engaging, accessible introduction to reading and understanding early modern English manuscripts. This engaging book provides an essential introduction to the manuscript in early modern England. From birth to death, parish record to probate inventory, writing framed the lives of the early modern English. The book offers a detailed technical introduction to the handwriting of the period, from 'secretary hand' through the 'copperplate' that defined the early British Empire. Case studies trace the significance of manuscript to British cultural identity, exploring the intersections of manuscript and print, the roles of manuscript in the bureaucracy of the early modern state, and the complex practices surrounding manuscript in the lives of early modern readers and writers. Exercises offer the opportunity to practise reading and transcription, pointing to examples ranging from John Lydgate through William Wordsworth. Richly illustrated and drawing extensively on Yale University collections, this book opens the study of early modern English manuscript to a new generation of students and scholars."--Provided by the publisher. 2020. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 411.7

Naval seamen's women in nineteenth-century Britain / Melanie Holihead. "This book explores the lived experiences of the women - the mothers, sisters, foster-mothers of motherless children, but above all the wives - of lower deck seamen in the nineteenth century British navy. It makes extensive use of the 'allotment' scheme, a system which enabled men to convey portions of their pay to dependants at home. The scheme had been devised by a Royal Navy worried by the adverse effect on naval manpower caused by experienced and mature sailors quitting the service in order to support loved ones suffering poverty on shore. Drawing also on civil, parish and local data, the book reveals hitherto unknown differences between naval and civilian patterns of nuptiality, family life, occupation and household structure. It illustrates the impact of naval breadwinners' long-term absence in analyses of local migration, mutual support networks, and clusterings of 'same ship' families, and to bring the picture to life it includes microhistories and stories of individual women. The book concludes that while the sailor's woman's 'allotted place' in the popular imagination shifted with changing perceptions of sailors' reputation and standing, a constant 'otherness' attached to women who chose marriage to long-absent men, and a life of necessary self-reliance." 2024. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 359.120941

Sixty years of paddle steamer preservation : the paddle steamer preservation society. ''The Paddle Steamer Preservation Society was founded in 1959 at a time when this familiar and much-loved class of ship was in steep decline and faced possible extinction. Its aims were to encourage the retention and expansion of existing steamer services, to stimulate public awareness and, ultimately, to purchase and preserve at least one surviving example. Now, 60 years on, this fascinating book records the previously untold history of one of Britain?s oldest and most successful maritime preservation societies; one which has succeeded in saving not one but two jewels in the crown of the UK?s maritime heritage ? the iconic paddle steamers Waverley and Kingswear Castle. Drawing on the PSPS archives and the memories of those most closely involved, the book recalls the 1960s and 70s when members were able to sail on board or charter a wide variety of tugs, ferries and excursion ships; describes the purchase, restoration and subsequent careers of Waverley and Kingswear Castle; and examines the Society?s close links with other paddle steamers including Maid of the Loch and Medway Queen, and the motor vessel Balmoral. The extraordinary range of voluntary tasks carried out by members over the 60 years is celebrated, and there is a wealth of previously unpublished information to inform, surprise and amuse. Illustrated with over 200 rare, mostly colour, photographs, depicting a wonderful array of paddlers from the 1950s onwards, special moments in the careers of the Waverley and Kingswear Castle, plus significant events in the Society?s history, this book is essential reading for all paddle steamer enthusiasts. It will also appeal to all those with an interest in coastal passenger shipping, maritime preservation and Britain's nautical heritage. All proceeds from the book will go to PSPS funds and be used to help ensure that Waverley and Kingswear Castle continue to sail into the future.''--Povided by the publisher. 2019. • FOLIO • 1 copy available.

Islamic science and the making of the European Renaissance / George Saliba. "The Islamic scientific tradition has been described many times in accounts of Islamic civilization and in general histories of science, with most authors tracing its beginnings to the appropriation of ideas from other ancient civilizations - the Greeks in particular. In this thought-provoking and original book, George Saliba argues that, contrary to the generally accepted view, the foundations of Islamic scientific thought were laid well before Greek sources were formally translated into Arabic in the ninth century. Drawing on an account by the tenth-century intellectual historian Ibn al-Nadim that is ignored by most modern scholars, Saliba suggests that early translations from mainly Persian and Greek sources outlining elementary scientific ideas for the use of government departments were the impetus for the development of the Islamic scientific tradition. He argues further that there was an organic relationship between the Islamic scientific thought that developed in later centuries and the science that came into being in Europe during the Renaissance."--BOOK JACKET. 2007. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 5(5-15:4)

Outlaw Ocean : crime and survival in the last untamed frontier /Ian Urbina "The Outlaw Ocean is a riveting, adrenalin-fuelled tour of a vast, lawless and rampantly criminal world that few have ever seen: the high seas. There are few remaining frontiers on our planet. But perhaps the wildest, and least understood, are the world's oceans: too big to police, and under no clear international authority, these immense regions of treacherous water play host to the unbridled extremes of human behaviour and activity. Traffickers and smugglers, pirates and mercenaries, wreck thieves and repo men, vigilante conservationists and elusive poachers, seabound abortion-providers, clandestine oil-dumpers, shackled slaves and cast-adrift stowaways: drawing on five years of perilous and intrepid reporting, often hundreds of miles from shore, Urbina introduces us to the inhabitants of this hidden world and their risk-fraught lives. Through their stories of astonishing courage and brutality, survival and tragedy, he uncovers a globe-spanning network of crime and exploitation that emanates from the fishing, oil and shipping industries, and on which the world's economies rely. Both a gripping adventure story and a stunning exposâe, this unique work of reportage brings fully into view for the first time the disturbing reality of a floating world that connects us all, a place where anyone can do anything because no one is watching."--Provided by the publisher. 2019. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 343.3/.7

Merchant adventurers : the voyage of discovery that transformed Tudor England /by James Evans. "In the spring of 1553 three ships sailed north-east from London into uncharted waters. The scale of their ambition was breathtaking. Drawing on the latest navigational science and the new spirit of enterprise and discovery sweeping the Tudor capital, they sought a northern passage to Asia and its riches. The success of the expedition depended on its two leaders: Sir Hugh Willoughby, a brave gentleman soldier, and Richard Chancellor, a brilliant young scientist and practical man of the sea. When their ships became separated in a storm, each had to fend for himself. Their fates were sharply divided. One returned to England, to recount extraordinary tales of the imperial court of Tsar Ivan the Terrible. The tragic, mysterious story of the other two ships has to be pieced together through the surviving captain's log book, after he and his crew became lost and trapped by the advancing Arctic winter. This long neglected endeavour was one of the boldest in British history, and its impact was profound. Although the 'merchant adventurers' failed to reach China as they had hoped, their achievements would lay the foundations for England's expansion on a global stage. As James Evans' vivid account shows, their voyage also makes for a gripping story of daring, discovery, tragedy and adventure."--Provided by the publisher. 2013. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 910.4(987)"1553"

The empire of necessity : slavery, freedom, and deception in the New World /Greg Grandin. One morning in 1805, off a remote island in the South Pacific, Captain Amasa Delano, a New England seal hunter, climbed aboard a distressed Spanish ship carrying scores of West Africans who appeared to be slaves. They weren't. Having earlier seized control of the vessel and slaughtered most of the crew, they were staging an elaborate ruse. When Delano, an idealistic, anti-slavery republican, finally realized the deception--that the men and women he thought were slaves were actually running the ship--he responded with explosive violence. Drawing on research on four continents, historian Greg Grandin explores the multiple forces that culminated in this extraordinary event--an event that inspired Herman Melville's masterpiece "Benito Cereno". Now historian Greg Grandin, with the gripping storytelling that was praised in Fordlandia, uses the dramatic happenings of that day to map a new transnational history of slavery in the Americas, capturing the clash of peoples, economies, and faiths that was the New World in the early 1800s.--Provided by the publisher. 2014. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 326.1

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