Library Results | Royal Museums Greenwich

Cayman's 1794 Wreck of the Ten Sail : peace, war, and peril in the Caribbean /Margaret E. Leshikar-Denton. "The story has been passed through generations for more than two centuries. Details vary depending on who is doing the telling, but all refer to this momentous maritime event as the Wreck of the Ten Sail. Sometimes misunderstood as the loss of a single ship, it was in fact the wreck of ten vessels at once, comprising one of the most dramatic maritime disasters in all of Caribbean naval history. Surviving historical documents and the remains of the wrecked ships in the sea confirm that the narrative is more than folklore. It is a legend based on a historical event in which HMS Convert, formerly L'Inconstante, a recent prize from the French, and 9 of her 58-ship merchant convoy sailing from Jamaica to Britain, wrecked on the jagged eastern reefs of Grand Cayman in 1794. The incident has historical significance far beyond the boundaries of the Cayman Islands. It is tied to British and French history during the French Revolution, when these and other European nations were competing for military and commercial dominance around the globe. The Wreck of the Ten Sail attests to the worldwide distribution of European war and trade at the close of the eighteenth century. In Cayman's 1794 Wreck of the Ten Sail: Peace, War, and Peril in the Caribbean, Margaret E. Leshikar-Denton focuses on the ships, the people, and the wreck itself to define their place in Caymanian, Caribbean, and European history. This well-researched volume weaves together rich oral folklore accounts, invaluable supporting documents found in archives in the United Kingdom, Jamaica, and France, and tangible evidence of the disaster from archaeological sites on the reefs of the East End."--Provided by the publisher. 2020. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 910.9163/65

Benedict Arnold : patriot and traitor "In the first contemporary biography of Benedict Arnold, prize-winning journalist and historian Willard Sterne Randall unearths startling new evidence on the most famous treason in American history, explaining why the man George Washington considered his best general changed sides in the American Revolution. Randall uncovers documents long considered lost in Europe and America and analyzes Arnold's agonized career as a patriot and soldier. Benedict Arnold nearly succeeded in conquering Canada for the Americans, built the first American fleet, and repeatedly battled the British to a standstill. Then, crippled in combat, Arnold turned bitter as he became embroiled in conflicts with other generals, politicians in Congress, and Washington himself. Humiliated by public court martial, he plotted to betray his closest comrades in a conspiracy with his wife. Defecting to the British, he savagely attacked his native land, very nearly capturing Thomas Jefferson. In exile, Arnold was spurned by his old friends and enemies, becoming a man without a country."--Provided by the publisher. 1991 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.48"1775/1781"(73)

A celebration of marine art : fifty years of the Royal Society of Marine Artists This book provides an account of the 150-plus members of the Society since its founding, with colour illustrations of their work in many cases. The main part of the book covers themes in marine painting and is divided into sections covering: Sail; War Artists and Matters Naval; River Coast and Estuary and the Steam Era. There is a section covering the history of the Society from 1939 to 1995 and a directory of members. The appendices list officers of the Society from 1946 to 1995, Honorary Vice Presidents, the Pears Prize Winners and the Worshipful Company of Shipwrights' Award Winners. 1996 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 7.047(26:42)"18/19"

Left for dead : shipwreck, treachery, and survival at the edge of the world /Eric Jay Dolin. "In Left for Dead, Eric Jay Dolin - "one of today's finest writers about ships and the sea" (American Heritage) - tells the true story of a wild and fateful encounter between an American sealing vessel, a shipwrecked British brig, and a British warship in the Falkland archipelago during the War of 1812. Fraught with misunderstandings and mistrust, the incident left three British sailors and two Americans, including the captain of the sealer, Charles H. Barnard, abandoned in the barren, windswept, and inhospitable Falklands for a year and a half. With deft narrative skill and unequaled knowledge of the very pith of the seafaring life, Dolin describes in vivid and harrowing detail the increasingly desperate existence of the castaways during their eighteen-month ordeal - an all-too-common fate in the Great Age of Sail. A tale of intriguing complexity, with surprising twists and turns throughout - involving greed, lying, bullying, a hostile takeover, stellar leadership, ingenuity, severe privation, endurance, banishment, the great value of a dog, the birth of a baby, a perilous thousand-mile open-ocean journey in a seventeen-foot boat, an improbable rescue mission, and legal battles over a dubious and disgraceful wartime prize - Left for Dead shows individuals in wartime under great duress acting both nobly and atrociously, and offers a unique perspective on a pivotal era in American maritime history."--Provided by the publisher. [2024] • BOOK • 1 copy available. 973.52

American genesis : a century of invention and technological enthusiasm, 1870-1970 /Thomas P. Hughes. "The book that helped earn Thomas P. Hughes his reputation as one of the foremost historians of technology of our age and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 1990, American Genesis tells the sweeping story of America's technological revolution. Unlike other histories of technology, which focus on particular inventions like the light bulb or the automobile, American Genesis makes these inventions characters in a broad chronicle, both shaped by and shaping a culture. By weaving scientific and technological advancement into other cultural trends, Hughes demonstrates here the myriad ways in which the two are inexorably linked, and in a new preface, he recounts his earlier missteps in predicting the future of technology and follows its move into the information age."--Provided by the publisher. 2004. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 6(73)"1870/1970"

Captain Kidd : the hunt for the truth /Craig Cabell, Graham A. Thomas and Allan Richards. A re-examination of the life of Captain Kidd focusing on the ambiguities surrounding his final voyage, and subsequent trial for piracy. Officially made a privateer by Royal Commission in 1696 and charged with capturing and plundering pirate ships as well as French ships, Kidd is said to have turned pirate himself. Following his arrest, Kidd maintained his innocence in the face of overwhelming evidence against him and a changing political climate. Kidd was found guilty and executed by hanging in 1701. Includes a list of some crew members who served with Kidd on the Blessed William, Adventure Galley and Adventure Prize. 2010. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 341.362.1:92KIDD

Between the thunder and the sun "The Pacific was the scene of some of the fiercest conflicts of the Second World War, and the savage battles for the Solomon Islands were no exception. Bougainville, the most northerly island of the group, was the prize in an epic three-year fight against Japanese occupation. The terrain was appalling, with high volcanic mountains dissolving into mangrove swamps, few tracks and heavy rains. [...] Intelligence was the key to successful operations in such an unyielding theatre, and it was there that the Coast Watching service, set up by the Australians, came into its own, while plantation owners and other civilians provided essential information to ensure the successful Allied guerilla campaign. In this dramatic and detailed story of bravery and initiative, Dick Horton - who served in the Solomons himself throughout the years - provides the final chapter to his magnificent history of these vital islands."--Provided by the publisher. 1998 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.353.3(935)

The Abingdon waterturnpike murders : a true-life tale of crime and punishment "On October 8th 1787, a man is robbed and murdered on his way home from Abingdon's Michaelmas Fair. The story of the subsequent inquiry is revealed in some two dozen documents, retained by chance by the local magistrate responsible. As events unfold, the reader is treated to rare insight into a wide-ranging, well organised criminal underworld, and the distinct likelihood of a deliberate miscarriage of justice. In addition, many notable aspects of late eighteenth-century life are revealed: the colour and excitement of a traditional country fair, the perilous lives of river boatmen, the brutal notoriety of prize-fights,the severity of service in the county militia, the lawlessness of London's suburbs, the all-pervading influence of alcohol and brewing, the gruesome allure of public executions, and the peculiar regime of the 'wooden world' of the Georgian Navy. These and many other extraordinary, emotive, and shocking aspects of eighteenth-century life are uncovered in a book which will appeal to anyone interested in murder mysteries, the law, or the local history of Oxfordshire and Berkshire in general."--Provided by the publisher. 2003 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 343.611(410.117)"1787"

Leviathan, or, the whale / Philip Hoare. "From his childhood fascination with the gigantic models of London's Natural History Museum to adult encounters with the wild animals themselves, Philip Hoare has been obsesssed by whales. Switching between human history and natural history, Leviathan is a gripping voyage of discovery into the heart of this obsession and the book that inspired it: Herman Melville's Moby Dick. Taking us deep into the whale's domain, Philip Hoare shows us these mysterious animals as they have never been seen before." 2009. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 599.5

The men of the merchant service : being the polity of the mercantile marine for 'longshore readers Bullen, Frank Thomas, 1900 • BOOK • 3 copies available. 656.61.07

Hard at work : the diary of Leonard Wyon 1853-1867 /Philip Attwood. Leonard Wyon (1826-1891), as modeller and engraver to the Royal Mint, dominated coin and medal production in Britain throughout much of the second half of the nineteenth century. His commisions included the famous 'bun' penny of Queen Victoria, coins destined for India, Australia and Canada, campaign and private medals as well as the prize medal for the 1862 International Exhibition. Primarily aimed at numismatists, this diary throws light on some of his most famous designs and places Wyon in the context of his times with details of his family life, his wealth and status, his religious and moral beliefs and his tastes in reading and the arts. Appendices trace the commissioning and production processes of his work. The diary entries are annotated and the text is illustrated with photographs of his many designs. 2014. • BOOK • 1 copy available.

Longitude's legacy : James Harrison of Hull 1789-1875 :turret clockmaker :the last of the Harrison clockmakers /Chris McKay. "The story of John Harrison is well known. How he created an accurate regulator, made the sea clocks H1, H2, H3 and H4, has been documented in academic books, in popular literature, film and how he was the father of the marine chronometer. His quest to win the ¹20,000 prize, as defined in the Longitude Act of 1714, runs through the John Harrison story. However, little has been written about the other members of his family. His brother James was a very skilled and pragmatic person. From him three generations followed all involved with bells and clocks. The third generation, James Harrison of Hull, was the last of the Harrison clockmaking line." 2015. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 92HARRISON

Into the blue : boldly going where Captain Cook has gone before /Tony Horowitz. "Two centuries after James Cook's epic voyages of discovery, Tony Horwitz takes readers on a wild ride across hemispheres and centuries to recapture the Captain's adventures and explore his embattled legacy in today's Pacific. Horwitz, a Pulitzer Prize-winner and author of Confederates in the Attic, works as a sailor aboard a replica of Cook's ship, meets island kings and beauty queens, and carouses the South Seas with a hilarious and disgraceful travel companion, an Aussie named Roger. He also creates a brilliant portrait of Cook: an impoverished farmboy who became the greatest navigator in British history and forever changed the lands he touched. Poignant, probing, antic, and exhilarating, Blue Latitudes brings to life a man who helped create the global village we inhabit today."--Provided by the publisher. 2002. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 910.4(93/96)"1768/1780"

America's cup 1851-1992 : the official record of America's Cup XXVIII and the Louis Vuitton Cup "In 1851 the yacht America ventured to England and beat 15 of Britannia's best. [...] One hundred and forty-one years later, the America's cup - the oldest trophy in sports - remains the ultimate symbol of excellence and national achievement. The competition flourishes because it combines physical skill, courage, technology, execution, and intelligence unlike any other sport. And in 1992 more nations than ever before competed for the most coveted prize in sailing. America's Cup 1851 to 1992: The Official Record of America's Cup XXVIII & the Louis Vuitton Cup, is the ultimate America's Cup book. An oversized glossy coffee table book of 208 pages, it is packed with more than 250 full-color photographs and illustrations, and authoritative text. Six of the world's preeminent yachting photographers worked with the Michael Levitt, the internationally respected author and journalist, to provide an in-depth look at the rich history and intense competition. America's Cup 1851 to 1992 traces the design and development of the new boats and the honing of men and machinery. It features profiles of the players, chronicles the drama of the races, and provides a portrait of the 141-year history of the America's Cup".--Provided by the publisher. 1992 • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 797.144.092.1(745)

The great Edwardian naval feud : Beresford's vendetta against Fisher /Richard Freeman. Freeman, Richard 2009. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.353(42):392.77

From hunter to hunted / Bernard Edwards. "In the early stages of the Second World War, Donitz's U-boats generally adhered to Prize Rules, surfacing before attacking and making every effort to preserve the lives of their victims' crews. But, with the arming of merchantmen and greater risk of damage or worse, they increasingly attacked without warning. So successful was the U-boat campaign that Churchill saw it as the gravest threat the Nation faced. The low point was the March 1943 attack on convoys SC122 and HX229 when 44 U-boats sank 22 loaded ships. The pendulum miraculously swung with improved tactics and technology. In May 1943 out of a force of over 50 U-boats that challenged ONS5, eight were sunk and 18 were damaged, some seriously. Such losses were unsustainable and, with allied yards turning out ships at ever increasing rates, Donitz withdrew his wolf packs from the North Atlantic. Expert naval author and historian Bernard Edwards traces the course of the battle of the Atlantic through a series of thrilling engagement case studies."--Provided by the publisher. 2020. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.451.6"1939/1943"

Astronomy photographer of the year : collection 8 /Royal Observatory, Greenwich. "A showcase of the most spectacular space photography of its kind, taken from locations across the globe. Marvel at the wonders of the universe captured by the most talented astrophotographers. A perfect gift for all interested in exploring the mysteries of our solar system and beyond. Be captivated by 140 winning and shortlisted images from the 2019 Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition, hosted by the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. These awe-inspiring images are submitted in several categories: aurorae, skyscapes, people and space, the sun and moon, planets, comets and asteroids, stars and nebulae, galaxies and a young competitor category. Each image is accompanied by caption, photographer, location and technical details. There is also a location map showing the origin of all images and a visual appendix of all images."--Provided by the publisher. 2019 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 52:77

Tracks on the ocean : a history of trailblazing, maps and maritime travel /Sara Caputo. "From their first appearance on Renaissance maps, linear tracks representing maritime voyages have shaped the way we see the world. But why do we depict journeys as lines, and what is their deeper meaning? Ferdinand Magellan's route to the Pacific embodied the promise of adventure and colonisation, while the scientific charts of the Royal Navy inspired others to plan conquests, navigate treacherous waters and establish settlements across the oceans. In Tracks on the Ocean, prize-winning historian Sara Caputo charts a hidden history of the modern world through the tracks left on maps and the sea. Taking us from ancient Greek itineraries to twenty-first-century digital mapping, via the voyages of Drake and Cook, the decks of Napoleonic warships and the boiler rooms of ocean liners, Caputo reveals how marks on maps have changed the course of modernity." 2024. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 387.509

Naval prize essay, 1876. Noel, Gerard H U 1876. • PAMPHLET • 3 copies available. 623.82

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

Escape from the French : a young Royal Navy midshipman's adventures during the napoleonic war /Edward Boys. "This is an essential first hand account of the war the Royal Navy fought against Napoleon Bonaparte's France. Truth is said to be often stranger than fiction and this tale of battle, capture and escape could have come directly from the pen of C. S Forrester or one of the other famous authors of life before the mast in the early nineteenth century. While sailing on the frigate Phoebe, Boys was present when she took two ships of the enemy fleet. Boys was subsequently put aboard one as prize-master. His elation was short lived as their little convoy was soon surprised by four French frigates and Boys and his scratch crew taken prisoner. Incarceration within a daunting fortress in France followed but still Boys and his companions planned and effected an audacious escape from their formidable prison that was but the prelude to a flight through enemy held territory in the hope of crossing the Channel to England and liberty."--Provided by the publisher. 2009. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92BOYS

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)

Longitude : the true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time /Dava Sobel ; with a new preface by the author. "Dava Sobel's acclaimed history of how John Harrison took on the scientific establishment to solve the most pressing problem of his era inspired an entire genre of popular history writing, and brought deserved attention to one of the unsung heroes of science. For although Harrison received his prize money, at the insistence of King George III, it had taken him 40 years of unremitting toil, and numerous trials, controversies and arguments. The crowning injury was that his beloved chronometers were stored away and forgotten, while others manufactured affordable copies. In her new preface, Sobel mentions the beauty of the originals that "has ever won admiration from artists and scientists alike". It is their beauty that this new edition from The Folio Society emphasises, with glorious colour photographs and Harrison's original pen-and-ink drawings showing the clocks' intricate mechanisms and exquisite decoration."--Provided by the publisher. 2014. • BOOK • 2 copies available. 528.282

The heart of the race : black women's lives in Britain /Beverley Bryan, Stella Dadzie and Suzanne Scafe ; foreword by Lola Okolosie. "Heart of the Race is a powerful corrective to a version of Britain's history from which black women have long been excluded. It reclaims and records black women's place in that history, documenting their day-to-day struggles, their experiences of education, work and health care, and the personal and political struggles they have waged to preserve a sense of identity and community. First published in 1985 and winner of the Martin Luther King Memorial Prize that year, Heart of the Race is a testimony to the collective experience of black women in Britain, and their relationship to the British slate throughout its long history of slavery, empire and colonialism. This new edition includes a foreword by Lola Okolosie and an interview with the authors, chaired by Heidi Safia Mirza, focusing on the impact of their book since publication and it continuing relevance today."--Provided by the publisher. 2018. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 305.48/896041

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