Library Results | Royal Museums Greenwich

Before the battlecruiser : the big cruiser in the world's navies 1865-1910 /Aidan Dodson "The battlecruiser is perceived by many as the most glamorous of warships, remembered for its triumphs and tragedies in both world wars. Often forgotten are its lineal ancestors, the big cruisers that were constructed as capital ships for distant waters, as commerce raiders, and as fast scouts for the battlefleet during the last decades of the nineteenth century and the first years of the twentieth. In this new book by bestselling author Aidan Dobson, the 200 or so big cruisers that were built for the world's navies from 1865 are described and analysed in detail. The type came into being in the 1860s when the French built a series of cruising ironclads to project its power in the Far East. Britain followed suit as did Russia. By the 1890s the general adoption of these fast, heavily-armed and moderately armoured vessels ushered in the golden age of the big cruiser. These great ships would go on to be key combatants in the Spanish-American and Russo-Japanese wars, the Japanese employing them within the battlefleet in a manner that heralded later battlecruiser tactics. In Britain, in reply to the launch of the big Russian Rurik in 1890, there was spawned the freakishly huge HMS Powerful and HMS Terrible, ships that underlined the public's view of the glamour of the 'great cruiser'. Indeed, the two ships' cap-tallies became ubiquitous on the sailor suits of late Victorian British children. In some navies, particularly those of South American republics, the big cruiser became the true capital ship, while the Italians built the Giuseppe Garibaldi as a more affordable battleship. By the beginning of the twentieth century the type became yet bigger and guns approached battleship size; with HMS Invincible the British created what was, in 1912, officially dubbed the 'battlecruiser'. Despite their growing obsolescence in the new century some had remarkably long careers in patrol and other subsidiary roles, the Argentine Garibaldi still sailing as a training ship in the 1950s. The design, development and operations of all these great vessels is told with the author's usual attention to detail and depth of analysis and will delight naval enthusiasts and historians of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries."--Provided by the publisher. 2018. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 623.81.3(100)

Eastern fortress : a military history of Hong Kong, 1840-1970 /Kwong Chi Man and Tsoi Yiu Lun. "Celebrated as a trading port, Hong Kong was also Britain's 'eastern fortress'. Likened by many to Gibraltar and Malta, the colony was a vital but vulnerable link in imperial strategy, exposed to a succession of enemies in a turbulent age and a troubled region. This book examines Hong Kong's developing role in the Victorian imperial defence system, the emerging challenges from Russia, France, the United States, Germany, Japan and other powers, and preparations in the years leading up to the Second World War. A detailed chapter offers new interpretations of the Battle of Hong Kong of 1941, when the colony succumbed to the Japanese invasion. The remaining chapters discuss Hong Kong's changing strategic role during the Cold War and the winding down of the military presence. The book not only focuses on policies and events, but also explores the social life of the garrison in Hong Kong, the struggles between military and civil authorities, and relations between the armed forces and civilians in Hong Kong. Drawing on original research in archives around the world, including English, Japanese, and Chinese sources, this is the first full-length study of the defence of Hong Kong from the beginning of the colonial period to the end of British military interests East of Suez in 1970. Illustrated with images and detailed maps, Eastern Fortress will be of interest to both students of history and general readers."--Provided by the publisher. 2014. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.48(512.317)

Port towns and urban cultures : international histories of the waterfront, c.1700-2000 /Brad Beaven, Karl Bell, Robert James, editors. "Despite the port's prominence in maritime history, its cultural significance has long been neglected in favour of its role within economic and imperial networks. Defined by their intersection of maritime and urban space, port towns were sites of complex cultural exchanges. This book, the product of international scholarship, offers innovative and challenging perspectives on the cultural histories of ports, ranging from eighteenth-century Africa to twentieth-century Australasia and Europe. The essays in this important collection explore two key themes; the nature and character of 'sailortown' culture and port-town life, and the representations of port towns that were forged both within and beyond urban-maritime communities. The book's exploration of port town identities and cultures, and its use of a rich array of methodological approaches and cultural artefacts, will make it of great interest to both urban and maritime historians. It also represents a major contribution to the emerging, interdisciplinary field of coastal studies."--Provided by the publisher. [2016] • BOOK • 1 copy available. 387.1/09

Goldsmith of Grays : "Pickfords of the North Sea" ; a history and fleet biography /by Graham Dent with the assistance of other members of the Society for Sailing Barge Research. Compilation, editing, additional research and text by Richard Walsh "After nearly a decade in preparation by author Graham Dent and colleagues from The Society for Sailing Barge Research, comes this much-anticipated history. Founded in the mid-1800s, by the early 1900s the Grays, Essex, firm of E.J. & W. Goldsmith Limited operated by far the largest fleet of sailing barges in the 'seeking' trades of the south and east coast of England. With relatively modest in-house needs for bulk transportation, they were largely reliant on others for most of the cargoes that filled the holds of their unique fleet. First in the field with standardised craft, the business was to endure for over 100 years. This is the fascinating story of the people, the sailing barges, the motor vessels and the business that was Goldsmith of Grays. The book features many little-known facts, some a surprise even to surviving members of the Goldsmith family. A staggering quantity of related images from the early days of photography up to the present, bring to life the story of the firm accorded the epithet "Pickfords of the North Sea"."--Provided by the publisher 2018. • BOOK • 3 copies available. 347.792GOLDSMITH

Drawing in silver and gold : Leonardo to Jasper Johns /Stacey Sell, Hugo Chapman ; with Kimberly Schenck, John Oliver Hand, Giulia Bartrum, An Van Camp, Bruce Weber, Joanna Russell, Judith Rayner, Jenny Bescoby. From the Middle Ages to the present, master draftsmen have used the technique of metalpoint to create some of the most beautiful and technically accomplished drawings in the history of art. Drawing in Silver and Gold examines the history of this evocative medium, in which a metal stylus is used on a specially prepared surface to create lines of astonishing delicacy. This beautifully illustrated book examines the practice of metalpoint over six centuries, in the work of artists ranging from Leonardo, Dèurer, and Rembrandt to Otto Dix and Jasper Johns. A team of authors-curators, conservators, scientists-address variations in technique across time and between different schools, incorporating new scientific analysis, revealing patterns of use, and providing a rare demonstration of the medium's range and versatility. They reappraise famous metalpoints of the Renaissance and shed new light on infrequently studied periods, such as the seventeenth century and the Victorian silverpoint revival. A new examination of an exquisite but not thoroughly understood medium, Drawing in Silver and Gold offers fresh interpretations of a practice central to the history of drawing and will serve as the most authoritative reference on metalpoints for years to come.--Provided by the publisher. [2015] • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 7.023.3-035.676.293

Western women travelling East, 1716-1916 / by Penelope Tuson. "The Arcadian Library in London holds one of the finest collections of writing by Western women travelling to the East. The books and manuscripts cover almost four centuries of travel and range from Mary Wortley Montagu's incomparable early eighteenth-century 'Turkish' letters to the publications of twentieth-century archaeologists, journalists, diplomatic wives and flamboyant adventurers. The best-known - for example Harriet Martineau, Lady Florentia Sale, Florence Nightingale, Amelia Edwards, Gertrude Bell and Lady Anne Blunt - are represented, alongside lesser-known European travellers such as the early Victorian writer Julia Pardoe and the Belgian-born Italian nationalist, Carla Serena. The feminist Mary Astell, on reading Mary Wortley Montagu's manuscript, commented that women could 'travel to better purpose' than men and could provide more accurate accounts of their cultural encounters. This book examines the question of whether or not women's writings reflect a special 'female gaze' and discusses the style and content of women's writing about the East and the ways in which writers negotiated and adapted their narratives to conform to their readers' expectations while often, at the same time, challenging contemporary gender roles. The subject matter is wide-ranging and eclectic. The writers' interests and opinions reflect their own cultural backgrounds but extend from conformist and unsympathetic to adventurous, subversive and open-minded. Often they were more able than male travellers to observe and appreciate cultural difference and they recorded their impressions with enthusiasm and genuine understanding. Many women travellers were also talented artists and their sketches, watercolours and photographs, reproduced extensively in this richly illustrated book, illuminate much of their writing."--Provided by the publisher. 2014. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 820.9/32082

Arctic labyrinth : the quest for the Northwest Passage /Glyn Williams. "For centuries British navigators dreamed of finding the Northwest Passage - the route over the top of North America that promised a short cut to the fabulous wealth of Asia. We now know that several passages exist, and if climate change continues some may soon be open, but for most of the period of the search they were choked by impassable ice. Knowledge was won only at great cost as expedition after expedition, often in the most terrible conditions, added to patchy and sometimes fatally misleading charts. Arctic Labyrinth tells the extraordinary story with great skill and brilliance. From the tiny, woefully-equipped ships of the first Tudor expeditions to the steam-powered vessels of the Victorian age and the icebreakers of the modern era, Glyn Williams describes how every form of ingenuity was tried in order to break through the ice barriers set across a nightmarish maze of tortuous channels and sterile islands. The heroism, folly and horror of these voyages were almost unbelievable: men suffered and died from scurvy, frost-bite and starvation, entire ships were crushed in the ice - and all in pursuit of a goal that proved futile. Williams's book is an important work of exploration and maritime history, and a remarkable study in human delusion and fortitude."--Provided by the publisher. 2010. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 910.4(987)"17/18"

Sexual and gender difference in the British Navy, 1690-1900 / edited by Seth Stein LeJacq. "This volume is a collection of a variety of important records that will give readers insight into key themes into the history of what its criminal code called "the unnatural and detestable sin of buggery"- sex between males - in the Royal Navy."--Provided by publisher. 2024. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 359.1094209033

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