Royal Museums Greenwich is home to fascinating stories and beautiful artworks inspired by the sea, ships, time and space.
The Museum's publishing programme reflects this diversity, showcasing world-leading expertise and rich histories that reach across continents, tumultuous seas and cosmic voids. Every purchase helps the Museum fund research, exhibitions and acquisitions.
We hope you enjoy reading these books as much as we’ve enjoyed producing them.
The Ocean Map
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Exploring our watery world
June 2026
Hardback
ISBN 978-1-917985-04-8
270x215
48pp
An engaging and informative book for young readers that uses an unusual ocean-centre map based on the Spilhaus projection to explore natural, human and ocean habitats around the globe.
The Ocean Map introduces map projections and the different ways people have represented the world throughout history, offering an introduction to ocean science, map-making and environmental understanding.
Through features on the Challenger Deep, the Suez Canal, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and the Great Barrier Reef, readers learn how the natural world shapes our oceans and how science and human activity take place in, on and around the ocean.
Published to coincide with World Ocean Day, this book includes vibrant illustrations, a glossary and animals hidden throughout the pages. The Ocean Map supports primary science and geography learning in an accessible way.
Aimee Mook is the Lloyd's Register Foundation Curator of Contemporary Maritime at Royal Museums Greenwich, with expertise in ocean literacy, marine science and contemporary life at sea. Her research and curatorial interests include shipworm, guano and the Bermuda Triangle. She has contributed to public and media-facing work through AQUILA magazine, Britain – The Official Magazine and the Talk of the Thames podcast. She is also the Curatorial department's shark enthusiast.
Treasures of Royal Museums Greenwich
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July 2026
Hardback
ISBN 978-1-917985-05-5
177 x 177mm
272pp
Explore the most famous treasures and hidden gems from the collection of Royal Museums Greenwich. Spanning all four sites – the National Maritime Museum, Royal Observatory Greenwich, Queen’s House and Cutty Sark – Treasures of Royal Museums Greenwich offers a way to discover extraordinary objects from the Museum’s collections.
Discover items such as the coat worn by Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar, the Armada Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I, a globe of Mars and a musical toy pig carried on board the RMS Titanic.
Written by expert curators from Royal Museums Greenwich, this beautifully illustrated volume presents a carefully selected array of the Museum’s most iconic and surprising objects, revealing their stories of exploration, navigation, empire, art and science.
Royal Observatory Greenwich: A History in Objects
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Hardback
ISBN 978-1-906367-91-6
250 x 178mm
288pp
When King Charles II signed the royal warrant founding the Royal Observatory in 1675, it was to ensure Britain kept pace with other European nations in global trade and exploration. Now, in its 350th year, ‘the small observatory within Greenwich Park’ is one of the world’s most famous, home to the historic Prime Meridian and 0° longitude.
Royal Observatory Greenwich: A History in Objects highlights the people, ideas and technologies that helped perfect navigation and map the stars. Instruments, photographs, plans and archival documents trace the Observatory’s history from its founding as Britain’s first statefunded scientific institution through periods of rapid change to its early 20th-century role at the forefront of astronomy.
Today, the Observatory is both a working observing site and a heritage centre, home to London’s only planetarium, sharing stories of discovery, innovation and wonder.
Louise Devoy is Senior Curator, Royal Observatory at Royal Museums Greenwich. She has a background in astrophysics and the history of science and has worked at various museums in the UK and abroad. Her research interests encompass astronomical instruments, women in astronomy and networks of knowledge exchange between historic observatories.
1 / 7
The Princess Alice Disaster: Tragedy on the Thames
October 2026
Paperback
ISBN 978-1-917985-02-4
178 x 150mm
96pp
In September 1878, a day trip to the Kent coast turned to tragedy when the paddle steamer Princess Alice collided with the coal ship Bywell Castle on the River Thames. The incident remains one of the worst peacetime maritime disasters in British history. An unused ticket in the collection of the National Maritime Museum tells the story of one intended passenger’s lucky escape.
Hannah Stockton explores the events of that day and its aftermath, revealing how the disaster exposed the inequalities of Victorian London and led to lasting changes, from improvements to sewage treatment in the Thames to better safety and swimming lessons for girls.
2 / 7
Nannie the Witch: Cutty Sark's Figurehead
October 2026
Paperback
ISBN 978-1-917985-01-7
178 x 150mm
96pp
Traditionally mounted at the bows of ships, figureheads were believed to offer protection and symbolise a vessel’s power and identity. This book explores the famous figurehead of the ship Cutty Sark, inspired by the character Nannie from Robert Burns’s poem ‘Tam O’Shanter’.
Museum experts Louise Macfarlane and Claire Denham trace the history and changing design of the figurehead using drawings and archival photographs. Master carver Andy Peters reveals the skill and craftsmanship of figurehead carving, increasingly a lost art.
3 / 7
Charles Hare's Great Escape: The Story of a Napoleonic Prisoner of War
Paperback
ISBN 978-1-7391542-5-7
178 x 150mm
96pp
4 / 7
J.M.W. Turner’s The Battle of Trafalgar: Commemoration and Controversy
Paperback
ISBN 978-1-0687659-9-5
178 x 150mm
96pp
5 / 7
The Keeper of All The Secrets: Ceramic Art, Botanicals and the Caribbean Market Woman
Paperback
ISBN 978-1-7391542-6-4
178 x 150mm
96pp
Royal Observatory Greenwich Illuminates series
Royal Observatory Greenwich Illuminates is the brilliant astronomy series from experts at the renowned home of time and space. The Observatory’s very own team of astronomers has written a whole host of accessible guides to everything in the cosmos, from stars and planets to the exploration of space! The full series of 10 books is now available in paperback and ebook.
1 / 10
The Search for Life by Hannah Banyard
Paperback: 978-1-906367-90-9
Ebook: 978-1-0687659-8-8
177 x 108mm
176pp
Have you ever looked up at the night sky and thought, ‘Is there
anybody out there?’ Hannah Baynard explores the possibility of other life in the Universe, from the prospect of ancient bacteria locked away on Mars to the likelihood of contacting an interstellar civilisation. Delve into extra-terrestrial possibilities, from the first suggestions of alien life to cutting-edge missions actively seeking to answer one of life's biggest questions: are we alone?
2 / 10
Stars by Dr Greg Brown
Paperback: 978-1-906367-81-7
Ebook: 978-1-0687659-0-2
177 x 108mm
176pp
3 / 10
Planets by Dr Emily Drabek-Maunder
Paperback: 978-1-906367-82-4
Ebook: 978-1-0687659-2-6
177 x 108mm
176pp
4 / 10
Space Exploration by Dhara Patel
Paperback: 978-1-906367-88-6
Ebook: 978-1-0687659-6-4
177 x 108mm
176pp
5 / 10
The Sun by Brendan Owens
Paperback: 978-1-906367-86-2
Ebook: 978-1-0687659-7-1
177 x 108mm
176pp
6 / 10
Black Holes by Dr Ed Bloomer
Paperback: 978-1-906367-85-5
Ebook: 978-1-0687659-5-7
177 x 108mm
176pp
7 / 10
Moons by Anna Gammon-Ross
Paperback: 978-1-906367-95-4
Ebook: 978-1-0687659-4-0
177 x 108mm
176pp
8 / 10
The Universe by Dr Greg Brown
Paperback: 978-1-906367-89-3
Ebook: 978-1-7391542-9-5
177 x 108mm
176pp
9 / 10
Aurorae by Bryony Lanigan
Paperback: 978-1-906367-96-1
Ebook: 978-1-0687659-3-3
177 x 108mm
176pp
10 / 10
Mars by Patricia Skelton
Paperback: 978-1-906367-94-7
Ebook: 978-1-0687659-1-9
177 x 108mm
176pp
1 / 14
The Art of Naval Portraiture
Hardback
ISBN 978-1-739154-20-2
260 x 184mm
224pp
The National Maritime Museum, Greenwich holds the largest collection of naval portraits in the world. This book explores centuries of seafaring history, heroism and maritime art.
2 / 14
The Challenger Expedition Exploring the Ocean's Depths
Paperback
ISBN 978-1-906367-97-8
246 x 189mm
256pp
A fascinating tale of scientific breakthroughs, global trade networks, empire and the legacy of the Challenger expedition on the modern study of oceanography. 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the end of the Challenger expedition.
3 / 14
A is for Atlas
Hardback
ISBN 978-1-906367-93-0
230 x 170mm
256pp
Highlights from the Royal Museums Greenwich map collection, featuring some of its 40,000 maps, charts, globes and atlases spanning the 13th century to today.
4 / 14
Buried Treasure A Pirate Miscellany
Hardback
ISBN 978-1-7391542-8-8
172 x 132mm
160pp
Buried Treasure lifts the lid or 'blows the gaff' on pirate lore, setting the record straight on pirate lives, language, myths and
global exploits. From pirate slang to famous figures like Blackbeard and Anne Bonny, this light-hearted guide reveals the truth behind the legends, brought to life by Dr Robert Blyth, former Senior Curator at Royal Museums Greenwich.
5 / 14
Space Oddities An Astronomy Miscellany
Hardback
ISBN 978-1-739154-21-9
172 x 132mm
176pp
Uncover the answers to some of the most puzzling questions about space in this entertaining and informative miscellany from the expert astronomers at Royal Observatory Greenwich. This pocket-sized book is packed with hundreds of amazing facts, on subjects as varied as the mysteries of dark energy and antimatter to a rock on Mars called Humphrey, and everything in between.
10 / 14
Royal Greenwich: A History in Kings and Queens
Hardback
ISBN 978-1-906367-75-6
230 x 170mm
176pp
13 / 14
On The Line: The Story of the Greenwich Meridian
Hardback
ISBN 978-1-906367-61-9
178 x 125mm
56pp
1 / 6
National Maritime Museum Souvenir Guide
Paperback
ISBN 978-0-948065-99-6
210 x 168mm
64pp
1 / 8
Astronomy Photographer of the Year Collection 14
Collins
Hardback
ISBN 978-0-008688-11-0
270 x 270mm
184pp
2 / 8
Night Sky Almanac: A stargazer’s guide to 2026
Collins
Hardback
ISBN 978-0-008688-13-4
190 x 120mm
272pp
5 / 8
Stargazing: A Beginner's Guide To Astronomy
Collins
Paperback
ISBN 978-0-008196-27-1
210 x 148mm
224pp
6 / 8
Moongazing: A Beginner's Guide to Exploring The Moon
Collins
Paperback
ISBN 978-0-008305-00-0
210 x 148mm
96pp
7 / 8
Mars: A Beginner's Guide to Exploring the Red Planet
Collins
Paperback
ISBN 978-0008604-32-5
210 x 148mm
112pp
The sale of all publications supports the work of Royal Museums Greenwich. All books are for sale from Museum shops and at shop.rmg.co.uk
For all trade sales:
Unicorn Publishing Group
Charleston Studio
Meadow Business Centre
Lewes
BN8 5RW
01363 866997
simon@unicornpublishing.org
For all editorial and rights enquiries:
publishing@rmg.co.uk
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The art of rivalry: Thomas Gainsborough and Sir Joshua Reynolds
The two leading portrait painters of the 18th century weren't just competing for commissions. They each held fundamentally different beliefs about art
The pirate hunter's cup
What does a carved coconut shell have to do with one of the most deadly pirates in history?
How could humans live on Mars?
Astronomer and author Brendan Owens examines the challenges of sending humans to Mars - and what the future holds for our study of the Red Planet
What happens if you fall into a black hole?
Black holes seem like the stuff of science fiction, but the reality is even more peculiar