Age of Sail Naval Non-Fiction Section
AOS Naval Non-Fiction - Biographical
Non-Fiction books which are biographies of specific officers or men, discussion of a particular officers tactics or battles, etc during the Age of Sail.
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Who's Who in Naval History: From 1550 to the present
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- By Alastair Wilson & Joseph F. Callo
As U.S. editor for this unique work, Joseph Callo was responsible for all of the U.S. entries. Commander Alastair Wilson, a retired commander of the British Royal Navy was the overall editor of this compact biographical guide to naval history.
More than six hundred men and women, including two hundred-plus U.S. entries, are included in this work. Men and women who helped to shape naval warfare over the past six centuries—some famous and some virtually unknown—are described in carefully crafted mini-biographies. Covering key events from the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, when a combined Christian fleet defeated an Ottoman fleet off the coast of what is now Greece, this is an invaluable reference work for anyone interested in the people who have made naval history. This is a unique and fascinating view of naval history, and the entries are carefully indexed and cross-referenced.
The Life of Nelson
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- By Alfred Thayer Mahan
The Embodiment of the Sea Power of Great Britain. Originally written in two volumes.
Alfred Thayer Mahan was a highly regarded naval historian and naval theorist who, concentrating on Nelson's professional life, provided a balanced analysis of his naval career. Avoiding the pitfalls of previous biographies colored by hero worship, Mahan provides a balanced view that even won over an initially skeptical British audience. Written after Nelson's death it is not based on the hero worship of earlier works and uses information that had subsequently become available.
Admirals: The Naval Commanders who made Britain Great
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- By Andrew D. Lambert
From the man described by Amanda Foreman as 'one of the most eminent naval historians of our age' comes the story of how this country's maritime power helped Britain gain unparalleled dominance of the world's economy. (continues into steam period)
Told through the lives of ten of our most remarkable admirals, Andrew Lambert's book spans Elizabethan times to the Second World War, culminating with the spirit which led Andrew Browne Cunningham famously to declare, when the army feared he would lose too many ships, 'it takes three years to build a ship; it takes three centuries to build a tradition'.
Nelson: Britannia's God of War
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- By Andrew D. Lambert
A thrilling new appraisal of Horatio Nelson, the greatest practitioner of naval command the world has ever seen. What made Nelson so special? His peers included many able and pugnacious commanders, the Royal Navy was already the most successful professional fighting force of the age - so what individual quality led Byron rightly to celebrate Nelson's genius as 'Britannia's God of War'? Andrew Lambert demonstrates how Nelson elevated the business of naval warfare to the level of the sublime. Nelson's unique gift was to take that which other commanders found complex, and reduce it to simplicity. Where his predecessors and opponents saw a particular battle as an end in itself, Nelson was always a step ahead - even in the midst of terrifying, close-quarters action, with officers and men struck down all round him. Nelson explores the professional, personal, intellectual and practical origins of one man's genius, to understand how the greatest warrior that Britain has ever produced transformed the art of conflict, enabling his country to survive the challenge of total war and international isolation.
The Foundations of Naval History: Career of Sir John Knox Loughton
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- By Andrew D. Lambert
This text covers the career of Sir John Knox Laughton (1830-1915) who, before his death, was influential in the growing debate about the strategy and tactics of contemporary navies. His friends or correspondents included all the major names in his field. This biography serves as a study of the evolution of naval thought in the crucial decades leading up to World War I.
Horatio Nelson
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- By Angus Konstam
