AOS Other Non-Fiction
 There are many books written about Merchant Ships, Clippers, Whalers etc. from the Age of Sail. This section lists some of them. If you are interested in purchasing any, and direct links are not provided from the book, please visit and search the online stores. |
Captain's Wife
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- AOS Other Non-Fiction
- By Abby Jane Morrell
During the nineteenth century it became increasingly common for merchant service masters to take their wives to sea, particularly in the whaling industry, where voyages of 2-3 years were not uncommon. Reflecting the sailor's traditional dislike of women on board – seen as unlucky by the superstitious and disruptive by the more rational – these ships were derisively dubbed 'Hen Frigates' and although they have been the fashionable subject of academic interest in recent years, there is not much literature by the women themselves. Among the first, and most accomplished, is Abby Jane Morrell's account of a voyage between 1829 and 1831 that took her from New England to the South Pacific. Her husband Benjamin was in the sealing trade but was a keen explorer, and his adventurous spirit led him – and his wife – into situations normally well outside the world of the Hen Frigate.
Curiously, Benjamin also wrote an account of this voyage, but since he was described by a contemporary as 'the greatest liar in the Pacific', his wife's is a better record of what actually happened, even when dealing with dramatic incidents like the murderous attack by cannibal islanders. Apart from the descriptions of exotic places, much of the interest in this book is the traditional, centuries-old world of the sailor as seen through the eyes of a thoughtful and well-educated woman. As such it heads a long line of 'improving' books aimed at ameliorating the seaman's lot.
Pirates Of Barbary: Corsairs, Conquests and Captivity in the 17th-Century Mediterranean
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- AOS Other Non-Fiction
- By Adrian Tinniswood
Pirates of Barbary is an extraordinary record of the European renegades and Islamic sea-rovers who terrorised the Mediterranean and beyond throughout the seventeenth century. From the coast of Southern Europe to Morocco and the Ottoman states of Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli, Christian and Muslim seafarers met in bustling ports to swap religions, to battle and to trade goods and slaves – raiding as far as Iceland and New England in search of their human currency.
Off Soundings: Aspects of the Maritime History of Rhode Island
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- AOS Other Non-Fiction
- By Alexander Boyd Hawes
Off Soundings: Aspects of the Maritime History of Rhode Island, a work of substantial scholarship, is a fascinating narrative by the late Alexander Boyd Hawes, an adoptive Rhode Islander. A richly illustrated historical survey of the colony and state throughout the age of sail, it is "a very useful and important contribution to the field of maritime history, and to Rhode Island history in particular," writes Naval War College Professor John M. Hattendorf in his introduction. The book will be read and used to great advantage in Rhode Island."
American Ships
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- AOS Other Non-Fiction
- By Alexander Laing
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This book about the evolution of watercraft on the American continents begins with elusive evidence of Eskimo whaling 4,000 years ago and concludes with Antartic whaling of the 1960's. The stress is on the period from 1492 to 1928, with emphasis on the transition from sail to steam in the middle of the 19th century. |
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Clipper Ship Men
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- AOS Other Non-Fiction
- By Alexander Laing
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: The fascinating story of the men and ideas that produced "the perfect ship" An account of the clipper ships of New England, the designs, designers and sailors. |
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Seafaring America
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- AOS Other Non-Fiction
- By Alexander Laing
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Extensively illustrated with photographs and reproductions of period art work to provide the nautical history of The Colonial Seafarer, The Revolution at Sea, The World Traders, The Age of Combat Sail, The Whaling Enterprise, The Years of Primacy, The Clipper Ship, The Persistence of Sail and a selective guide to Maritime Museums |
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