Latest Releases
This Section contains articles about new Age of Sail books released or due to be released. For a list of upcoming books please view the Releases Calendar
The Challenge: Britain Against America in the Naval War of 1812 (PB)
- Details
- Non-Fiction Releases
- Created on Monday, 20 February 2012 00:00
- By Andrew D. Lambert
Author Andrew D. Lambert has a new book, The Challenge: Britain Against America in the Naval War of 1812 , which will be released worldwide on 5 April 2012 in Paperback and can now be pre-ordered.
In the summer of 1812 Britain stood alone, fighting for her very survival against a vast European Empire. Only the Royal Navy stood between Napoleon's legions and ultimate victory. In that dark hour America saw its chance to challenge British dominance: her troops invaded Canada and American frigates attacked British merchant shipping, the lifeblood of British defence. War polarised America. The south and west wanted land, the north wanted peace and trade. But America had to choose between the oceans and the continent.
Within weeks the land invasion had stalled, but American warships and privateers did rather better, and astonished the world by besting the Royal Navy in a series of battles. Then in three titanic single ship actions the challenge was decisively met. British frigates closed with the Chesapeake, the Essex and the President, flagship of American naval ambition. Both sides found new heroes but none could equal Captain Philip Broke, champion of history's greatest frigate battle, when HMS Shannon captured the USS Chesapeake in thirteen blood-soaked minutes. Broke's victory secured British control of the Atlantic, and within a year Washington, D.C. had been taken and burnt by British troops.
Bonhomme Richard vs Serapis (PB)
- Details
- Non-Fiction Releases
- Created on Sunday, 22 January 2012 00:00
- By Mark Lardas
Mark Lardas has a new book which is available for pre-order in paperback, Bonhomme Richard vs Serapis: Flamborough Head 1779. It will be released wordlwide on 20 June 2012.
The clash between the American Bonhomme Richard and the British HMS Serapis during the American Revolutionary War is perhaps the most famous single-ship duel in history. This epic battle between two very similar ships - and crews - off the coast of Britain in September 1779 created two naval heroes: in victory John Paul Jones became a figure that all future American naval officers would aspire to emulate, while Richard Pearson, in defeat, became a hero to the British for a tenacious defense that allowed the merchant vessels under his protection to escape.
Astreya: The Men of the Sea (PB)
- Details
- Other Releases
- Created on Saturday, 24 December 2011 00:00
- By Seymour Hamilton
Seymour Hamilton has a new book which has just been released worldwide, Astreya: The Men of the Sea. The second book in a nautical/fantasy series is available in paperback and ebook versions.
Astreya learns from his grandfather Oron how to control his power over the shipstones aboard the great ship Cygnus. He still yearns for Lindey, left on shore against her will. Trying to purge a nagging guilt, Roaring Jack sails the Mollie south again, and this time Astreya's friend Cam is a stowaway. Adramin does everything he can to make Astreya fail.
Great Lakes Warships 1812-1815 (PB)
- Details
- Non-Fiction Releases
- Created on Saturday, 03 December 2011 00:00
- By Mark Lardas
Mark Lardas has a new book which is available for pre-order in paperback, Great Lakes Warships 1812-1815. It will be released wordlwide on 20 March 2012.
When war broke out in 1812, neither the United States Navy nor the Royal Navy had more than a token force on the Great Lakes. However, once the shooting started, it sparked a ship-building arms race that continued throughout the war. This book examines the design and development of the warships built upon the lakes during the war, emphasizing their differences from their salt-water contemporaries. It then goes onto cover their operational use as they were pitted against each other in a number of clashes on the lakes that often saws ships captured, re-crewed, and thrown back against their pervious owners. Released in 2012 to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the outbreak of the war, this is a timely look at a small, freshwater naval war.
Astreya: The Voyage South (PB)
- Details
- Other Releases
- Created on Friday, 25 November 2011 00:00
- By Seymour Hamilton
Seymour Hamilton has a new book which has just been released worldwide, Astreya: The Voyage South. The first book in a nautical/fantasy series the Kindle version is currently listed and the paperback version will be available in the next few days. EDIT: The paperback version is now available.
Astreya isn't like the other boys in his remote fishing village. When Astreya leaves home, his widowed mother gives him his father's knife, a riddling notebook, and a bracelet with a mysterious and powerful green stone. He sails south with an adventurous fishing boat skipper, hoping that in the world beyond, he can find out who his father was, what the three enigmatic gifts mean, and whether there is any value to the looks, skills and talents that have set him apart from everyone he has ever known.
The Social History of English Seamen, 1485-1649 (HC)
- Details
- Non-Fiction Releases
- Created on Thursday, 17 November 2011 00:00
- By Cheryl A. Fury (Editor)
Cheryl A. Fury (Editor) has a new book which is available for pre-order in hardcover, The Social History of English Seamen, 1485-1649. It will be released wordlwide on 20 December 2011.
Traditionally, the history of English maritime adventures has focused on the great sea captains and swashbucklers. However, over the past few decades, social historians have begun to examine the less well-known seafarers who were on the dangerous voyages of commerce, exploration, privateering and piracy, as well as naval campaigns. This book brings together some of their findings. There is no comparable work that provides such an overview of our knowledge of English seamen during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and the tumultuous world in which they lived. Subjects covered include trade, piracy, wives, widows and the wider maritime community, health and medicine at sea, religion and shipboard culture, how Tudor and Stuart ships were manned and provisioned, and what has been learned from the important wreck the Mary Rose.
The Naval Mutinies of 1797: Unity and Perseverance (HC)
- Details
- Non-Fiction Releases
- Created on Monday, 14 November 2011 00:00
- By Ann Veronica Coats & Philip MacDougall
Ann Veronica Coats & Philip MacDougall have a new book which is available for pre-order in hardcover, The Naval Mutinies of 1797: Unity and Perseverance. It will be released wordlwide on 17 November 2011.
The naval mutinies of 1797 were unprecedented in scale and impressive in their level of organisation. Under threat of French invasion, crews in the Royal Navy's home fleet, after making clear demands, refused to sail until their demands were met. Subsequent mutinies affected the crews of more than one hundred ships in at least five home anchorages, replicated in the Mediterranean, Atlantic and Indian Ocean.
Channel Fleet seamen pursued their grievances of pay and conditions by traditional petitions to their commanding officer, Admiral Richard Howe, but his flawed comprehension and communications were further exacerbated by the Admiralty. The Spithead mutiny became the seamen's last resort. Ironically Howe acknowledged the justice of their position and was instrumental in resolving the Spithead mutiny, but this did not prevent occurrences at the Nore and elsewhere.
A Ship of War (HC)
- Details
- Naval Fiction Releases
- Created on Sunday, 13 November 2011 00:00
- By S. Thomas Russell
Author Sean Thomas Russell has a new novel which is now available for pre-order in Hardcover, A Ship of War. It will be released in the UK on 29 March 2012, but there is no date for other countries yet.
1794 - Charles Hayden sets off aboard the ill-fated HMS Themis with orders to destroy a French frigate sailing from Le Havre and to gather intelligence from a royalist spy. On discovering French plans for an imminent invasion of England, Hayden must return to Portsmouth to give warning before it's too late.
But the enemy have been lying in wait for him, and so begins a dangerous chase out into the Atlantic and into the clutches of a powerful French squadron. After a failed attempt to masquerade as French sailors, Hayden and his officers are taken prisoner. A shipwreck following a storm and a case of mistaken identity befall Hayden and his men as they try in desperation to escape in order to warn the Lords of the Admiralty. Failure will mean the invasion of England - and the guillotine for Hayden.
