Non-Fiction Releases
This section lists upcoming and recently released non-fiction books about the Age of Sail. They will also appear in the Non-Fiction Listings
"...our flag was still there" (PB)
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- Non-Fiction Releases
- Created on Tuesday, 15 May 2012 00:00
- By William H. White
Covering the land as well as the sea campaigns, William H. White has a new book recently released in paperback, "...our flag was still there": The Sea History Press Guide to the War of 1812 - Its History and Bicentennial Commemorations. It is currently only available in the US.
As we approach the bicentennial of the War of 1812, "...our flag was still there" will explore the issues that led up to the declaration of war, political tensions, events and the key players. Maritime historian and award-winning author William H. White will guide readers through the highlights of both the land campaigns and the sea battles and answer the questions: "What really happened?" and "Why does it matter?" "...our flag was still there" also serves as a guidebook to the upcoming bicentennial celebrations across the country.
Chatham Dockyard: The Rise and Fall of a Military Industrial Complex (HC)
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- Non-Fiction Releases
- Created on Sunday, 06 May 2012 00:00
- By Philip MacDougall
Philip MacDougall has a new book which is now available for pre-order in hardcover, Chatham Dockyard: The Rise and Fall of a Military Industrial Complex. It will be released wordlwide on 1 June 2012.
Founded in 1570, Chatham Dockyard quickly became one of the most important naval yards for the repair and building of warships, maintaining a pre-eminent position for the next 400 years. Located on the River Medway, in all, the yard was responsible for the construction of over 500 warships, these ranging from simple naval pinnaces through to first-rates that fought at Trafalgar, and concluding with the hunter-killer submarines of the nuclear age. In this detailed new history of the yard from experienced local and maritime author Philip MacDougall, particular attention is given to the final two hundred years of the yard's history, the artisans and labourers who worked there and the changing methods used in the construction of some of the finest warships to enter naval service. Coinciding with the dockyard's seeking status as a World Heritage site, this fascinating history places Chatham firmly in its overall historical context.
The Privateering Stroke: Salem's Privateers in the War of 1812 (PB)
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- Non-Fiction Releases
- Created on Sunday, 25 March 2012 00:00
- By Capt. Michael H. Rutstein
Author Capt. Michael H. Rutstein has a new book, The Privateering Stroke: Salem's Privateers in the War of 1812 , which has been released today, 25 March 2012, in the US in Paperback. It will not be available in other countries and must be purchased through US vendors.
High school and even college textbooks oversimplify the War of 1812 - when they don't ignore it completely. Popular histories emphasize the military as opposed to the economic and political aspects of the war. The U.S. Navy's role has been written about ad nauseum. Meanwhile, we are still waiting for a definitive work on the equally important contributions of American privateers.
While the Navy's outstanding performance in single-ship engagements remains a source of national pride, those victories did not change the course of the war one iota. Had Constitution defeated a dozen British frigates, the thousand-ship Royal Navy would still have blockaded our coasts, strangled our commerce, bottled up our warships, and hunted down those that escaped. Even her former commander, Tyrone Martin, conceded that Constitution's victories were "no more than pin pricks" that "had no direct effect on the course of the war."
The Challenge: Britain Against America in the Naval War of 1812 (PB)
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- 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)
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- 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.
The Social History of English Seamen, 1485-1649 (HC)
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- 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.
Warships of the Anglo-Dutch Wars 1652-74 (PB)
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- Non-Fiction Releases
- Created on Thursday, 10 November 2011 00:00
- By Angus Konstam
Angus Konstam has a new book which is available for pre-order in paperback, Warships of the Anglo-Dutch Wars 1652-74. It will be released wordlwide on 20 December 2011.
During the 17th century England and Holland found themselves at war three times, in a clash for economic and naval supremacy, fought out in the cold waters of the North Sea and the English Channel. The First Anglo-Dutch War (1652-54) pitted the Dutch against Oliver Cromwell's Commonwealth Navy, which proved as successful at sea as his New Model Army had been on land. Following the Restoration of 1660 the two maritime powers clashed again, and in the Second Dutch War (1665-67) it was the Dutch who had the upper hand. They humiliated the English by burning their fleet in the Medway (1667), forcing Charles II to sue for peace. This peace proved temporary, and the Third Dutch War (1672-74) proved a well-balanced and bitterly-fought naval contest. The Royal Navy eventually emerged triumphant, establishing a tradition of naval dominance that would last for two centuries.
Bligh: William Bligh in the South Seas (HC)
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- Non-Fiction Releases
- Created on Tuesday, 08 November 2011 00:00
- By Anne Salmond
Anne Salmond has a new book which is available in hardcover, Bligh: William Bligh in the South Seas. It was released wordlwide on 11 October 2011.
In Bligh, the story of the most notorious of all Pacific explorers is told through a new lens as a key episode in the history of the world, rather than simply of the West. Award-winning anthropologist Anne Salmond recounts with a fresh perspective the triumphs and disasters of William Bligh's life in a riveting narrative that for the first time portrays the Pacific islanders as players. Beginning in 1777, when Bligh, at twenty-two, first arrived in Tahiti with Captain Cook, Salmond charts Bligh's three Pacific voyages--and tells how they transformed lives on the islands as well as on board the ships and back in Europe. She sheds new insight into the mutiny aboard the Bounty--and on Bligh's remarkable 3,000-mile journey across the Pacific in a small boat--through revelations from the raw, unguarded letters between him and his wife Betsy. This beautifully told story reveals Bligh for the first time, as an important ethnographer adding to the paradoxical legacy of this famed seaman, and it captures more definitively than ever the excitement, drama, and terror of these events.