Details: By: David Childs; AOS Naval Non-Fiction - Famous Ships

The raising of the Mary Rose in 1982 made headline news. As an archaeological event it ranked alongside Schliemann's excavations at Troy or Arthur Evans's discovery of Knossos, and so much information has since been gleaned from the wreck and its contents that there is an overwhelming tendency to treat the ship as a 'time-capsule', like some Tudor burial site. But the Mary Rose is not just an archaeological relic. She is a warship that was revolutionary in her time and, despite being most famous for her loss in battle, a ship that had served her monarch for 34 years, almost the length of his reign.

This book tells the full story of the construction and career of the ship, placing it firmly within the colourful context of Tudor politics and Court life. It also reveals how the world s first administration of a permanent navy was developed, and the part played by the ship in the beginnings of big-gun warfare at sea. Finally, it brings the story down to the present day, with chapters on the recovery and the new ideas and information thrown up by the massive programme of archaeological work since undertaken. Written by the Development Director of The Mary Rose Trust and heavily illustrated from the massive resources of the Trust, this is a book which will appeal to general reader and specialist alike.