52 Products

The Royal Navy's first ironclad warship, the steam-powered HMS Warrior was a turning point in naval architecture and the most powerful vessel afloat in 1860. This analysis of the frigate employs many photographs of the restored ship to explore its design, its fitting out and the living conditions of its crew, as well as outlining Warrior's service history and describing its restoration in the 1970s.

From the Solway Firth down the West coast to Hartland Point in Devon, Smylie explores types of fishing ranging from ancient weirs to modern trawling, and catches including cockles, shrimps, scallops, salmon, eels and herring.

From inkwell lobster pots in Cornwall, this volume travels along England’s south coast, through harbours including Newlyn, Brixham, Hasting and Brighton, with oyster fishing under sail and pilchard seining among the fishing methods described.

This volume covers the types of fishing, the particularly fine boats and the ‘fisher folk’ of the west coast of Scotland down to the Solway Firth in photographs that mostly date back to the days of herring fishing.

From the feathers and pigments of ‘naked’ societies to the cufflinks and suits of modern global leaders, clothing reflects both social ranking and the local weather. This illustrated survey of regalia and its numerous accessories examines the art of ‘power dressing’ through the ages, and features some of history’s great costumes, including those worn by Ptolemy VI, the Emperor Augustus, Louis XIV, Napoleon Bonaparte, Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Queen Elizabeth II.

Designer John Willis Griffiths’s conclusion that a sailing ship built for speed required ‘a sharp flared hollow and concave bow’ and a stern designed for ‘minimal drag’, revolutionized shipping well into the 20th century. This erudite history of the clipper, the fastest of all merchant sailing ships, considers different designs, including Yankee, Australian and tea clippers, as well as their cargoes and trade routes, with a focus on the treacherous seas around Cape Horn.

An experienced hobby sailor, painter Francis Smitheman brings his own sense of the sea as well as extensive historical research and a profound respect for the classical masters to his maritime pictures. This collection of his oil paintings, completed over a period of 30 years, contains a series of pictures of Nelson’s battles, scenes from the Pool of London in the age of sail, polar exploration vessels and imagined historic scenes at famous ports.

The hazardous seas that surround Antarctica require ships of the utmost resilience. This book focuses on the design and construction of the actual vessels, from the Chinese fleet that first sighted the southern continent in the 15th century, through Captain Cook’s Resolution, to today’s automated whalers. Technical information, plans, photographs and paintings reveal the features that enabled these ships, whether purpose-built or adapted, to negotiate poorly charted waters and withstand the pressure of ice.

As late as the 1950s, one in seven of all seagoing vessels were built on the Clyde, the river being lined with famous yards. This book explains the rise and fall of Glasgow as the world's centre of shipbuilding and explores the many iconic vessels built there, from sailing ships such as Cutty Sark and mighty warships such as HMS Hood to the greatest luxury liners.

The manifests of Ellis Island record a total of 818 ships bringing new citizens to America between 1892, when the facility was opened, and 1924, when immigration quotas were much reduced. Through contemporary photographs and promotional posters, this book profiles 100 of the most interesting, from large and famous liners such as the Lusitania and the Olympic to the many more modest vessels that offered the life-changing transatlantic voyage from ports all over Europe.

This second part of an illustrated history of Campbell’s White Funnel steamers pieces together the history of the Bristol Channel-based paddle steamer company and its vessels during the interwar years, 1919–39. Slightly off-mint.

Robert Hay (1789–1847) joined the Royal Navy when he was 14 years old and served on the lower decks as a ‘shoe boy’ during the French wars. After one attempt to desert, he was posted to the East Indies, where he was badly wounded; the next time he got home to Scotland without falling foul of the press gang. Written in 1820, his memoir is a vivid account of naval life – and a wonderful yarn. Edited and introduced by Vincent McInerney.

On 25 August 1833, the chartered transport Amphitrite set sail from London, its 16 crew, 100 female prisoners and their children bound for an Australian convict colony. Days later, and before a crowd of helpless onlookers, the ship would break up off Boulogne, drowning all but three on board. This erudite account of the tragedy also examines the Admiralty’s investigation of the captain who, inexplicably, refused help offered from the shore.

Complementing the author’s earlier work on ancient European water transport, this volume presents the evidence for early hand-built rafts and boats in the rest of the world, from Egypt to the Americas. It combines the insights of ethnographical research with the analysis of excavated vessels and contemporary written accounts, to give a comprehensive picture of our knowledge about ancient seafaring and the techniques and materials that were used to construct the different types of craft.

Beginning with New York’s Singer Building, which at 612 feet on completion in 1908 was the world’s tallest building, and Cunard’s Lusitania and Mauretania, both Blue Riband winners for their astonishing speed, this book compares nine of the most iconic Manhattan skyscrapers with many of the great transatlantic liners, including Queen Mary and Allure of the Seas, exploring the history of their construction, interior design, various uses and regrettable, though inevitable, demise.

In this celebratory book, William Miller’s passion for the romance of ocean liners looks to the Cunard Line and its fleet of iconic ships, including the two ‘Queens’, Mauretania, Caronia and Queen Elizabeth 2. Drawing on staff and passenger interviews, photographs and posters, the author traces the ships’ survival through the Second World War, when many liners were painted grey for military service, into passenger shipping’s grand and opulent finale before the advent of commercial aviation.

Illustrated with over 180 photographs and plans, this book tells the stories of three ships that plied the Tasman route between Australia and New Zealand in the 1930s and 1940s: Huddard Parker’s Wanganella and the Union Steam Ship company’s Awatea, the fastest ship on the Tasman Sea, and Monowai, whose 30-year career ended in 1960. The book covers the service of all three ships during the Second World War, which saw the bombing and destruction of Awatea.

Within eight days of the declaration of war in 1939, a dozen coastal cargo ships had been requisitioned to supply the troops in France. By the following spring there were 160, and it was their task to bring the British Expeditionary Force back from Dunkirk. Four years later, 460 ships of ten different nationalities were involved in the D-Day operation. This book documents the activities of these vital fleets with listings of the service record of each vessel.

In the 19th century, Trefriw, twelve miles upstream from Conwy in North Wales, began to attract visitors to sample the healing waters of its chalybeate well, which encouraged the foundation of a passenger steamer service to the village. This book explores the tourist steamer fleet that flourished on the route throughout the century and into the Edwardian period, and also the development of Trefriw into a fashionable spa town.

Italian passenger ships dominated the Mediterranean before the Second World War but most were destroyed in the conflict. During the 1950s and 1960s a new fleet of liners emerged and other nations, including Greece, Spain, Portugal, Israel and Turkey, also entered the market, providing local cruising as well as services beyond Europe. This volume profiles the most prominent vessels of this golden era and is illustrated with over 170 photographs and contemporary publicity material.

Since the Stone Age, seas, lakes and rivers have been the prime means by which humans have travelled, both for exploration and to make trading connections. Written by a former Royal Navy officer and maritime archaeologist, this survey of important excavations shows how scholars have interpreted different types of evidence to understand not only the techniques of ancient European ship-building but also the uses to which vessels were put from the earliest times to the 15th century.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel's achievement in building the steamship Great Western has been overshadowed by the fame of later vessels Great Britain and Great Eastern, but the wooden-hulled steamer was, for a short time, the largest and fastest passenger vessel making transatlantic voyages. This book looks at the business and design problems that beset Brunel during the development of Great Western and uses contemporary diaries to examine what life on board was like for passengers and crew.

The cruise ship Queen Victoria, the first in a new breed of Cunard ships, was brought into service in 2007. It is a modern cruise ship strong enough for the world's oceans, yet luxurously appointed, with facilities ranging from restaurants and bars to a full scale theatre. Comprising more than 200 colour photographs and brief descriptions, this book is a visual tour of the ship's public rooms and sports decks, ending with a look 'behind the scenes'.

Two streams in South Lanarkshire vie for the title of the source of the Clyde, which then flows through moor and farmland, down the Falls of Clyde – a UNESCO World Heritage Site – to Glasgow and the Firth of Clyde. Through a selection of photographs, commentary and guided walks, this book explores the history, culture and geography of the river from source to sea.

The traditions and insignia of Britain's merchant fleet have been less well documented than those of the Royal Navy, but there are detailed uniform regulations for mercantile seafarers and famous shipping lines such as White Star had their own specific outfits and rank insignia. Featuring hundreds of colour illustrations, this reference work is a comprehensive review of uniforms, medals and badges. The book also contains contextual articles on the history of the merchant fleet and the development and production of uniforms.

The largest and most luxurious ship afloat when it was built, Lusitania was famous even before it was sunk by a German submarine in 1915 with the loss of about 1,200 lives. This book tells the story of the vessel through a collection of contemporary postcards, charting its construction and service but also its cultural impact in the aftermath of its sinking, focusing anti-German feeling and helping to bring America into the First World War.

Before the advent of the car ferry, Britain served passengers on the short crossings to the Continent and Ireland with a fleet of small ferries or scaled-down liners. This history, featuring more than 300 photos, describes the success of these vessels, which proliferated on British coastal routes and spread to other parts of the world from the early 19th century, and examines how the designs evolved from paddle steamers to screw-driven craft and finally diesel-powered ships by the early 20th century.

When Royal Caribbean's Sovereign of the Seas was launched in 1988 it was the largest passenger ship to be built for more than 40 years, but it signalled a new era in the cruise business and has inspired the construction of dozens of ever more spectacular vessels. This book celebrates this new golden age of cruising by examining 40 modern ships – from floating resorts accommodating thousands of holidaymakers to purpose-built polar and river cruisers.

Britain's canal network is the legacy of the great 18th- and 19th-century engineers whose tunnels, aqueducts, locks and bridges are in use again today following decades of neglect. This portfolio of more than 200 colour photographs celebrates not only the canal-builders' engineering marvels but also the extensive restoration efforts undertaken in recent years, including the modern wonder of the Falkirk Wheel.

Since its establishment in the 16th century, the Corporation of Trinity House has played a crucial role in maritime affairs in Britain, not least through the provision and operation of lighthouses. This history marking the 500th anniversary of the Corporation presents a collection of the best photography and illustrations from Trinity House's own archives, revealing its work over the centuries and celebrating the iconic structures it manages around the British coastline.

Before the reign of Elizabeth I, Britons showed little appetite to explore the seas beyond their own shores; but from the 16th century Britain's naval power began to grow steadily. From fifth-century skin boats to the battleships of the Second World War, this maritime history charts how a tradition of seamanship evolved in Britain, and how the exploits of merchant adventurers and naval warriors contributed to achieving a total domination of the seas after 1815.

A photographic introduction to the Submarines of the Royal Navy demonstrating a rich history of innovative design and construction, with images accompanied by captions with