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books tagged “maritime history”
books tagged “maritime history”
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1421: The Year China Discovered the Worldby Gavin MenziesISBN 0553815229 (0-553-81522-9)
Softcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group
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› Find signed collectible books: '1421: The Year China Discovered the World'Book summary:If you're going to make a stir, you might as well do it in style. And Gavin Menzies has caused one, big time. In 1421: The Year China Discovered the World, this retired Royal Navy submarine commander, who only visited China for the first time on his 25th wedding anniversary, claims that the Chinese navigator Zheng He discovered America some 71 years before Columbus. And not content with this, he goes on to suggest that Zheng He learnt how to calculate longitude several centuries before John Harrison supposedly nailed the problem. Unsurprisingly, this has not gone down too well in some areas and the book has been the target of some scepticism.
Although Menzies has unearthed a few unknown primary sources, the bulk of his thesis depends on amalgamating several disparate areas of research into a grand unified theory. So he combines what we do know--principally that the Chinese built huge sailing ships with nine masts and that Asiatic chickens were discovered in South America--into what he considers compelling evidence. Menzies has also turned up some maps from the pre-Columbus era that appear to show the Americas, along with a few shipwrecks and Ming artefacts from along his supposed route.
It all makes for a gripping read, even if the sum doesn't quite add up to the whole. For all the detail, Menzies is some way off providing proof. None of the supposed 28,000 colonists has left any documentary evidence because all records, boats and shipyards associated with his voyage were burnt by imperial order in 1433. This surely begs the question--if we know so much of Zheng He's voyages around the Indian Ocean, how come we know nothing of his trips further east? Nor, conveniently for Menzies, did any of the colonists return home in triumph. They either died en route or skulked home to obscurity after they were disowned by the emperor.
So you either accept Menzies as an act of faith or brush him aside with scepticism. Either way, you'll have a lot of fun in the process as the book is never less than provocative. And even the sceptics will find themselves hoping Menzies has got it right, because there's something intrinsically uplifting about the notion of an amateur historian getting one over the professionals. --John Crace [via]
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The Age of Reconnaissanceby J.H. ParryISBN 0520042352 (0-520-04235-2)
Softcover, Univ of California Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Age of Reconnaissance'Book summary:The Age of Reconnaissance, as J. H. Parry has so aptly named it, was the period during which Europe discovered the rest of the world. It began with Henry the Navigator and the Portuguese voyages in the mid-fifteenth century and ended 250 years later when the "Reconnaissance" was all but complete. Dr. Parry examines the inducements--political, economic, religious--to overseas enterprises at the time, and analyzes the nature and problems of the various European settlements in the new lands.[via]More editions of The Age of Reconnaissance:
The American Line: (1871-1902)by William Henry FlayhartISBN 0393047105 (0-393-04710-5)
Hardcover, W W Norton & Co Inc
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The Atlanticby Paul Butel, Iain Hamilton GrantISBN 0415106907 (0-415-10690-7)
Hardcover, Routledge
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Atlantic: The Last Great Race of Princesby Scott CookmanISBN 0471410764 (0-471-41076-4)
Hardcover, John Wiley & Sons Inc
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Battleship Bismarck: A Survivor's Storyby Burkard Von Mullenheim-RechbergISBN 0583135609 (0-583-13560-9)
Softcover, Academy Chicago Pub
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Beyond the Capes:Pacific Exploration from Captain Cook to the 'Challenger', 1776-1877: Pacific Exploration from Captain Cook to the 'Challenger', 1776-1877by Ernest Stanley DodgeISBN 0575013222 (0-575-01322-2)
Hardcover, Gollancz
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The Blind Horn's Hateby Richard Alexander HoughISBN 0393054292 (0-393-05429-2)
Hardcover, Norton
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The Buccaneers of Americaby Alexander O. Exquemelin, Jack Beeching, Alexis BrownISBN 048640966X (0-486-40966-X)
Softcover, Dover Pubns
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Captain Bligh and Mr. Christian: The Men and the Mutinyby Richard HoughISBN 0525073108 (0-525-07310-8)
Hardcover, E. P. Dutton
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Carry On, Mr. Bowditchby Jean Lee Latham, John O'Hara CosgraveISBN 0618250743 (0-618-25074-3)
Softcover, Houghton Mifflin
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Carry On, Mr. Bowditch'Book summary:The story of a boy who had the persistence to master navigation in the days when men sailed by "log, lead, and lookout," and who authored The American Practical Navigator, "the sailor's Bible." [via]
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- Carry On, Mr. Bowditch: ISBN 0618250816 (0-618-25081-6)
Hardcover, Houghton Mifflin - Carry On, Mr. Bowditch: ISBN 0395137136 (0-395-13713-6)
Softcover, Houghton Mifflin - Carry On, Mr. Bowditch: ISBN 0395068819 (0-395-06881-9)
Hardcover, Houghton Mifflin - Carry On, Mr. Bowditch: ISBN 0618250743 (0-618-25074-3)
Softcover, Houghton Mifflin
- Carry On, Mr. Bowditch: ISBN 0618250816 (0-618-25081-6)
Commerce and Cultureby Christine HeyrmanISBN 0393955184 (0-393-95518-4)
Softcover, W W Norton & Co Inc
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Commerce and Culture: The Maritime Communities of Colonial Massachusetts, 1690-1750by Christine HeyrmanISBN 0393017818 (0-393-01781-8)
Hardcover, W W Norton & Co Inc
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Compass: A Story Of Exploration And Innovationby Alan GurneyISBN 0393327132 (0-393-32713-2)
Softcover, W W Norton & Co Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Compass: A Story Of Exploration And Innovation'Book summary:"The compass' rocky evolution is charted with an enthusiast's passion....A fascinating adventure."Bernadette Murphy, Los Angeles Times
Compass chronicles the misadventures of those who attempted to perfect the magnetic compassso precious to sixteenth-century seamen that, by law, any man found tampering with it had his hand pinned to the mast with a dagger. From the time man first took to the seas until only one thousand years ago, sight and winds were the sailor's only navigational aids. It was not until the development of the compass that maps and charts could be used with any accuracyeven so, it would be hundreds of years and thousands of shipwrecks before the marvelous instrument was perfected. And its history up to modern times is filled with the stories of disasters that befell sailors who misused it. In this page-turning history of man's search for reliable navigation of treacherous sea routes around the globe, Alan Gurney brings to life the instrument Victor Hugo called "the soul of the ship." 20 illustrations. [via]More editions of Compass: A Story Of Exploration And Innovation:
The Custom of the Seaby Neil HansonISBN 0471399779 (0-471-39977-9)
Softcover, John Wiley & Sons Inc
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The Diligent: A Voyage Through the Worlds of the Slave Tradeby Robert W. HarmsISBN 0465028721 (0-465-02872-1)
Softcover, Perseus Books Group
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Discovery of the Sea.by J.H. ParryISBN 0520042379 (0-520-04237-9)
Softcover, Univ of California Pr
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Drake's Voyages: A Re-Assessment of Their Place in Elizabethan Maritime Expansionby Kenneth R. AndrewsISBN 058602994X (0-586-02994-X)
Hardcover, Panther
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Early Man and the Ocean: A Search for the Beginnings of Navigation and Seaborne Civilizationsby Thor HeyerdahlISBN 0385127103 (0-385-12710-3)
Hardcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group
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- Early Man and the Ocean: A Search for the Beginnings of Navigation and Seaborne Civilizations: ISBN 0394742184 (0-394-74218-4)
Hardcover, Vintage Books - Early Man and the Ocean: A Search for the Beginnings of Navigation and Seaborne Civilizations: ISBN 0385127103 (0-385-12710-3)
Hardcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group
- Early Man and the Ocean: A Search for the Beginnings of Navigation and Seaborne Civilizations: ISBN 0394742184 (0-394-74218-4)
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Enduranceby Alfred LansingISBN 0380006707 (0-380-00670-7)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Endurance'Book summary:You can't really fail with a book about the Endurance. Although Ernest Shackleton's attempt to make the first Trans-Antarctic crossing barely made it out of base camp, his expedition has gone into the history books as one of the great epics of polar travel. Endurance left England in August 1914 and reached the pack-ice off Antarctica in January the following year. It sank in November, crushed by the weight of the ice, leaving Shackleton and his 27 men stranded in one of the most desolate areas of the world with no hope of rescue. Undaunted, Shackleton led his team to the edge of the ice, dragging three open life-boats that had been salvaged from the Endurance every step of the way. They then sailed to Elephant Island, a remote uninhabited outcrop of rock, where they lived off penguins and seagull. By April 1916, Shackleton realised there was no chance of them being spotted by a passing ship and he and five men set sail in the open-decked 20-foot boat, the James Caird, across 650 miles of the stormiest seas of the southern oceans for South Georgia. After narrowly surviving being shipwrecked on the reefs surrounding the western coast of South Georgia, Shackleton then proceeded to make the first-ever crossing of the mountainous island before reaching the sanctuary of the whaling station at Stromness. And it was Shackleton, in person, who led the rescue mission to Elephant Island to pick up the rest of his men. Miraculously, all 28 men survived.
Alfred Lansing's book, first published in 1957, tells it as it was. He draws heavily on the diaries and other first-person memoirs of those involved, and he writes with both style and pace. As such it is the classic tale of derring-do. What Lansing misses, though, is the social context. He provides little sense of history; in August 1914, when the Endurance left England, World War One was starting. By the time he returned home two years later, thousands of young men of his generation were lying dead on the battlefields of the Somme. The contrast is almost unbearable but Lansing makes nothing of it. Similarly he does not explain how someone like Scott, whose South Pole expedition several years earlier had been an unmitigated disaster of incompetence and bad planning, should go down in British history as one of our all-time heroes, while Shackleton, whose exploits were indeed truly heroic, has lived for so long in Scott's shadow. --John Crace [via]
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A General History of Pyratesby Daniel Defoe, Manuel SchonhornISBN 0486404889 (0-486-40488-9)
Softcover, Dover Pubns
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Her Name, Titanicby Charles R. PellegrinoISBN 0380708922 (0-380-70892-2)
Softcover, HarperCollins Publishers
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History of American Sailing Shipsby Howard Irving ChapelleISBN 0517023326 (0-517-02332-6)
Hardcover, Random House Value Pub
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In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the Uss Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivorsby Doug StantonISBN 0593047400 (0-593-04740-0)
Softcover, Bantam Press
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Isaac's Stormby Erik Larson, Isaac Monroe ClineISBN 0609602330 (0-609-60233-0)
Hardcover, Crown Pub
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Isaac's Storm'Book summary:On September 8, 1900, a massive hurricane slammed into Galveston, Texas. A tidal surge of some four feet in as many seconds inundated the city, while the wind destroyed thousands of buildings. By the time the water and winds subsided, entire streets had disappeared and as many as 10,000 were dead--making this the worst natural disaster in America's history.
In Isaac's Storm, Erik Larson blends science and history to tell the story of Galveston, its people, and the hurricane that devastated them. Drawing on hundreds of personal reminiscences of the storm, Larson follows individuals through the fateful day and the storm's aftermath. There's Louisa Rollfing, who begged her husband, August, not to go into town the morning of the storm; the Ursuline Sisters at St. Mary's orphanage who tied their charges to lengths of clothesline to keep them together; Judson Palmer, who huddled in his bathroom with his family and neighbors, hoping to ride out the storm. At the center of it all is Isaac Cline, employee of the nascent Weather Bureau, and his younger brother--and rival weatherman--Joseph. Larson does an excellent job of piecing together Isaac's life and reveals that Isaac was not the quick-thinking hero he claimed to be after the storm ended. The storm itself, however, is the book's true protagonist--and Larson describes its nuances in horrific detail.
At times the prose is a bit too purple, but Larson is engaging and keeps the book's tempo rising in pace with the wind and waves. Overall, Isaac's Storm recaptures at a time when, standing in the first year of the century, Americans felt like they ruled the world--and that even the weather was no real threat to their supremacy. Nature proved them wrong. --Sunny Delaney [via]
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The Jamestown Voyages under the First Charter, 1606-1609: Documents Relating to the Foundation of Jamestown and the History of the Jamestown Colony up to the Departure of Captain John Smith, Last President of the Council in Virginia under the First...by Philip L. BarbourISBN 0521010276 (0-521-01027-6)
Hardcover, Published for the Hakluyt Society [by] Cambridge U.P.
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Kon-Tikiby Thor HeyerdahlISBN 039486364X (0-394-86364-X)
Softcover, Random House Childrens Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Kon-Tiki'Book summary:Six men on a small raft sail four thousand miles across the Pacific Ocean, from Peru to the Polynesian Islands. [via]
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Kon-Tikiby F.H. Lyon, Thor HeyerdahlISBN 0671726528 (0-671-72652-8)
Softcover, Pocket Classics
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Kon-Tiki'Book summary:435pages. poche. Broché. [via]
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Left to Die: The Story of the U. S. S. Juneauby Dan KurzmanISBN 0671748742 (0-671-74874-2)
Softcover, Simon & Schuster
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Left to Die: The Tragedy of the Uss Juneauby Dan KurzmanISBN 0671748734 (0-671-74873-4)
Hardcover, Pocket Books
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Man-Of-Warby Stephen Biesty, Richard PlattISBN 0590746103 (0-590-74610-3)
Softcover, Scholastic
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Men and Whalesby Richard EllisISBN 0394558391 (0-394-55839-1)
Hardcover, Knopf Publishing Group
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Men-Of-War: Life in Nelson's Navyby Patrick O'BrianISBN 0393038580 (0-393-03858-0)
Hardcover, W W Norton & Co Inc
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The Mississippi Steamboat Era in Historic Photographs: Natchez to New Orleans 1870-1920by Thomas H. Gandy, Jaon W. GandyISBN 0486252604 (0-486-25260-4)
Softcover, Dover Pubns
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Moby Dickby Herman Melville, Hershel Parker, Harrison HayfordISBN 0393972836 (0-393-97283-6)
Softcover, W W Norton & Co Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Moby Dick'Book summary:Moby Dick is a vast and dangerous white whale. An enemy for many years after the whale bit off his leg, the crazed Captain Ahab is obsessed with his quarry. Together with his extraordinary crew, Ahab braves the oceans of the world to hunt the fearsome Moby Dick. Geraldine McCaughrean is one of the most distinguished living children's authors. She has won the Carnegie Medal, the Whitbread Children's Novel Award (twice), and The Guardian Children's Fiction Award. Geraldine's most recent best-selling novel "The Kite Rider" was published to universal acclaim in March 2001. [via]
More editions of Moby Dick:
- Moby Dick: ISBN 0395051088 (0-395-05108-8)
Softcover, Houghton Mifflin College Div - Moby Dick: ISBN 0451526996 (0-451-52699-6)
Softcover, New Amer Library Classics - Moby Dick: ISBN 0460011790 (0-460-01179-0)
Softcover, J M Dent & Sons Ltd - Moby Dick: ISBN 0486432157 (0-486-43215-7)
Softcover, Dover Pubns - Moby Dick: ISBN 0553213113 (0-553-21311-3)
Softcover, Bantam Classic & Loveswept - Moby Dick: ISBN 0618265724 (0-618-26572-4)
Softcover, Houghton Mifflin - Moby Dick: ISBN 0671028359 (0-671-02835-9)
Softcover, Pocket Classics - Moby Dick: ISBN 0618265716 (0-618-26571-6)
Hardcover, Houghton Mifflin - Moby Dick: ISBN 039309670X (0-393-09670-X)
Softcover, W W Norton & Co Inc - Moby Dick: ISBN 0425120236 (0-425-12023-6)
Softcover, Berkley Pub Group - Moby Dick: ISBN 0460873075 (0-460-87307-5)
Softcover, Tuttle Pub - Moby Dick: ISBN 0393044025 (0-393-04402-5)
Hardcover, Norton - Moby Dick: ISBN 0460871625 (0-460-87162-5)
Hardcover, J.M. Dent - Moby Dick/Moby Dick: ISBN 0606160175 (0-606-16017-5)
Hardcover, Demco Media - Moby Dick: ISBN 0393972836 (0-393-97283-6)
Softcover, W W Norton & Co Inc
- Moby Dick: ISBN 0395051088 (0-395-05108-8)
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Moby Dick Or, the Whaleby Herman MelvilleISBN 0520045483 (0-520-04548-3)
Softcover, Univ of California Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Moby Dick Or, the Whale'Book summary:Including hyperlinked explanatory notes within the ebook-optimized text, introductions by leading authorities, and a wealth of other valuable material, Oxford World's Classics ebooks continue the series century-long commitment to scholarship across a broad spectrum of literature from around the globe.
Moby Dick: This classic story of high adventure, manic obsession and metaphysical speculation was Melville's masterpiece. This edition includes passages from Melville's correspondence with Nathaniel Hawthorne, in which the two discuss the philosophical depths of the novel's plot and imagery. [via]More editions of Moby Dick Or, the Whale:
- Moby Dick Or, the Whale: ISBN 0520043545 (0-520-04354-5)
Hardcover, Univ of California Pr - Moby Dick Or, the Whale: ISBN 0517606143 (0-517-60614-3)
Hardcover, Avenel Books - Moby Dick Or, the Whale: ISBN 0520045491 (0-520-04549-1)
Hardcover, Univ of California Pr - Moby Dick Or, the Whale: ISBN 0520045483 (0-520-04548-3)
Softcover, Univ of California Pr
- Moby Dick Or, the Whale: ISBN 0520043545 (0-520-04354-5)
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Moby-Dick, Or, The White Whaleby Herman MelvilleISBN 0451524551 (0-451-52455-1)
Softcover, New Amer Library Classics
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Moby-Dick, Or, The White Whale'Book summary:Avec Moby Dick, Melville a donné naissance à un livre-culte et inscrit dans la mémoire des hommes un nouveau mythe : celui de la baleine blanche. Fort de son expérience de marin, qui a nourri ses romans précédents et lui a assuré le succès, l'écrivain américain, alors en pleine maturité, raconte la folle quête du capitaine Achab et sa dernière rencontre avec le grand cachalot. Véritable encyclopédie de la mer, nouvelle Bible aux accents prophétiques, parabole chargée de thèmes universels, Moby Dick n'en reste pas moins construit avec une savante maîtrise, maintenant un suspense lent, qui s'accélère peu à peu jusqu'à l'apocalypse finale. L'écriture de Melville, infiniment libre et audacieuse, tour à tour balancée, puis hachée au rythme des houles, des vents et des passions humaines, est d'une richesse exceptionnelle. Il faut remonter à Shakespeare pour trouver l'exemple d'une langue aussi inventive, d'une poésie aussi grandiose. --Scarbo [via]
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Mr Bligh's Bad Language: Passion, Power and Theatre on the Bountyby Greg DeningISBN 0521467187 (0-521-46718-7)
Softcover, Cambridge Univ Pr
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The Night Lives On: The Untold Stories and Secrets Behind the Sinking of the "Unsinkable" Ship - Titanic!by Walter LordISBN 0380732033 (0-380-73203-3)
Softcover, HarperCollins Publishers
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Night Lives On : The Untold Stories and Secrets Behind the Sinking of the "Unsinkable" Ship - Titanic!'Book summary:You might say that Walter Lord provoked the whole Titanic mania by interviewing dozens of survivors and fashioning their reminiscences into the classic non-fiction novel A Night to Remember, which was made into a 1958 film that heavily influenced James Cameron's 1998 epic. Some of the dialogue is more vivid than the 1998 film--when a kid sees the deadly iceberg, he says excitedly, "Oh, Muddie, look at the beautiful North Pole with no Santa Claus on it."
But much has been discovered since Lord's original book made waves--such as the shipwreck itself, and a wealth of scientific inquiry. So he wrote this semisequel, which tackles each of the remaining mysteries about the unnecessary calamity in a methodical, but quite readable, fashion. How come the wireless operators blew it so fatally? Maybe they would have had better operators if they paid them more than $5 a week--as Lord notes, it would have taken a wireless operator 18 years to earn one transatlantic ticket. How come the Californian just sat there in nearby waters and neglected to save anyone on the frantically signaling and flare-firing Titanic? Lord quotes a man on the nonsinking ship admitting to "a certain amount of slackness," which he uses for a sardonic chapter title.
Some of the characters are more sympathetic, such as Renee Harris, who used the money she won suing the Titanic owners for her husband's death to bankroll neophyte playwright Moss Hart's first show. Lord says that Hart's memoir, Act One, depicts Harris reacting to an opening-night flop with optimism. After you've survived the Titanic, what's to worry?
Walter Lord has gotten better reviews, and he needn't fret about his reputation. The Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Barbara Tuchman, author of A Distant Mirror, had this reaction to Night Lives On: "Stunning ... his detection and discoveries make a first-class historical reconstruction and a model in the research and writing of that difficult art." --Tim Appelo [via]
More editions of The Night Lives On: The Untold Stories and Secrets Behind the Sinking of the "Unsinkable" Ship - Titanic!:
- The Night Lives On: The Untold Stories and Secrets Behind the Sinking of the "Unsinkable" Ship - Titanic!: ISBN 0515092509 (0-515-09250-9)
Softcover, Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated - The Night Lives On : The Untold Stories and Secrets Behind the Sinking of the "Unsinkable" Ship - Titanic!: ISBN 0380732033 (0-380-73203-3)
Softcover, HarperCollins Publishers
- The Night Lives On: The Untold Stories and Secrets Behind the Sinking of the "Unsinkable" Ship - Titanic!: ISBN 0515092509 (0-515-09250-9)
Peter Simpleby Frederick MarryatISBN 0575001941 (0-575-00194-1)
Hardcover, Gollancz
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Phantom Islands of the Atlantic: The Legends of Seven Lands That Never Wereby Donald S. JohnsonISBN 0380730782 (0-380-73078-2)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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The Pirates of the New England Coast, 1630-1730by George Francis Dow, John Henry EdmondsISBN 0486290646 (0-486-29064-6)
Softcover, Dover Pubns
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Pirates of the West Indiesby Clinton V. BlackISBN 0521358183 (0-521-35818-3)
Softcover, Cambridge Univ Pr
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Rascals in Paradiseby James A. MichenerISBN 0449214591 (0-449-21459-1)
Softcover, Ballantine Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Rascals in Paradise'Book summary:The fascinating stories of adventurous men who sailed the South Seas
Some craved power, some craved peace, others merely surrendered to fate.
Sam Comstock -- A sailor crazed by the South Sea Islands and driven to lead the ruthless mutiny. He envisioned himself a magnificent ruler -- but his dream became a nightmare.
Will Mariner -- A golden-haired youth whose ship was captured by hostile natives. He was the sole survivor and his charm turned his captor into slaves.
Captain Bligh -- Was he the infamous captain of the Bounty, the monster legend had made him? Here is the true story of Captain Bligh.
Rascals In Paradise
They searched for adventure in the most dazzling places on earth. [via] 
The Requiem Sharkby Nicholas GriffinISBN 0425181588 (0-425-18158-8)
Softcover, Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated
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Rounding the Horn: Being the Story of Williwaws and Windjammers, Drake, Darwin, Murdered Missionaries and Naked Natives, a Deck's Eye View of Cape Hornby Dallas MurphyISBN 0465047602 (0-465-04760-2)
Softcover, Perseus Books Group
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Hardcover, Basic Books - Rounding The Horn: Being the Story of Williwaws and Windjammers, Drake, Darwin, Murdered Missionaries and Naked Natives - A Deck's Eye View of Cape Horn: ISBN 0465047602 (0-465-04760-2)
Softcover, Perseus Books Group
- Rounding the Horn: Being the Story of Williwaws and Windjammers, Drake, Darwin, Murdered Missionaries and Naked Natives, a Deck's Eye View of Cape Horn: ISBN 0465047599 (0-465-04759-9)
The Safeguard of the Sea: A Naval History of Britain, 660-1649by N.A.M. RodgerISBN 0393319601 (0-393-31960-1)
Softcover, W W Norton & Co Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Safeguard of the Sea: A Naval History of Britain, 660-1649'Book summary:"Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the waves...." The dominance of the British Royal Navy in maritime history is legendary, but this has not always been the case. Various attempts to build and sustain a national standing Navy were attempted by a number of rulers, from Edward the Confessor in the 11th century to Henry V in the 15th century. It wasn't until the Tudor reign (1485 to 1603), however, that a permanent, effective Navy emerged. Until this time the shores of Britain had been susceptible to attack and invasion.
N.A.M. Rodger's compendium on the history of the Royal Navy (the first of a four volume set) reminds us that "the successful navies have been those which rested on long years of steady investment in the infrastructure ... of a seagoing fleet." Emphasizing the important role the Tudors played in building the financial foundation for the Navy, Rodger focuses on the role of Elizabeth I's administration and the amount of money shipbuilding absorbed during her reign. He also traces the evolution of professionalism in the Navy, demonstrating how the rank of naval officer became socially respectable, even though it was not exclusively open to just nobles--indeed, Francis Drake came from an impoverished background--setting a standard that would see the British Navy dominate the oceans for many years.
A fellow in the British National Maritime Museum, Rodger's unique understanding of this history comes across well as he explores a number of themes, ranging from policy and strategy to ship and weapon design. He gathers this information from Anglo-Saxon, Danish, French, Irish, and Spanish sources, carefully weaving these materials into an immense tapestry of incredible depth and scope. In years to come The Safeguard of the Sea promises to be the definitive account of British Naval History long after Britannia has stopped ruling the waves. [via]
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Samuel Pepys: The Man in the Making, 1633-1669by Arthur BryantISBN 0586064702 (0-586-06470-2)
Softcover, Academy Chicago Pub
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Samuel Pepys: The Saviour of the Navy, 1683-1689by Arthur BryantISBN 0586064729 (0-586-06472-9)
Softcover, Academy Chicago Pub
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Samuel Pepys: The Years of Peril, 1669-1683by Arthur BryantISBN 0586064710 (0-586-06471-0)
Softcover, Academy Chicago Pub
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The Sea Hunters : True Adventures with Famous Shipwrecksby Clive Cussler, Craig DirgoISBN 0671001809 (0-671-00180-9)
Softcover, Simon & Schuster
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Sea Hunters : True Adventures with Famous Shipwrecks'Book summary:A steamboat goes up in flames...and down to the bottom of the sea. A locomotive plunges into a creek...and vanished into mystery. A German U-boat sends an American troop transport, and eight hundred on board, to a watery grave, on Christmas eve.
Clive Cussler and his crack team of NUMA (National Underwater Marine Agency, a nonprofit organization that searches for historic shipwrecks) volunteers have found the remains of these and other tragic wrecks. Here for the first time are the dramatic, true accounts of the twelve most remarkable underwater discoveries made by Cussler and his team. As suspenseful and satisfying as the best of his Dirk Pitt novels, The Sea Hunters is a unique story of true commitment and courage. [via]
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The Search for Speed Under Sail, 1700-1855by Howard ChapelleISBN 0393031276 (0-393-03127-6)
Hardcover, W W Norton & Co Inc
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Shackleton's Boat Journeyby Frank Arthur WorsleyISBN 0393318648 (0-393-31864-8)
Softcover, W W Norton & Co Inc
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Shadow Divers: The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked Everything to Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War IIby Robert KursonISBN 0375760989 (0-375-76098-9)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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Ships and Seamen of the American Revolutionby Jack CogginsISBN 0486420728 (0-486-42072-8)
Softcover, Dover Pubns
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Shipwrecks in the Americasby Robert F. MarxISBN 048625514X (0-486-25514-X)
Softcover, Dover Pubns
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Sir Francis Drakeby John SugdenISBN 0671758632 (0-671-75863-2)
Softcover, Simon & Schuster
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Slow Boats Homeby Gavin YoungISBN 0394521420 (0-394-52142-0)
Hardcover, Random House Publishing Group
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Stealth at Sea: The History of the Submarineby Dan Van Der VatISBN 0395652421 (0-395-65242-1)
Hardcover, Houghton Mifflin
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Story of a Shipwrecked Sailorby Gabriel Garcia MarquezISBN 0394754034 (0-394-75403-4)
Softcover, Vintage Books
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Two Years Before the Mastby Richard Henry DanaISBN 0451527593 (0-451-52759-3)
Softcover, Signet
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Two Years Before the Mast'Book summary:The narrative of the author's journey from Boston around the Cape Horn and landing at a port in the western coast of the United States. [via]
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When China Ruled the Seas : The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne 1403-1433by Louise LevathesISBN 0671701584 (0-671-70158-4)
Hardcover, Simon & Schuster
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