Hero of the Fleet

Joseph Conrad

Remember the Tall Ships

Audacious Admiral Cochrane

Rough Passage

Transatlantic at last

William Stone, Mainstream Publishing, ISBN 978 1845 9650 82

This book is the compelling autobiography of an ordinary life lived in extraordinary times; William Stone brushed with many of the significant events of his era. Interspersed between Mr Stone's own words are short passages in italics which set the scene in a larger context or provide amplification for non-Salty types. There is also a timeline of maritime events during Bill’s lifetime (he died in 2009), which really brings home the great changes that occurred during his 108 years.

Peter Villiers, Seafarer Books, ISBN 0-9547062 93

In the late autumn of 1874 Jozef Korzeniowski arrived in the French port of Marseilles - to go to sea. The young Pole would spend twenty years in the merchant navy and later become known as Joseph Conrad, one of the greatest sea writers of all time. This fascinating book by Peter Villiers is based on a previously unpublished study by his father, the master mariner and author Alan Villiers. It also contains twelve paintings of Conrad's ships by the marine artist Mark Myers. (Also published in the USA by Sheridan Books)

Frank Brookesmith, Seafarer Books, ISBN 0-85036-327-6

This affecting little volume is by New Zealander Frank Brookesmith who sailed in two of the last of the square-rigged ships to fly the Red Ensign.

Brookesmith writes compellingly both of the hardships of day to day life and the timeless lure of the sea.

Brian Vale, Conway Maritime, ISBN 0-85177-9867  

Jervis, Earl St Vincent, said of Lord Cochrane that he was "...mad, romantic, money-getting and not truth-telling..."

Royal Navy captain, radical politician, respected inventor, Vice Admiral of Chile, First Admiral of Brazil, Cochrane was nothing if not a controversial figure in his lifetime. In fact his career was probably more amazing than any other Royal Naval officer in any period in history, and his exploits have formed the basis of many sea stories.

Brian Vale's book sets the record straight on this complex, intriguing figure.

Cdr R Graham, Seafarer Books, ISBN 0-9547062 4 2  

Seventy years since it was first published, this classic tale of a single-handed voyage by Robert Graham to Labrador and Bermuda in 1934 is back in print. It's a delightful read, hailed as "one of the most remarkable small-boat adventures of this and any other time" by Arthur Ransome. This edition also brings the story up to date with details of the rescue and painstaking restoration of Graham's yacht Emmanuel.

Helen Tew, Seafarer Books, ISBN 0-9542750 7 1  

An incredible tale of an eighty-eight year old grandmother who sailed eight thousand miles in a 26-foot gaff cutter in 2000/2001. For Helen Tew, the question was never "why sail across the Atlantic in a small boat at the age of close to ninety years?" but rather, "Why not?" As Sir Robin Knox-Johnston says in the preface: "This is a lovely story and a love story. Not just human love, but the love of a boat...