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BookPick : Disaster and Survival at Sea
Posted on September 6, 2021 6 Comments
It has been estimated that, astonishingly, more than three million shipwrecks lie on the ocean floor. The figure dates back to when humans first began venturing into Neptune’s Realm. The oldest wrecks include 10,000-year-old canoes while the newest are 21st-century shipwrecks. In the period (1793-1815) in which my Kydd tales are set, many ships were […]
BookPick: British Naval Power in the East
Posted on January 4, 2014 1 Comment
[To leave a comment go right to the end of the page and just enter it in the ‘Leave a Reply’ box] Another in the fine scholarly offerings from Boydell Press on the French and Revolutionary wars period. When war broke out with France in 1793, the threat of a renewed French challenge to British […]
Historical Fidelity, A Reader’s View
Posted on January 1, 2014 6 Comments
[To leave a comment go right to the end of the page and just enter it in the ‘Leave a Reply’ box] One of the aspects of writing my Kydd tales that I particularly enjoy is bringing real-life historical personages to life; some have quite large roles, others just cameo appearances. I feel that the […]
AskJules: Naval headgear
Posted on December 17, 2013 5 Comments
[To leave a comment go right to the end of the page and just enter it in the ‘Leave a Reply’ box] Ken Smith was curious about naval headgear in Kydd’s day: ‘I was thinking about marines in the fighting tops. What kind of hat did they wear? Did it get in the way of […]
Jack Tar
Posted on December 14, 2013 7 Comments
[To leave a comment go right to the end of the page and just enter it in the ‘Leave a Reply’ box] One of the most familiar icons of British maritime history is Jack Tar, the sailor. We don’t know for sure where the moniker ‘Jack Tar’ come from. The word ‘tar’ as a familiar […]
Navies: three books, three centuries
Posted on November 27, 2013 Leave a Comment
[To leave a comment go right to the end of the page and just enter it in the ‘Leave a Reply’ box] An enticing selection of review copies of books arrived in my postbag recently, all from Seaforth. Each very different but together spanning three centuries, celebrating people and ships of the world’s navies, predominantly […]
Cauls, Mary Carleton and the Chatham Chest!
Posted on November 20, 2013 4 Comments
[To leave a comment go right to the end of the page and just enter it in the ‘Leave a Reply’ box] In our household I’m the hoarder; not only physical artefacts from the past, numerous tins of assorted screws & wires, books & journals – but countless snippets and esoteric facts from the Golden […]
BookPicks for Christmas
Posted on November 12, 2013 3 Comments
[To leave a comment go right to the end of the page and just enter it in the ‘Leave a Reply’ box] Books make great Christmas gifts and I’ve chosen twelve to recommend for Santa’s sack. Some classics, some discoveries – and all have a maritime connection of some kind… Broadsides By James Davey and […]
‘The Best Job in the World’: A Guide Aboard Victory
Posted on November 3, 2013 26 Comments
[To leave a comment go right to the end of the page and just enter it in the ‘Leave a Reply’ box] HMS VICTORY is among the most famous ships in history; the only surviving warship that fought in the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic wars. She served as […]
BookPick: Nelson, Navy & Nation
Posted on October 19, 2013 3 Comments
[To leave a comment go right to the end of the page and just enter it in the ‘Leave a Reply’ box] This book celebrates the Royal Navy and the British People 1688-1815. As you can imagine, a subject dear to my heart! With an introduction by N A M Rodger, it looks at the […]
Julian Stockwin 