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Bookpick: Seven Selections for Santa’s Sack
Posted on December 4, 2018 5 Comments
I’m a bit of a bah humbug creature when it comes to the commercialisation of Christmas – but there’s one thing that I fervently believe: a book is a present that, if well chosen for the recipient, will give hours of pleasure and be a lasting reminder in itself of someone putting thought, not just […]
The Naval Medals of England and most particularly during the Reign of George III
Posted on May 4, 2014 2 Comments
[To leave a comment or reply go to box at the end of the page] Sim Comfort has built up a wonderfully eclectic treasure trove of coins, medals, paintings, swords and other naval items over many decades. He’s written and published a number of very fine books on the weapons and memorabilia of the Age […]
BookPick: England’s Medieval Navy
Posted on January 17, 2014 Leave a Comment
[To leave a comment or reply go to box at the end of the page] I guess we’re all accustomed to think of England in terms of Shakespeare’s ‘precious stone set in a silver sea,’ safe behind its watery ramparts with its naval strength resisting all invaders. To the English of an earlier period – […]
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 […]
Sim’s Treasures
Posted on November 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] Over the decade or so that I’ve been a writer I’ve been privileged to meet many collectors, modellers, academics and historians who share my love of the Age of Fighting Sail. They’ve all […]
Ask BigJules: Double Helping!
Posted on November 14, 2013 6 Comments
[To leave a comment go right to the end of the page and just enter it in the ‘Leave a Reply’ box] The first question comes from David Slinn who wants to know the origin of the term ‘tarpaulin officers’ : There weren’t many in the Georgian navy who made the hard journey from before […]
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 Quarterdeck Interview
Posted on October 27, 2013 6 Comments
[To leave a comment go right to the end of the page and just enter it in the ‘Leave a Reply’ box] [ This interview is from the October issue of ‘Quarterdeck’ magazine ] During your formative early years was reading an important part of your life? Oh, yes. My mother introduced me to the […]
The Immortal Memory
Posted on October 21, 2013 13 Comments
[To leave a comment go right to the end of the page and just enter it in the ‘Leave a Reply’ box] Today is the anniversary of Horatio Nelson’s great victory – and mortal wounding – at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. At the time a sailor in Royal Sovereign wrote to his father […]
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 