Library Results | Royal Museums Greenwich

Imagining the Arctic : Heroism, spectacle and polar exploration /Huw Lewis-Jones. "Imagining the Arctic explores the culture and politics of polar exploration and the making of its heroes. Leading explorers, the celebrity figures of their day, went to great lengths to convince their contemporaries of the merits of polar voyages. Much of exploration was in fact theatre: a series of performances to capture public attention and persuade governments to finance ambitious proposals. The achievements of explorers were promoted, celebrated, and manipulated, whilst explorers themselves became the subject of huge attention. Huw Lewis-Jones draws upon recovered texts and striking images, many reproduced for the first time since the nineteenth century, to show how exploration was projected through a series of spectacular visuals, helping us to reconstruct the ways that heroes and the wilderness were imagined. Elegantly written and richly illustrated, Imagining the Arctic offers original insights into our understanding of exploration and its pull on the public imagination."--Provided by the publisher. 2017. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 910.4(98/99)

Seven at Santa Cruz : the life of fighter ace Stanley "Swede" Vejtasa /Ted Edwards. "This riveting biography details how Stanley 'Swede' Vejtasa became a World War II naval hero. During the Battle of the Coral Sea, Swede flew an SBD Dauntless dive-bomber and helped sink Shoho, the first aircraft carrier lost by Japan in World War II. The next day, in that same Dauntless, he took off from USS Yorktown and out-flew and out-gunned three Japanese Zeros, making him the only dive bomber pilot to be awarded Navy Crosses for both bombing and aerial combat. Months later, the day before the Battle of Santa Cruz, Swede was flying an F4F Wildcat fighter off USS Enterprise and had no recourse but to follow orders he knew to be insane. He and his squadron mates flew their predictably empty search legs and beyond, only to discover upon their return to Point Option in the dark, that Enterprise was nowhere to be found. Incredibly, Swede located the oil slick he had noticed seeping from Enterprise during a morning combat air patrol and was able to track it back to the carrier. After their harrowing return, during the Battle of Santa Cruz, the fate of Enterprise, and by extension Guadalcanal, lay in the hands of that same Swede Vejtasa. He responded by single-handedly downing an unprecedented two Japanese dive bombers and five torpedo bombers attacking the carrier. Skipper Jimmy Flatley recognized that in all likelihood, Swede had saved Enterprise from destruction, and he recommended Swede for the Medal of Honor."--Provided by publisher. 2018 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92VEJTASA

Mutiny on the Bounty / Peter FitzSimons. "The mutiny on HMS Bounty, in the South Pacific on 28 April 1789, is one of history's truly great stories - a tale of human drama, intrigue and adventure of the highest order - and in the hands of Peter FitzSimons it comes to life as never before. Commissioned by the Royal Navy to collect breadfruit plants from Tahiti and take them to the West Indies, the Bounty's crew found themselves in a tropical paradise. Five months later, they did not want to leave. Under the leadership of Fletcher Christian most of the crew mutinied soon after sailing from Tahiti, setting Captain William Bligh and 18 loyal crewmen adrift in a small open boat. In one of history's great feats of seamanship, Bligh navigated this tiny vessel for 3618 nautical miles to Timor. Fletcher Christian and the mutineers sailed back to Tahiti, where most remained and were later tried for mutiny. But Christian, along with eight fellow mutineers and some Tahitian men and women, sailed off into the unknown, eventually discovering the isolated Pitcairn Island - at the time not even marked on British maps - and settling there. This astonishing story is historical adventure at its very best, encompassing the mutiny, Bligh's monumental achievement in navigating to safety, and Fletcher Christian and the mutineers' own epic journey from the sensual paradise of Tahiti to the outpost of Pitcairn Island. The mutineers' descendants live on Pitcairn to this day, amid swirling stories and rumours of past sexual transgressions and present-day repercussions. Mutiny on the Bounty is a sprawling, dramatic tale of intrigue, bravery and sheer boldness, told with the accuracy of historical detail and total command of story that are Peter FitzSimons' trademarks."--Provided by the publisher. [2018] • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.133"1789"

The Jamaican diaries of Robert Hibbert 1772-1780 : detailing a merchant family's involvement in defence and of the colonial slave trade based economy :volume I : "The Jamaican Diaries of Robert Hibbert 1772-1780 is a deeply personal work that has evolved over the last 15 years. It is intended to foster a greater understanding of a very difficult time in history, in which the enslaved and the enslavers inhabit different, disturbing interlocking narratives, now distorted by time and politics. At its core is the dark stain of an empire and many fortunes built upon the enslavement of the unfortunate. It contains much thorough research into people, places, events and sources that developed as the author followed the twists and turns of a family history often frustratingly opaque and sometimes sensationally public. The book is part genealogy and part social history: a previously unpublished diary of a major figure in the West Indian slave trade, with contemporary sources and biographical notes on those that strutted the Atlantic world of the late eighteenth century. It lays down a chronology to allow a picture of the day-to-day happenings in Jamaica to emerge. This work exposes the deep, raw wounds that have resonated through the centuries, creating a need for a deeper study into many facets of British Atlantic history from a different perspective ? one in which the narrative of the enslaved and the enslavers can be read together in both the geopolitical context of the times and the legal, ethical, humanitarian and religious belief systems of those times on both sides of the Atlantic. In order to consider how the slave trade was run, financed, organised and evolved, the author provides a detailed examination of the Jamaican economy of the time, and offers a better and more balanced understanding of the slave trade?s establishment, adoption, adaption, abolition and, lastly, its legacy, in all its hydra-like forms. The second volume of this work will cover the years when the Diaries resume, 1787 to 1802. The Robert Hibbert diaries and the family involvement with Jamaica extend past the abolition (1834) and emancipation (1838) of slaves to the middle of the nineteenth century."--Provided by the publisher. 2020. • BOOK • 1 copy available. txt

The war of the gun boats / Bryan Cooper. "This book traces the history and development of the gun boats from their first limited use in World War I to the fast motor boats designed in the 1930s for wealthy private clients and water speed record attempts. With account of the battles which took place during the World War II, when the vital importance of coastal waters came to be recognized, it captures the drama of this highly individual form of combat."--Provided by the publisher. 2009. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 623.824"19"

HMS Belfast : cruiser 1939 /by Richard Johnstone-Bryden. "HMS Belfast, originally a Royal Navy light cruiser, is now permanently moored on the Thames in London. One of ten Town-class cruisers she saw service on the icy Arctic convoys during the Second World War and was also present for the bombardment of the D-Day beaches in 1944. Later, she saw service during the Korean War. As is the case for many historic ships, however, there is a surprising shortage of informative and well illustrated guides, for reference during a visit or for research by enthusiasts - ship modellers, naval buffs, historians or students."--Provided by the publisher. 2013. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 623.82BELFAST

Tracing the connected narrative : Arctic exploration in British print culture, 1818-1860 /Janice Cavell. Cavell, Janice. c2008. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 910.4(98):676.22"1818/1860"

A walk across Africa : J.A. Grant's account of the Nile expedition of 1860-1863 /edited and annotated with an introduction by Roy Bridges. "The Nile Expedition of 1860-1863 was one of the most important exploratory expeditions made in the nineteenth century. The long-debated question of the location of the source of the Nile was answered (despite continuing arguments) and the venture had important historical consequences. Earlier accounts of the expedition have assumed James Augustus Grant to have been no more than the loyal second-in-command to John Hanning Speke, the leader. This new edition of Grant's 1864 book, A Walk across Africa, provides the opportunity to re-examine his role. The original text has been fully annotated with explanatory notes and also supplemented by extracts from the very remarkable detailed day-to-day journal which Grant kept. Even more unusually, this edition includes reproductions of the whole visual record which he made consisting of 147 watercolours and sketches. This was the first ever visual record of large parts of East Africa and the Upper Nile Valley region. These documentary and illustrative materials have been drawn from the extensive collection of Grant's papers now in the care of the National Library of Scotland. The Library has co-operated in the preparation of this volume to make possible its special features.Grant emerges as a much more impressive and important figure than has previously been recognised. He was a trained scientist and his narrative is a well-organised perspective on the expedition and its activities. His own growing understanding of Africa and of Africans becomes apparent and helps to explain his later activities."--Provided by the publisher. 2018. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 061.22HAKLUYT

Sea of dangers : Captain Cook and his rivals in the South Pacific /Geoffrey Blainey. In 1769 two ships set out independently in search of a missing continent: a French merchant ship commanded by Jean de Surville, and a small British naval vessel, the Endeavour, commanded by Captain James Cook. Neither knew of the other's existence. Cook's first long voyage was one of the most remarkable in recorded history: in a ship not much larger in area than a tennis court, he not only sailed around the world, following the most difficult route any navigator had ever attempted, but also changed the map of the world. He was the first to explore most of the New Zealand coast and much of the east coast of Australia. He lost a third of his crew to tropical illnesses, after earlier saving them from scurvy. Historian Geoffrey Blainey brings his storytelling powers to bear on this fascinating and important adventure, drawing us into the lives of the major figures.--From publisher description. 2009. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92COOK:92SURVILLE

Building Trust : The history of DNV 1864-2014 "From its foundation in 1864 as a society to inspect and classify Norwegian merchant ships, DNV has grown into one of the world's largest organisations for inspection, certification and verification services. This book recounts its history from the earliest years to the present day, with particular emphasis on the past four decades. Building Trust analyses how DNV maritime activities were internationalised as part of the globalisation of world trade, and how diversification accelerated rapidly after Norway's offshore industry took off in the 1970s. A detailed account is given of how DNV developed its services in a complex interaction with markets, governments and international organisations regulating technological risk. The book concludes with an account of the merger of DNV and Germanischer Lloyd in 2013 to create the present DNV GL Group, which has about 17,000 employees and is active in more than 100 countries worldwide."--Provided by the publisher. 2014 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 061.238:629.123.001.3

Shipowners of Cardiff : a class by themselves :a history of Cardiff and Bristol Channel Incorporated Shipowners' Association /David Jenkins A history of the Cardiff and Bristol Channel Incorporated Shipowners' Association, founded in 1875 as the Cardiff Shipowners' Association but changing its name following a short breakaway from the Association by Bristol Channel Shipowners. Appendices provide a full list of chairmen, a list of the Association's Secretaries, a list of companies represented on the Association from 1895 onwards, individual membership figures, gross tonnage and numbers of Cardiff owned ships, committees on which Association members served and ships built for Cardiff shipowners under the British Shipping (Assistance) Act 1935 and British Shipping (Assistance) Bill 1939. Illustrations include photographs of the Association's chairmen. This is a revised edition bringing up to date an earlier text. 2013. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 347.792(429.7)

Distances of the Moon's center from the four planets Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn for 1831 / H. C. Schumacher Schumacher, Heinrich Christian, 1829 • RARE-BOOK • 1 copy available. 527(083.5)"1831":094

Distances of the Moon's center from the four planets Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn for 1831 / H. C. Schumacher Schumacher, Heinrich Christian, 1827 • RARE-BOOK • 1 copy available. 527(083.5)"1829":094

Distances of the Moon's center from the four planets Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn for 1832 / H. C. Schumacher Schumacher, Heinrich Christian, 1830 • RARE-BOOK • 1 copy available. 527(083.5)"1832":094

1944 : the second world war at sea in photographs. "The sixth year of the Second World War began positively for the Allies, with the successful landings at Anzio, codenamed Operation Shingle. The landings eventually led to the liberation of Rome, an important milestone in the war. The year 1944 was, however, dominated at sea by Operation Neptune, better known as the D-Day landings, on 6 June. From this point, the Allies continued to expand their foothold in Normandy, and throughout France. As the largest seaborne invasion in history, the Normandy landings were a turning point of the war. Later in the war, on the other side of the world, the Americans were launching the successful amphibious attacks on the Mariana Islands. Having captured Saipan, the American forces were in a much better strategic position in the war against Japan. Operation Dragoon was launched in the south of France in the middle of August, and continued for a month. While the troops in northern France were making steady progress, the soldiers in the south were advancing quickly, taking Toulon and Marseille within two weeks. In this book, Phil Carradice uses a variety of rarely seen photographs to continue the story of the Second World War at sea into 1944." --Provided by the publisher. 2016. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.545.9(42)"1944"

A century of carrier aviation : the evolution of ships and shipborne aircraft /David Hobbs. "It is now almost exactly a hundred years since a heavier-than-air craft first took off and landed on a warship, and from the very beginning flying at sea made unique demands on men and machines. As warplanes grew larger, faster and heavier, air operations from ships were only possible at all through constant development in technology, techniques and tactics. This book charts the progress and growing effectiveness of naval air power, concentrating on the advances and inventions - most of them British - that allowed shipborne aircraft to match their land-based counterparts, and looking at their contribution to 20th century warfare. Written by a retired Fleet Air Arm pilot and and award-winning historian of naval flying, this is a masterly overview of the history of aviation in the world's navies down to the present day. Heavily illustrated from the author's comprehensive collection of photographs, the book will be essential reading to anyone with an interest in navies or air power." 2009. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 623.822.7(42)"19/20"

Blowing hot and cold : Thermotank and the story of air conditioning at sea "Air-conditioning is one of those universal modern conveniences whose origins are entirely unknown to the general public. Online sources credit the first commercial system to the American Willis Carrier in 1902 - but this is not true. The first workable machine was patented four years earlier by Alexander Stewart, a Scottish marine engineer, who called his invention the Thermotank. It offered a massive improvement in comfort for passengers and was rapidly adopted by the shipping industry, eventually equipping many of the greatest liners of their day like Lusitania and Mauretania. From these beginnings Alexander and his brothers William and Frederick Stewart built an immensely successful engineering firm with subsidiaries in America, Africa, Australia and Europe. Based on Clydeside, its fortunes were always closely linked to the shipbuilding industry, but with the slump at the end of the First World War the company was forced to look to other markets. At this point Alexander came up with a second world-beating invention, which he called the Punkah Louvre - the swivelling nozzle most familiar today as the source of ventilation in airliners. This made it easier to apply the Thermotank system to other forms of transport and even buildings, greatly expanding its sales potential. Still largely a family concern, the business remained innovative and competitive until the 1960s, when the decline in British shipbuilding and the beginnings of globalisation led to amalgamation, restructuring and eventually the demise of the Thermotank name. In the process, most of the company records were dispersed or lost so this book is a particularly valuable testimony to a great British - specifically, Scottish - success story. Although almost unknown today, Thermotank was a business that changed the world."--Provided by the publisher. 2024. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 623.853709411

Beyond the horizon : memoirs /Jack Close. The memoirs of Jack Close, Beyond the Horizon is split into three parts: the first explores his life growing up in Kingston-Upon-Hull in the 1930s, the second his role in Operation Overlord in 1945, and the third - the eponymous Beyond The Horizon - follows his postwar travels at sea. Close qualified as a Wireless Operator and joined H M Rescue Tugs in 1943, taking part in D-Day by towing sections of the Mulberry Harbours to Normandy. In 1945, he was involved in Operation Deadlight, sinking surrendered German submarines. After the war, Close sailed on trawlers out of Hull and Grimsby. He then spent several years on tramp steamers and tankers all over the world, travelling to, among others, America, Morocco, Japan, and France. This book contains photographs of Close and his family, as well as the boats he worked on over the years. 2010. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 656.61.071.22:355.124"19"

The great reversal : Britain, China and the 400-year contest for power /Kerry Brown. "From the early days of the East India Company through the violence of the Opium Wars to present-day disputes over Hong Kong, Kerry Brown charts this turbulent and fascinating relationship. Brown shows how an understanding of Britain's long relationship with China - and more specifically, how the modern Eastern superpower views that shared history - is now more vital than ever."-- 2024 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 327.41051

The English Armada : the greatest naval disaster in English history /Luis Gorrochategui Santos ; translated by Peter J. Gold. "During the year between July 1588, when the Spanish Armada set sail from Spain and July 1589, when the survivors of the English counterpart of this fleet, the little-known English Armada, reached port in England, two of history's worst naval catastrophes took place. A great deal of attention has been dedicated to the former and precious little to the latter. This book presents a full-scale account of an event which has been neglected for more than four centuries. It reconstructs the military operations day by day for the first time, taking apart the established notion that, with the defeat of the Spanish Armada, England achieved maritime supremacy and the decay of Spain began. This book clearly and in a rigorously documented fashion shows how the defeat of the English Armada counterbalanced that of the Spanish, frustrating England's intention of seizing Philip II's American empire and changing the tide of the war."--Provided by the publisher 2018 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.49"1588/1589"(42:46)

Finding Franklin : the untold story of a 165-year search /Russell A. Potter. "In 2014 media around the world buzzed with news that an archaeological team from Parks Canada had located and identified the wreck of the HMS Erebus, the flagship of Sir John Franklin's lost expedition to find the Northwest Passage. Finding Franklin outlines the larger story and the cast of detectives from every walk of life that led to the discovery, solving of one of the Arctic's greatest mysteries. In compelling and accessible prose, Russell Potter details his decades of work alongside key figures in the era of modern searches for the expedition and elucidates how shared research and ideas have led to a fuller understanding of the Franklin crew's final months. Illustrated with numerous images and maps from the last two centuries, Finding Franklin recounts the more than fifty modern searches for traces of his ships and crew, and the dedicated, often obsessive, men and women who embarked on them. Potter discusses the crucial role that Inuit oral accounts, often cited but rarely understood, played in all of these searches, and continues to play to this day, and offers historical and cultural context to the contemporary debates over the significance of Franklin's achievement. While examination of the HMS Erebus will undoubtedly reveal further details of this mystery, Finding Franklin assembles the stories behind the myth and illuminates what is ultimately a remarkable decades-long discovery."-- 2016. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 910.4(987)"1845/2014"

London : a social and cultural history, 1550-1750 /Robert Bucholz, Joseph Ward. "Between 1550 and 1750 London became the greatest city in Europe and one of the most vibrant economic and cultural centres in the world. This book is a history of London during this crucial period in its rise to world-wide prominence, during which it dominated the economic, political, social and cultural life of the British Isles. London incorporates the best recent work in urban history, contemporary accounts from Londoners and tourists, and fictional works featuring the city in order to trace London's rise and explore its role as a harbinger of modernity, while examining how its citizens coped with those achievements. London covers the full range of life in London, from the splendid galleries of Whitehall to the damp and sooty alleyways of the East End. Readers will brave the dangers of plague and fire, witness the spectacles of the Lord Mayor's Pageant and the hangings at Tyburn, and take refreshment in the city's pleasure-gardens, coffee-houses and taverns"-- 2012. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 914.21"1550/1750"

A cultural history of slavery and human trafficking / general editor Benjamin N. Lawrence. "With coverage extending from prehistory to the modern day these six highly illustrated, interdisciplinary volumes are the first definitive reference work covering the cultural history of slavery and human trafficking. Volumes cover: 1. A Cultural History of Slavery and Human Trafficking in the Ancient World (10,000 BCE - 500 CE), 2. A Cultural History of Slavery and Human Trafficking in the Pre-Modern Era (500 - 1450), 3. A Cultural History of Slavery and Human Trafficking in the Age of Encounters (1450 - 1700), 4. A Cultural History of Slavery and Human Trafficking in the Age of Empire (1700 - 1900), 5. A Cultural History of Slavery and Human Trafficking in the Age of Global Conflict (1900 - 1945), 6. A Cultural History of Slavery and Human Trafficking in the Age of Globalization (1945 - present). Bringing together an international cast of over 60 contributors, each volume adopts the same thematic structure, covering: definitions and ideologies of slavery and trafficking; slavery, trafficking, and the law; political cultures; coercive laboring economies; social organization, culture, and ritual; gender, enslavement, and trafficking; age, enslavement, and trafficking; and anti-slavery, anti-trafficking, and abolition outcomes. This model supports readers in tracing one theme throughout history, as well as providing them with a thorough overview of each individual period." 2025. • BOOK • 6 copies available. txt

The Bounty : the true story of the mutiny on the Bounty /Caroline Alexander. More than two centuries have passed since Master's Mate Fletcher Christian mutinied against Lieutenant Bligh on a small, armed transport vessel called Bounty. Why the details of this obscure adventure at the end of the world remain vivid and enthralling is as intriguing as the truth behind the legend. In giving the Bounty mutiny its historical due, Caroline Alexander has chosen to frame her narrative by focusing on the court-martial of the ten mutineers who were captured in Tahiti and brought to justice in England. This fresh perspective revivifies the entire saga, and the salty, colorful language of the captured men themselves conjures the events of that April morning in 1789, when Christian's breakdown impelled every man on a fateful course: Bligh and his loyalists on the historic open boat voyage that revealed him to be one of history's great navigators; Christian on his restless exile; and the captured mutineers toward their day in court. As the book unfolds, each figure emerges as a full-blown character caught up in a drama that may well end on the gallows. And as Alexander shows, it was in a desperate fight to escape hanging that one of the accused defendants deliberately spun the mutiny into the myth we know today-of the tyrannical Lieutenant Bligh of the Bounty. Ultimately, Alexander concludes that the Bounty mutiny was sparked by that most unpredictable, combustible, and human of situations-the chemistry between strong personalities living in close quarters. Her account of the voyage, the trial, and the surprising fates of Bligh, Christian, and the mutineers is an epic of ambition, passion, pride, and duty at the dawn of the Romantic era. 2003. • BOOK • 3 copies available. 355.133"1789"

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