Exploring Top Books of Shelfari

The beginning to the sweeping Aubrey/Maturin series and inspiration for the major new motion picture starring Russell Crowe. "The best sea story I have ever read."—Sir Francis Chichester This, the first in the splendid series of Jack Aubrey novels, establishes the friendship between Captain Aubrey, R.N., and Stephen Maturin, ship's surgeon and intelligence agent, against a thrilling backdrop of the Napoleonic... (more)

Britain, Germany, and the Great War: Book 2

Castles of Steel

Britain, Germany, and the Winning of the Great War at Sea

by Robert K. Massie

In a work of extraordinary narrative power, filled with brilliant personalities and vivid scenes of dramatic action, Robert K. Massie, the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Peter the Great, Nicholas and Alexandra, and Dreadnought, elevates to its proper historical importance the role of sea power in the winning of the Great War. The predominant image of this first world war is of mud and trenches, barbed wire,... (more)

Britain, Germany, and the Great War: Book 1

Dreadnought

Britain, Germany and the Coming of the Great War

by Robert K. Massie

"A classic <that> covers superbly a whole era...Engrossing in its glittering gallery of characters." CHICAGO SUN-TIMES Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Robert K. Massie has written a richly textured and gripping chronicle of the personal and national rivalries that led to the twentieth century's first great arms race. Massie brings to vivid life, such historical figures as the single-minded Admiral von... (more)

Left for Dead: A Young Man's Search for Justice for the USS Indianapolis

Left for Dead: A Young Man's Search for Justice for the USS Indianapolis

by Peter Nelson

Just after midnight on July 30, 1945, the USS Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. The ship sank in 14 minutes. More than 1,000 men were thrown into shark-infested waters. Those who survived the fiery sinking—some injured, many without life jackets—struggled to stay afloat in shark-infested waters as they waited for rescue. But the United States Navy did not even know they were missing. The Navy... (more)

The Hunt for Red October

by Tom Clancy

A deadly game of hide-and-seek played out in 18 days over 4000 miles of ocean. Red October is the Soviet Navy's newest ballistic missile submarine. When the whole crew decides to defect, the Soviet fleet sets out to destroy it, while the US and British fleets attempt to prevent them.

The Complete Aubrey/Maturin Novels

by Patrick O'Brian

A handsomely bound omnibus edition of Patrick O'Brian's seafaring classics, including three chapters of the unfinished twenty-first novel. The recent release of the film Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World has focused even more attention on the publishing phenomenon of the late Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin novels about the Royal Navy in the age of Nelson. These five volumes, beautifully... (more)

The Pirate Coast: Thomas Jefferson, the First Marines, and the Secret Mission of 1805

The Pirate Coast: Thomas Jefferson, the First Marines, and the Secret Mission of 1805

by Richard Zacks

A real-life thriller, now in paperback -- the true story of the unheralded American who brought the Barbary Pirates to their knees In an attempt to stop the legendary Barbary Pirates of North Africa from hijacking American ships, William Eaton set out on a secret mission to overthrow the government of Tripoli. The operation was sanctioned by President Thomas Jefferson, who at the last moment grew wary of... (more)

Seize the Fire: Heroism, Duty, and the Battle of Trafalgar

Seize the Fire: Heroism, Duty, and the Battle of Trafalgar

by Adam Nicolson

In Seize the Fire, Adam Nicolson, author of the widely acclaimed God's Secretaries, takes the great naval battle of Trafalgar, fought between the British and Franco-Spanish fleets in October 1805, and uses it to examine our idea of heroism and the heroic. Is violence a necessary aspect of the hero? And daring? Why did the cult of the hero flower in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in a way it hadn't... (more)

Losing Nelson

by Barry Unsworth

"Stunningly original. . . . Pulpy and juicy, full of wisdom and horror." — Los Angeles Times Book Review Losing Nelson is a novel of obsession, the story of Charles Cleasby, a man unable to see himself separately from the hero—Lord Horatio Nelson—he mistakenly idolizes. He is, in fact, a Nelson biographer run amok. He is convinced that Nelson, Britain's greatest admiral, who lost his own life defeating... (more)

Shadows of Steel

by Dale Brown

In an electrifying novel ripped from today's headlines, Dale Brown takes to the skies to deliver a covert battle in the Middle East-a battle that America can't afford to lose. "A superb storyteller." (W.E.B. Griffin)

Jefferson's War: America's First War on Terror 1801-1805

Jefferson's War: America's First War on Terror 1801-1805

by Joseph Wheelan

Author Joseph Wheelan has marvelously captured the story of America’s war against the Barbary pirates, our first war against terror and the nations that supported it. Two centuries ago, without congressional or public debate, the ostensibly pacifist President Thomas Jefferson launched America’s first war on foreign soil. The Barbary pirates, a Muslim enemy from Tripoli, attacked European and American merchant... (more)

Nelson's Favourite: HMS Agamemnon at War 1781-1809

Nelson's Favourite: HMS Agamemnon at War 1781-1809

by Anthony Deane

The Ship of the Line, Vol. 1: The Development of the Battlefleet 1650-1850

The Ship of the Line, Vol. 1: The Development of the Battlefleet 1650-1850

by Brian Lavery

This, the first of a two-volume study, outlines the history and technical development of the battlefleet from 1650-1850. The story of the line-of-battle ship is described in terms of individual vessels and classes, highlighting the factors influencing specific changes in design.

Little Ship/Big War

by Edward Peary Stafford

DE343 is the USS Abercrombie, which, along with many similar class ships (Destroyer Escorts) during World War II, ran escort missions, hunted subs, rescued downed pilots, and engaged in many other dangerous and noble endeavors. Yet the importance of these vessels has been overlooked by naval historians, who have concentrated on the more glamorous battleships, aircraft carriers, etc. Stafford's volume chronicles... (more)

Red Storm Rising

by Tom Clancy

From the author of The Hunt For Red October, a New York Times bestseller for over 40 weeks, comes his greatest performance yet. Red Storm Rising is an alarmingly authentic portrait of escalating aggression between superpowers on all fronts--land, sea, air and space.

The Yard: Building a Destroyer at the Bath Iron Works

The Yard: Building a Destroyer at the Bath Iron Works

by Michael S. Sanders

Illustrates the building of and launching of the USS Donald Cook at the Bath Iron Works in Bath Main using photographs and human interest stories of the people who work in these shipyards. DLC: Destroyers (Warships)--U.S.

Post Captain, Book 2Patrick O'Brian

Post Captain, Book 2

by Patrick O'Brian

The Commodores (Classics of Naval Literature)

The Commodores (Classics of Naval Literature)

by Leonard F. Guttridge

Warbirds of the Sea: A History of Aircraft Carriers & Carrier-Based AircraftWalter A. Musciano

Warbirds of the Sea: A History of Aircraft Carriers & Carrier-Based Aircraft

by Walter A. Musciano

Covers the history and combat career of aircraft carriers and shipboard aircraft from their conception into the future.

Clash of The Carriers: The True Story of the Marianas Turkey Shoot of World War II

Clash of The Carriers: The True Story of the Marianas Turkey Shoot of World War II

by Barrett Tillman

The true story of one of the greatest and most decisive conflicts in the history of naval warfare-from an award-winning author. In June, 1944, American and Japanese carrier fleets made their way through the Philippine Sea, both hoping to take control of the vital Marianas Islands. When they met, they embarked upon a naval engagement that escalated into the most spectacular aircraft carrier battle in history.... (more)

Shelfari Book Activity

Tags: naval warfare

by Patrick O'Brian

Britain, Germany, and the Winning of the Great War at Sea

by Robert K. Massie

Britain, Germany and the Coming of the Great War

by Robert K. Massie

by Peter Nelson

by Tom Clancy

by Patrick O'Brian

by Richard Zacks

by Adam Nicolson

by Barry Unsworth

by Dale Brown

by Joseph Wheelan

by Anthony Deane

by Brian Lavery

by Edward Peary Stafford

by Tom Clancy

by Michael S. Sanders

by Patrick O'Brian

by Leonard F. Guttridge

by Walter A. Musciano

by Barrett Tillman