Exploring Top Books of Shelfari

Europe is ablaze with war. The British prime minister is under pressure to intimidate the French and dispatches a Navy squadron to appear off the French coast. To man the ships, ordinary citizens must be press-ganged. Thomas Paine Kydd, a young wig-maker from Guildford, is seized and taken across the country to be part of the crew of the ninety-eight-gun line-of-battle ship Duke William. The ship sails... (more)

The War for All the Oceans: From Nelson at the Nile to Napoleon at Waterloo

The War for All the Oceans: From Nelson at the Nile to Napoleon at Waterloo

by Roy Adkins

A brutal, action-packed account of the sea battles of the Napoleonic War by the author of the bestselling Nelson’s Trafalgar Roy Adkins (with his wife Lesley) returns to the Napoleonic War in The War for All the Oceans , a gripping account of the naval struggle that lasted from 1798 to 1815, a period marked at the beginning by Napoleon’s seizing power and at the end by the War of 1812. In this ... (more)

Sea of Gray: The Around-the-World Odyssey of the Confederate Raider Shenandoah

Sea of Gray: The Around-the-World Odyssey of the Confederate Raider Shenandoah

by Tom Chaffin

The sleek, 222-foot, black auxiliary steamer Sea King left London on October 8, 1864, ostensibly bound for Bombay. The subterfuge was ended off the shores of Madeira, where the ship was outfitted for war. The newly christened CSS Shenandoah then commenced the last, most quixotic sea story of the Civil War: the 58,000-mile, around-the-world cruise of the Confederacy’s second most successful commerce raider.... (more)

New Vanguard 79: American Heavy Frigates 1794-1826

New Vanguard 79: American Heavy Frigates 1794-1826

by Mark Lardas

By 1805 the 44-gun frigate was probably viewed as a failed experiment whilst the 38-gun frigate was viewed as the vessel of the future. Ten years later every navy was building 44-gun frigates and today it is viewed as the symbol of the Napoleonic-era cruiser. This remarkable transformation resulted from the performance of three ships – the Constitution, United States, and President – 44-gun frigates built for the... (more)

Frigates of the Napoleonic Wars

by Robert Gardiner

For every naval officer, in fiction or reality, the frigate was the most sought after command. As dashing as a modern destroyer, the frigate offered the excitement of independent service with the prospect of a glorious single-ship battle or a fortune to be made in prize money. Their actions have been the stuff of history and sea fiction for generations, but the ships themselves are hardly documented at all. This... (more)

Frigate Commander

by Tom Wareham

Frigate Commander is based on the private journal of Lieutenant - and then Captain - Graham Moore, a naval officer serving during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Moore’s journal gives a unique and detailed account of what life was like for a serving naval officer. In particular it reveals the problems an officer had in managing the crew of a frigate, maintaining discipline and turning his ship into an... (more)

32-Gun Frigate Essex (Anatomy of the Ship)

32-Gun Frigate Essex (Anatomy of the Ship)

by Portia A. Takakjian

On the successful completion of the War of Independence, the American navy was disbanded, and it was not until the late 1790s that a regular naval force was reconstituted. Provoked by the need to protect American merchant shipping from the belligerent European nations and the piratical Barbary powers, Congress decided on a programme of frigate building, which included the 32-gun frigate Essex. Designed by William... (more)

Seamanship in the Age of Sail: An Account of the Shiphandling of the Sailing Man-Of-War 1600-1860, Based on Contemporary Sources

Seamanship in the Age of Sail: An Account of the Shiphandling of the Sailing Man-Of-War 1600-1860, Based on Contemporary Sources

by John Harland

Describes the proper historical development of seamanship among the major navies of the world. In order to explain even the most complex evolution clearly, over 350 line drawings were specially commissioned. Every aspect of handling a man-of-war is detailed and illustrated from original sources.

Ships and Seamanship: The Maritime Prints of J. J. Baugean

Ships and Seamanship: The Maritime Prints of J. J. Baugean

by John Harland

Jean Jerome Baugean was a French marine artist of the Napoleonic era whose engravings are prized by ship historians for their accuracy and detail. Apart from his accomplishments as an artist, Baugean was also an experienced sailor, and he often used his illustrations to demonstrate a specific point of seamanship, shiphandling, or port activity. In this collection of nearly two hundred of Baugean's prints, John... (more)

Hungry Ocean, The

by Linda Greenlaw

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER--NOW AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK! Known to millions of readers of The Perfect Storm as the captain of the Hannah Boden, sister ship to the Andrea Gail, Linda Greenlaw is also known as one of the best sea captains on the East Coast. Here she offers an adventure-soaked tale of her own, complete with danger, humor, and characters so colorful they seem to have been ripped from the pages... (more)

Fleet Battle and Blockade: The French Revolutionary War 1793-1797 (Chatham Pictorial Histories)

Fleet Battle and Blockade: The French Revolutionary War 1793-1797 (Chatham Pictorial Histories)

by Robert Gardiner

Forgetting the set backs of the American Revolutionary War, in 1793 the Royal Navy embarked on an almost unprecedented era of victories at sea, producing a considerable appetite for pictures of every incident, great or small. A thriving trade in prints and engravings grew up, supplemented by watercolors and oils by celebrated artists. Besides these ‘public’ works, many officers--and indeed members of the lower... (more)

The Frigates (An Account of the Lesser Warships of the Great French Wars 1793-1815)James Henderson

The Frigates (An Account of the Lesser Warships of the Great French Wars 1793-1815)

by James Henderson

The Four Voyages of Christopher Columbus (Penguin Classics)

The Four Voyages of Christopher Columbus (Penguin Classics)

by Christopher Columbus

No gamble in history has been more momentous than the landfall of Columbus' ship the Santa Maria in the Americas in 1492 - an event that paved the way for the conquest of a 'New World'. The accounts collected here provide a vivid narrative of his voyages throughout the Caribbean and finally to the mainland of Central America, although he still believed he had reached Asia. Columbus himself is revealed as a... (more)

Master & Commander

by Patrick O'Brian

The 1st installment in O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series "The best historical novels ever written..." - The New York Times Book Review This, the first in the splendid series of Jack Aubrey novels, establishes the friendship between Captain Aubrey, Royal Navy, and Stephen Maturin, ship's surgeon and intelligence agent, against the thrilling backdrop of the Napoleonic wars. Details of life aboard a man-of-war in... (more)

Master & Commander

by Patrick O'Brian

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)

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle

by Avi

An ocean voyage of unimaginable consequences Not every thirteen-year-old girl is accused of murder, brought to trial, and found guilty. But I was just such a girl, and my story is worth relating even if it did happen years ago. Be warned, however: If strong ideas and action offend you, read no more. Find another companion to share your idle hours. For my part I intend to tell the truth as I lived it.

Mr. Midshipman Hornblower (Hornblower Saga (Paperback))

Mr. Midshipman Hornblower (Hornblower Saga (Paperback))

by C. S. Forester

The year is 1793, the eve of the Napoleonic Wars, and Horatio Hornblower, a seventeen-year-old boy unschooled in seafaring and the ways of seamen, is ordered to board a French merchant ship and take command of crew and cargo for the glory of England. Though not an unqualified success, this first naval adventure teaches the young midshipman enough to launch him on a series of increasingly glorious exploits. This... (more)

Hornblower : Beat to Quarters

by C. S. Forester

Another exciting addition to our growing collection of sea stories, BEAT TO QUARTERS is a favorite among devotees of Horatio Hornblower, England's most durable sailor. The creation of C.S. Forester (AFRICAN QUEEN, THE GOOD SHEPHERD), Hornblower is known and admired throughout the Western world. Winston Churchill was a notable enthusiast; he mentioned Hornblower in his WW II memoirs. In BEAT TO QUARTERS, a... (more)

All Fishermen Are Liars: True Tales from the Dry Dock Bar

All Fishermen Are Liars: True Tales from the Dry Dock Bar

by Linda Greenlaw

inda Greenlaw, the New York Times bestselling author of The Lobster Chronicles and The Hungry Ocean, brings us a riveting and uproarious collection of tales of fishing and adventure at sea.

Handbook of Knots: EXPANDED EDITION

by Des Pawson

This expanded edition of the bestselling Handbook of Knots includes 16 additional pages with new photography. Clear instructions and annotated step-by-step photographs will help you learn how to tie more than 100 knots. Choose knots for fishing, camping, sailing, climbing, and for general or decorative use with the help of a quick reference guide.

Shelfari Book Activity

Tags: seamanship

by Julian Stockwin

by Roy Adkins

by Tom Chaffin

by Mark Lardas

by Robert Gardiner

by Tom Wareham

by Portia A. Takakjian

by John Harland

by John Harland

by Linda Greenlaw

by Robert Gardiner

by James Henderson

by Christopher Columbus

by Patrick O'Brian

by Patrick O'Brian

by Avi

by C. S. Forester

by C. S. Forester

by Linda Greenlaw

by Des Pawson