Archive Results For: Other (Twentieth C)
Book Review-‘Seaforth World Naval Review 2017’ ed. by C. Waters
According to its dust jacket, the Seaforth World Naval Review 2017 aims to provide a ‘dedicated annual survey of naval developments’ and to be ‘valuable for enthusiasts and defence professionals alike’. The informative and user-friendly volume delivers in both of these respects, though it perhaps fails to meet the higher bar (also from the dust […] Read More
Filed under: Other (Twentieth C)
Subjects include: Navies
Book Review-‘Sons of Gentlemen in the Days of the ‘Titanic’: The adventures of Greeny, an apprentice in tall ships 1908 to 1912’ by T. B. Greenhalgh, ed. by P. Greenhalgh
I must confess that I have rather held back from the ebook world. Initially I was put off by the title of this one, but then decided that the low price made it sufficiently interesting for me to take the plunge. Apparently, the original draft was written by the old captain in about 1970, but […] Read More
Filed under: Other (Twentieth C)
Subjects include: Biography | Manpower & Life at Sea | Ship Handling & Seamanship
Book Review-‘The Political Economy of Indigo in India, 1580–1930: A global perspective’ by G. A. Nadri
Ghulam Nadri, an Associate Professor of History at Georgia State University specializing in early modern Gujarat and India, traces the convoluted ‘long-durée moment’ [sic] (p. 121) of natural indigo in India as a global commercial dye. Informed by the global commodity chains conceptual framework, this book looks at this particular trade from its inception in […] Read More
Filed under: Other (Early Modern) | Other (Nineteenth C) | Other (Eighteenth C) | Other (Twentieth C) | East India Company
Subjects include: Logistics
Book Review-‘Britain’s Quest for Oil: The First World War and the peace conferences’ by M. Gibson
The changes in Britain’s strategic situation, and thus defence and foreign policy, caused by the transition from coal to oil for were nothing short of profound. Before oil, Britain provided the globe with the key energy source for marine propulsive power, and was the beneficiary of a virtuous cycle by which steam coal was the […] Read More
Filed under: Other (Twentieth C)
Subjects include: Strategy & Diplomacy
Book Review-‘Global Marine Science and Carlsberg: The golden connections of Johannes Schmidt (1877–1933)’ by B. Poulsen
I would venture to suggest that Johannes Schmidt is not a name that even readers of this journal would immediately recall, but this new biographical account shows that as a scientist and entrepreneur who led 26 oceanic expeditions and revealed, among other things, the secrets of the eel’s breeding patterns, he deserves recognition. In recounting […] Read More
Filed under: Other (Twentieth C) | Other (Nineteenth C)
Subjects include: Biography | Science & Exploration
Book Review-‘Canada’s Bastions of Empire: Halifax, Victoria and the Royal Navy 1749–1918’ by B. Elson
Those who follow Canadian naval historiography are likely more accustomed to the story of the slender beginnings of the Royal Canadian Navy from 1910 to the build-up during the Second World War. Less well known is the story of Canada’s two naval dockyards and fortresses, one on each coast. The Pacific coast was covered by […] Read More
Filed under: Other (Twentieth C) | Other (Nineteenth C) | Other (Eighteenth C)
Subjects include: Harbours & Dockyards | Navies | Strategy & Diplomacy
Book Review-‘Charting the Oceans’ by P. Whitfield
This is declared as a ‘revised and updated’ edition of a book from the author’s series on cartography published in 1996. It was not reviewed in this journal though Derek Howse had alerted readers to its imminence in his assessment of the companion volumes (Mariner’s Mirror 83:4 (1998), 483). These he described as ‘scholarly, and […] Read More
Filed under: Early Modern | Other (Nineteenth C) | Other (Eighteenth C) | Other (Twentieth C)
Subjects include: Science & Exploration
Book Review-‘British Shipbuilding,1500–2010: A history’ by Anthony Slaven
First let us do away with the conceptual problem with this book. Although its title suggests it is a survey of over 500 years of British shipbuilding, the first 200 years are dealt with in the first four pages and the eighteenth century is done and dusted by page 15. This perhaps suggests a book […] Read More
Filed under: Other (Early Modern) | Other (Twentieth C) | Other (Nineteenth C) | Other (Eighteenth C)
Subjects include: Shipbuilding & Design
Book Review-‘A Maritime History of Somerset: Volume 2’ by Adrian J. Webb (ed.)
The first thing that readers will notice is that this book is beautifully produced. It has black-and-white and colour images throughout, ranging from engravings, maps, newspaper articles, Punch cartoons, watercolour sketches, paintings and modern photographs, all in a book that costs only £20. The topics are diverse, with chapters on maritime travel, the development of […] Read More
Filed under: Other (Early Modern) | Other (Twentieth C) | Other (Nineteenth C) | Other (Eighteenth C)
Subjects include: Archaeology | Harbours & Dockyards | Leisure & Small Craft | Whaling & Fishing
Book Review-‘Legends in Sail’ by Olaf T. Engvig
Olaf Engvig is well known in maritime circles and his books, like his research, are solid, classic and prized. His latest Legends in Sail adds to his growing bibliography with yet another book done well. Based on his earlier Norwegian-published Legendariske Skuter, Legends in Sail is a rewritten and redesigned version of the earlier work. […] Read More
Filed under: Other (Twentieth C) | Other (Nineteenth C)
Subjects include: Historic Vessels, Museums & Restoration | Ship Handling & Seamanship