Maritime

Search

The Savage Storm: Britain on the Brink in the Age of Napoleon
by David Andress

Alan Forrest on an account exploring the military, social and political state of Britain as it battled Napoleon's forces

Commander: The Life and Exploits of Britain's Greatest Frigate Captain
by Stephen Taylor

Sam Willis is enthralled by a biography of Edward Pellew, a naval officer who provided the template for a fictional hero

Able Seamen: The Lower Deck of the Royal Navy 1850–1939
by Brian Lavery

GH Bennett follows the stories of lower deck seamen in a time of transformation for the Royal Navy

Britain’s Empire: Resistance, Repression and Revolt
by Richard Gott

John MacKenzie is not convinced by a survey of the British empire’s crimes

The Glorious First of June
by Sam Willis

Andrew Lambert applauds a new account of a pivotal naval battle by an author with salt water in his veins

The Zong: A Massacre, the Law and the End of Slavery
by James Walvin

Madge Dresser applauds an insightful study of a slave ship atrocity and its aftermath

Bligh: William Bligh in the South Seas
by Anne Salmond

Jonathan Lamb feels that a new biography of the Bounty captain William Bligh is excessively kind to its subject

1492: The Year Our World Began
by Felipe Fernández-Armesto

Jerry Brotton savours a global history of a decisive year

The Great Sea
by David Abulafia

Bettany Hughes reads an epic history of the turbulent Mediterranean

Poxed and Scurvied
by Kevin Brown

Glyn Williams on diseases and cures for sailors of the past