The Red Wolf Conspiracy by Robert Redick – A Review
August 26, 2010
I recently had recommended to me Robert Redick’s The Red Wolf Conspiracy, a fantasy epic which is almost exclusively set aboard the Imperial Merchant Ship Chathard, a 600 year old sailing ship of immerse proportions and age that sets out on a mission of mystery and intrigue with a huge crew and equally large and varied [...]
Read MoreA Battle Won by S. Thomas Russell – A Review
August 11, 2010
The just released, A Battle Won by S. Thomas Russell, is classic nautical fiction – vivid, fast paced and full of drama, both on sea and land. Master and Commander Charles Hayden is a gifted naval commander with extremely bad luck. In the previous book, Under Enemy Colors, he found himself serving aboard HMS Themis, [...]
Read MoreSallee Rovers by M. Kei, A Review
July 21, 2010
Pirates of the Narrow Sea, Book 1 – Sallee Rovers by M. Kei is well written nautical adventure fiction with a twist or two, or perhaps three. The novel is not set during the Napoleonic wars and features, as the title suggests, Sallee Rovers, Barbary Coast corsairs, sailing from the Atlantic coast of what is [...]
Read MoreSchooner, Building a Wooden Boat on Martha’s Vineyard – A Review
July 13, 2010
In late May, we posted about the publication of a beautiful new book by Alison Shaw and Tom Dunlop, Schooner – Building a Wooden Boat on Martha’s Vineyard. We recently had the opportunity to read the book. Our review: Schooner – Building a Wooden Boat on Martha’s Vineyard details, in prose and photographs, the story of [...]
Read MoreJulian Stockwin’s Victory – A Review
July 3, 2010
We have fallen way behind in our book reviews. Until we catch up, here is a review of Julian Stockwin’s new novel, Victory, republished with permission from Astrodene’s Historic Naval Fiction. Astrodene Review: Victory by Julian Stockwin Victory starts off with a major setback for Kydd and keeps up a fast pace throughout which makes it another page turner [...]
Read MoreBattle of Surigao Strait by Anthony P. Tully – a Review
May 30, 2010
A new look at the last battleship battle of World War II and perhaps of all time. A review by Steven Toby, republished with permission from the MarHst list. In this new book, Battle of Surigao Strait, author Anthony P. Tully mines some hitherto little known Japanese sources to create a more even-handed account of the Battle [...]
Read MoreFloating Gold by Margaret Muir – a Review
May 27, 2010
Margaret Muir’s new novel, Floating Gold, is a wonderful blend of classic Georgian naval fiction, a mystery/thriller and a grand treasure hunt. A rousing tale, well told. It is due to be released in the United States on May 31. It is currently available in the UK. Captain Oliver Quintrell is on the beach, [...]
Read MoreTrue Colours by Alaric Bond, a Review
May 18, 2010
Alaric Bond is a frequent contributor to the Old Salt blog. He is also a wonderful writer. His latest novel True Colours has recently been published. I liked it - a lot. A review: Alaric Bond’s new novel, True Colours, the third in his Fighting Sail series, is a fascinating and exciting look at a most [...]
Read MoreInto the Deep: America, Whaling & the World – a Review
May 9, 2010
A few days ago, we posted about Ric Burns’ new documentary, Into the Deep: America, Whaling & the World, which will be broadcast tomorrow, May 10, at 9PM on most PBS channel in the United States. I had the opportunity to watch the documentary – a review: Into the Deep: America, Whaling & the World, is [...]
Read MoreSeized, A Sea Captains Adventures – Battling Scoundrels and Pirates while Recovering Stolen Ships in the World’s Most Troubled Waters
April 27, 2010
Max Hardberger’s Seized, a Sea Captains Adventures – Battling Scoundrels and Pirates while Recovering Stolen Ships in the World’s Most Troubled Waters is a fascinating account of one man’s remarkable career and personal journey. In addition to working professionally as a crop-duster, school teacher, lawyer, and ship’s captain, Max Hardberger developed the rather unusual specialty [...]
Read MorePirate Latitudes by Micheal Crichton, a Review
April 4, 2010
Pirate Latitudes by Micheal Crichton, published a year after his death, is a romp. It is full of swashbuckling action and completely familiar characters. There is a bold captain, who is either a privateer or a pirate; several fair and comely maidens of high birth and low; and a band of adventurers each with special [...]
Read MoreUnder Sail : A Boy’s Voyage Around Cape Horn by Felix Reisenberg – A Review
March 8, 2010
Under Sail is a remarkable account of sixteen year old Felix Riesenberg’s first voyage on a square rigger from South Street Seaport in New York, to Honolulu and back. He sailed on the A.J. Fuller, a Bath built, copper clad, wooden hulled, three skysail yard medium clipper in the waning days of the age of [...]
Read MoreSkipjack: The Story of America’s Last Sailing Oystermen by Christopher White – A Review
February 1, 2010
A review by Steven Toby, written for the Maritime History Listserv, included here with his kind permission. Sounds like a fascinating book. Skipjack: The Story of America’s Last Sailing Oystermen by Christopher White is an excellent book on the last commercial fishing craft operating under sail in the US. The author has a journalistic rather than a scholarly [...]
Read MoreMy River Chronicle – Rediscovering the America on the Hudson by Jessica DuLong – a Review
November 9, 2009
My River Chronicle – Rediscovering the America on the Hudson, is a fascinating voyage in the life of a young woman, who finds herself oddly quite at home in a most unlikely new job. It is also a journey through the history of America itself as it moves from an industrial past into an uncertain [...]
Read MoreJohn Stobart and the Ships of South Street
September 17, 2009
Last year the National Maritime Historical Society (NMHS) published a fascinating booklet, John Stobart and the Ships of South Street, which features the pre-eminent maritime artist’s paintings of ships arriving or departing from New York’s South Street docks. At first the presentation struck me as odd. The NMHS describes it as a booklet rather than a book, which is apt, as it is [...]
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