On the night of December 7,1942 ten British commandos set off in five wood and canvas canoes from a British submarine in the Bay of Biscay off the coast of occupied France. Their intent was to paddle 75 miles up the Gironde estuary and attack … Continue reading
Category Archives: Newbooks
Last June, we posted about Jessica Watson’s book and album release. Jessica Watson is the now 17 year old Australian sailor who can rightly claim the title of the “youngest to sail solo and unassisted around the world.” … Continue reading
A trailer for Joan Druett‘s wonderful new book – Tupaia, Captain Cook’s Polynesian Navigator. We will be reviewing the book later in the week. Tupaia, Captain Cook’s Polynesian Navigator, by Joan Druett … Continue reading
In 1940 and 1941, Moore McCormack Lines took delivery of four Rio class C3 Class passenger/cargo liners from Sun Shipbuilding. They were the Rio Hudson, the Rio Parana, the Rio de la Plata and the Rio de Janeiro. In May … Continue reading
Bernard Cornwell’s The Fort: A Novel of the Revolutionary War is not strictly speaking nautical fiction but does focus on an ill-fated expedition that ended as the worst American naval defeat prior to Pear Harbor. At first glance, The Fort … Continue reading
William Hammond’s new novel, For Love of Country, was released in October. Set in the early 1780s in the years following the American Revolution, the novel follows the adventures of the seafaring Cutler family of Hingham, Massachusetts, and the supporting … Continue reading
The Boston Globe has an interesting interview with Geoffrey Wolff, who has written a new biography of Joshua Slocum, The Hard Way Around: The Passages of Joshua Slocum. The book also got a rave review by Nathaniel Phibrick in the New York … Continue reading
Sea monsters exist. They break ships in half and pull them below the waves. Sometimes they swallow them whole. Most who encounter them never return to tell the tale and those few who do, until very recently, were rarely believed. … Continue reading
In Good as Gold, a new book by Louise Patten, the granddaughter of the most senior surviving officer on the Titanic, reveals a long hidden family secret. She claims that an error in steering on the bridge of the Titanic led to the collision … Continue reading
gCaptain is one of my favorite blogs. It has a done a great job of covering the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Now gCaptain’s John Konrad has written a book, Fire on the Horizon – The Untold Story of the Gulf Oil Disaster, … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
Jessica Watson’s book True Spirit will be published in August in Australia and in October in the United States. It was also recently announced that she will be releasing an album as well. Fast work given that she only returned in the middle of May. Teen sailor … Continue reading
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 – … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
A book trailer for Alaric Bond’s new book, True Colours which we recently reviewed. True Colours … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
I haven’t seen it yet but Schooner: Building a Wooden Boat on Martha’s Vineyard by Tom Dunlop, looks fascinating. From the publisher: Schooner takes you through the construction of Rebecca of Vineyard Haven, a sixty-foot wooden schooner designed and built by … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading