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Quarterdeck
CELEBRATING HISTORICAL LITERATURE & ART
Inside
Dewey Lambdin
Alex Skutt
Geoffrey Huband
January / February 2016
Contents
Quarterdeck
A B-M J
J / F 2016
FEATURES
08
Dewey Lambdin
Nashville-based novelist Dewey Lambdin reveals his reading
habits and chats about his new Alan Lewrie naval adventure.
COLUMNS
03
Scuttlebutt
News from nautical and historical fiction, naval and maritime
history, maritime museums and marine art
06
By George!
“In the midst of waters.”
Quarterdeck is published bi-monthly by
Tall Ships Communications
6952 Cypress Bay Drive
Kalamazoo, MI 49009
269-372-4673
EDITOR & MANAGING DIRECTOR
George D. Jepson
gdjepson@gmail.com
OPERATIONS DIRECTOR
Amy A. Jepson
aajepson@gmail.com
DEPARTMENTS
McBOOKS
07
Collectible Books
Printed Treasure by Alex Skutt
13
Editor’s Choice
A Hard, Cruel Shore by Dewey Lambdin
14
Sea Fiction
20
T S
C
Classic Sea Fiction
The Percival Merewether Novels
21
Historical Fiction
23
Sea History
30
Marine Art – Geoffrey Huband
press
Quarterdeck is distributed by
McBooks Press, Inc.
ID Booth Building
520 North Meadow Street
Ithaca, NY 14850
PUBLISHER
Alexander Skutt
607-272-2114
alex@mcbooks.com
www.mcbooks.com
ART DIRECTOR
Panda Musgrove
panda@mcbooks.com
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR EMERITUS
Jackie Swift
ON THE COVER:
Detail from “Ships,” an oil painting
by English marine artist
Geoffrey Huband.
© Geoffrey Huband
© Tall Ships Communications
2 | Quarterdeck | January / February 2016
Scuttlebutt
New Book
Launches
2016
Photo by George D. Jepson
US (United States)
UK (United Kingdom)
TPB (Trade Paperback)
PB (Paperback)
HB (Hardback)
EB (Ebook)
NF (Nonfiction)
JANUARY
The steel-hulled windjammer Peking (above), which has been moored at the South
Street Seaport in New York City since 1974, will cross the Atlantic this spring on what is
likely her final voyage. She will be transported in a docking ship bound for Hamburg,
Germany, where she will be permanently berthed and on display in the city where she
was built in 1911. In 1929, Captain Irving Johnson crewed aboard the ship and filmed a
trip around Cape Horn, climbing nearly 200 feet above the deck into the rigging to document the voyage. The film, “Around Cape Horn,” is available in DVD format from Mystic
Seaport.
ERIC JAY DOLAN
In April, W. W. Norton will launch
Brilliant Beacons by award-winning
author Eric Jay Dolan. An extraordinary work of historical detection
and originality, the book vividly
reframes America’s history through
the development of its lighthouses.
In a work rich in maritime lore and
brimming with original historical
detail, Eric Jay Dolin, the bestselling author of Leviathan, presents
the most comprehensive history of
American lighthouses ever written,
telling the story of America through
the prism of its beloved coastal sentinels. Set against the backdrop of
an expanding nation, Brilliant Beacons traces the evolution of America’s lighthouse system, highlighting
the political, military, and technological battles fought to illuminate
Kings and Emperors (USTPB)
by Dewey Lambdin
Warriors of the Storm (USHB)
by Bernard Cornwell
Seamanship in the Age of Sail (USHB)
by John Harland
Treachery in Tibet (UKHB)
by John Wilcox
FEBRUARY
A Hard, Cruel Shore (USHB)
by Dewey Lambdin
The Art of War (USHB)
by Stephen Coonts
APRIL
The Winds of Folly (USTPB)
by Seth Hunter
Brilliant Beacons (USHB)
by Eric Jay Dolan
MAY
the nation’s hardscrabble coastlines.
In rollicking detail, Dolin treats
readers to a memorable cast of charCONTINUED ON PAGE 4
Valiant Ambition (USHB)
by Nathaniel Philbrick
© PAUL GARNETT
Scuttlebutt
Detail from “Charles W. Morgan - Off Cape Horn - December 11, 1841,”
oil on canvas 24" x 30 by Paul Garnett.
(Editor’s note: This painting, which is presently on display at The Maritime Gallery at Mystic Seaport,
was inadvertently misidentified as HMS Bounty in the November/December 2015 issue of Quarterdeck.)
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3
acters including the penny-pinching
Treasury official Stephen Pleasonton, who hamstrung the country’s
efforts to adopt the revolutionary
“Fresnel Lens,” and presents tales
both humorous and harrowing of
soldiers, saboteurs, ruthless egg collectors, and most importantly, the
light-keepers themselves. Richly
supplemented with over 100 photographs and illustrations throughout,
Brilliant Beacons is the most original history of American lighthouses
in many decades.
UK LITERARY FESTIVAL
The UK will hold its only dedicated
maritime literary festival this spring.
The historic harbour of Weymouth,
Dorset, will host Weymouth Leviathan on the weekend of March 1213. Festival attendees will meet
Britain’s best maritime authors and
hear about the challenges they’ve
personally met, the achievements of
characters they’ve described or created, and the practical seafaring
guidance they’ve offered.
A selection of confirmed authors
and and, shown here in parentheses,
the talks featured on program:
– Dr James Davey, Curator of Naval History at the National Maritime Museum (“In Nelson’s
Wake”).
– Barbara Tomlinson, Curator
Emeritus at the National Maritime
Museum (“Heroism of the shipwrecked”).
– Richard Dunn, Senior Curator
for the History of Science at the
National Maritime Museum (“Refinding Longitude”).
– David Childs CBE, former Development Director of the Mary Rose
Trust and author of The Warship
Mary Rose (“Fighting the French”).
– Richard Woodman, LVO, board
Scuttlebutt
director of Trinity House and author of fifty books (“The Making of
a Sea Officer in Fact and Fiction”).
– Philip Hoare, BBC presenter,
award winning author and co-curator of Moby-Dick Big Read project
(“The Sea Inside”).
– Tom Cunliffe, journalist, author
and BBC broadcaster (“In the
Wake of Heroes”).
– J. D. Davies, award winning historian, author of the acclaimed naval historical fiction series, The
Journals of Matthew Quinton
(“Samuel Pepys and the ‘Gentleman
Captains’ of Charles II’s Navy”).
– Julian Stockwin, acclaimed author
of the Kydd series of historical novels (“The Real Jack Tar”).
– Antoine Vanner, author of the
four-part Dawlish Chronicles
(“Hazard in Nautical Fiction”).
With its historic harbor and unparalleled views across to the Jurassic Coast, Weymouth is the perfect
venue to celebrate maritime writing
and find inspiration for actively engaging with the sea.
“Since we began talking about a
maritime-specific literary festival,
we’ve received overwhelming interest from near and far,” said James
Farquharson, festival director. “Authors we approached immediately
appreciated the need for the festival,
so we were quickly able to put together a program of exceptional
EBOOKS
D
uring our recent Quarterdeck reader survey, several respondents asked for information about which historical fiction
books are available in Kindle ebook format. Beginning with this issue, books which are available in either Kindle or NOOK formats
will be highlighted (for example, $14.99, Kindle and NOOK ) in the
publishing details.
A majority of the historical fiction books included in Quarterdeck
are available as ebooks for the Kindle. A somewhat smaller number are available in the NOOK format.
A relatively small portion of recently published historical fiction
is actually available only as ebooks. In some cases, a novel originally issued as an ebook may later be published as a traditional paper-and-ink book if the ebook sells well.
Some historical novels may not be available as an ebook in the
United States if the hardback or paperback edition is published in
the United Kingdom. A UK paper-and-ink edition may be imported
into the U.S., but contractual restrictions may keep a UK ebook
from coming to the U.S.
breadth and quality.”
Tickets are on sale at the festival
website and at the Royal Dorset
Yacht Club, Custom House Quay,
Weymouth.
To find out more about the festival, visit the website:
www.weymouthleviathan.org.uk.
SWALLOWS AND AMAZONS
A new film adaptation of British
author Arthur Ransome’s Swallows
and Amazons is currently in production. Principle filming began last
June in England’s Lake District and
Yorkshire. The project was developed by BBC Films and the British
Film Institute, along with Harbour
Pictures Productions. The film is
expected to be released this year.
WILLIAM MARTIN
Boston-based author William Martin is currently at work on his latest
historical novel, Mother Lode, featuring Peter Fallon and Evangeline
Carrington. The story, which focuses on the California Gold Rush, will
be published in 2017 by Forge.
NATHANIEL PHILBRICK
In May, Nathaniel Philbrick, the
New York Times bestselling author
of In The Heart of the Sea, launches
Valiant Ambition, a surprising account of the middle years of the
American Revolution, and the tragic relationship between George
Washington and Benedict Arnold.
This is a complex, controversial,
and dramatic portrait of a people in
crisis and the war that gave birth to
a nation.
By George!
“In the midst of waters”
utumn leaves fell early
this year. The late hangers were swept away by
gale-force winds racing
across the Midwest in mid-November. Twenty-foot waves battered the eastern Lake Michigan shore, sending spray over even taller
lighthouses.
On a Friday afternoon, Amy and I stood on
the dunes overlooking the lake near the St.
Joseph Pier lights in southwestern Michigan.
The blue-gray inland sea was alive with rollers
crashing onto the beach and surging over the
breakwater. The stiff westerly wind numbed
our faces, while a thin cloud
layer on the horizon forewarned
of an impending storm.
By the following morning,
autumn was but a brief memory. A mantle of heavy, wet snow
cket
tu
n
a
N
f
o
g
greeted
us. Limbs on our blue
Fla
spruce trees sagged under the burden.
Our white picket fence grew taller by the hour
as the flakes piled up on the rails. Snow continued to fall for another twenty-four hours,
sticking to the stark, black branches on the
mighty oaks surrounding our home.
Tucked into my favorite overstuffed chair
by the fire, with a wee dram of Scotland’s best
at hand, my thoughts drifted back a few weeks
to our time on Nantucket, which was a Native
American Wampanoag place name meaning
“in the midst of waters.”
Photo by the author.
A
Gail Nickerson Johnson (left), a sixth-generation Nantucketer, and Amy Jepson share a laugh near Sankaty
Head Lighthouse.
The face of a lovely lady named Gail Nickerson Johnson immediately came to mind.
Belted into a large van the color of cranberries,
with Gail behind the wheel, she introduced us
to Nantucket, along with a dozen other visitors
to the island.
A native Nantucketer, Gail’s family tree
stretches back six generations to the late 1700s,
before the island attained prominence as the
world’s leading whaling port. Riding with
Gail, we were entertained with a local history
lesson laced with humor. Her laughter and
broad smile were infectious, as she regaled us
with Nantucket tales.
Passing slowly down a beachfront lane with
a wall of gray-shingled homes, she pointed out
one that had belonged to the late author Peter
Benchley. In the introduction to the 2005 edi-
CONTINUED ON PAGE 29
Collectible Books
PRINTED TREASURE
by Alex Skutt
I
’VE ALWAYS BEEN A COLLECTOR. A good
friend of my father started me collecting
stamps when I was about five years old.
I’ve gone through different accumulative
manias: coins, matchbook covers (ask your parents, if necessary), baseball cards, and more. As
an adult, my career has
largely been spent as
both a bookseller and a
book publisher. (I’m the
Alex Skutt
publisher of McBooks
Press.) So, naturally,
along the way, I started to collect books.
The books I collected mirrored my interests: baseball, boxing, books on books (a surprisingly popular
subset of book collecting where the subject matter of
the volumes includes book publishing, bookselling,
libraries, and the history and design of books). Of
course I have also collected nautical and military historical fiction.
If you haven’t entirely turned to ebook reading,
you are probably a book collector yourself. You line
up the series fiction of your favorite authors in story
order on your bookshelf and you take pleasure in
owning books that you may or may not read again.
I have a friend who has read Patrick O’Brian’s
Aubrey/Maturin series five times!
Book collecting has widely accepted – though somewhat arbitrary – standards of what makes a desirable book. In the same way that a “rookie” baseball card (the first card of a given player issued by a major card manufacturer)
is much more valuable than one issued during the prime years of a ballplayer’s
career, the “first edition” of a book is nearly always the most valuable printing
of a book. Of course, in both the baseball card world and the book world,
CONTINUED ON PAGE 28
Detail from cover art for Kings and Emperors by Dewey Lambdin, courtesy Thomas Dunne Books.
Feature
DEWEY LAMBDIN
by George Jepson
N
DEWEY LAMBDIN, creator of
novel, A Hard, Cruel Shore (see review on page 11),
the Alan Lewrie naval adventures, is a
which will be published in February:
throwback to an earlier era, bringing the
libertine British naval
What books are on your bedside table?
captain to life on an old fashioned
typewriter.
To be perfectly honest, there aren’t
Tucked away in his Nashville
any. When I was a kid, I’d read comic
apartment, Lambdin relies on his
books under the cover with a flashvast library, combing through varilight; as a teen it was sci-fi or war novous volumes to research the eleels, listening to a shortwave radio ’til
ments of his stories. There is no
almost dawn. As an adult with a place
computer, no Internet. The cyber
of my own I read a chapter or two, if I
age is little more than a rumor.
didn’t have a date over. When I was
As a boy in the 1940s and 1950s,
married – twice, briefly (they stayed
like many of his contemporaries,
long enough to leave fingerprints) –
reading provided an escape and a
there were better things to do. Now,
pastime that has carried over to the
though, at my advanced age, after
Dewey Lambdin
present.
prime time TV and a couple of cockIn this interview with Quarterdeck, Lambdin reveals
tails, I’m in need of some sleep in what Kinky Friedhis reading habits and chats about his new Alan Lewrie
man calls “my monastic little bed.” So, if I’m not
Photo courtesy of Dewey Lambdin.
OVELIST
working on a new book, I read during the day. Seventy
is a bummer! And I may need a nap to boot.
Do you have an all-time favorite novelist?
Whichever Mesopotamian wrote the Saga of Gilgamesh,
Homer for The Iliad and The Odyssey, Virgil for The
Aeneid, or Tobias Smollett, Fielding, Jane Austen, Melville, Faulkner or Ray Bradbury, Kipling, Larry McMurtry. It all depends on which epoch or genre you
had in mind. I have a voracious catholic taste in books
and have enjoyed novels by so
many authors over the years in
so many fields that picking just
one is impossible.
What sort of reader were you as
a boy? Are there childhood
books that have remained with
you over the years?
Again, voracious sums it up. I’d
read anything! My mother was a
grade schoolteacher, before I
came along, though she didn’t
teach again ’til I was nine, and
only the second in her family to
have any college. My dad came
from a Middlesboro, Kentucky
hardscrabble mountain farm
family and did most of his high
school via correspondence
courses. He was a mule team
driver, then a rolling-sstock
greaser for the L&N Railroad,
then a clerk for the Blue Diamond Coal Company.
Relatives took him to Chicago, where he finished high
school and a year of business college before enlisting in
the Navy in 1930. Ten years later, he was a Chief Petty
Officer.
Both of my parents lived the truism that reading and
a good education open a lot of doors. Dad received an
officer’s commission at Notre Dame in 1941. With
their encouragement, I knew my ABCs when I was
four and was reading comics and children’s books by
five. There was no kindergarten or pre-K then, but
they made it all a grand game, read a lot themselves
and so did I, by example. I could also tie my own
shoes, manage buttons and zippers, and do for myself
in the “John,” but that’s another story. As for books
that have stayed with me, Rudyard Kipling springs
most to mind.
What genres do you enjoy reading the most?
Historical adventure fiction, of course, though not set
at sea! Sci-fi and alternative history novels, though really good stuff is getting hard to
find. Murder mysteries and
spy-political-action books. And
it goes without saying that new
sources of reference about Lewrie’s era – the customs, clothes,
food and drink, his environs
when in London, where to
shop or find entertainment,
and more lore about ships in
general – are always welcome.
What can you tell us about the
latest Lewrie novel?
Is this where I get to boast?
Okay, then! A while ago, my
editor at Thomas Dunne
Books wondered if I would do
a Spanish trilogy, which resulted in King’s Marauder and
Kings and Emperors. The last of
that trilogy is A Hard, Cruel
Shore, which picks up just after
the evacuation of Sir John Moore’s army from Corunna in January of 1809.
On the way home, Lewrie’s ship, HMS Sapphire, is
struck by lightning, damaging her mainmast. If a new
one can’t be found or made, she might be stricken
from the Navy’s rolls, putting Lewrie on the beach a
year early. This takes him up to London to plead his
case, lodge testily with his father, Sir Hugo (what fun!),
recruit a new midshipman and meet the mid’s remarkable sister, Jessica, who has a tentative career as a portraitist and illustrator. He wins his case to keep his
ship.
A new lower mainmast is found, at last, then orders
come to form a squadron, with Lewrie appointed commodore over two frigates and two brig-sloops to scour
the north coast of Spain to prevent the French from
supplying their armies by sea. One frigate, HMS Undaunted, carries his younger son, Hugh, as one of its
midshipmen. She’s commanded by Captain Richard
Chalmers, a handsome, dashing man, who, unfortunately, is ultra-respectable and looks on Lewrie like a
pile of dog turds on the best parlor carpet.
There are rich pickings in
prize money off the Costa de
Morte, but a lot of risk from
the weather, and the nearest
harbor and prize court they can
use is Lisbon, Portugal. And of
course Lewrie will make sure
that his Portuguese mistress,
Maddalena Covilhā, moves
there from Gibraltar, though
the shine may be off their relationship.
As for what ensues, you’ll
just have to read it, hint hint!
chia.
Those are the writers who first come to mind. If I
had another fortnight, this list would be a lot longer.
What do you plan to read next?
I just got the welcome news from my agent that I
should be seeing a new three-book contract in the mail
soon, so fun reading is right out and reference books
are back in. I fully expect several fresh piles to build up
either side of my desk, just after moving to my new
apartment and getting all the
clutter sorted out.
Are there books in your library
that you find yourself returning
to again and again?
Along with the authors mentioned previously, there is the
riotously funny Fenwick
Travers series by Raymond
Saunders, the equally amusing
books by Texan Dan Jenkins
(Dead Solid Perfect, Life Its
Ownself and Baja Oklahoma),
and the Tudor mysteries by C.
J. Sansom, to name just a few.
Who are the writers you most
admire?
George MacDonald Fraser,
who wrote the Flashman series;
Rudyard Kipling (again); Bernard Cornwell of the Sharpe
series and just about everything
he’s done besides; James L.
Nelson for his revolutionary War naval series, his Civil
War books, and his recent Vikings-in-Ireland novels,
which give Cornwell a challenge when it comes to the
Alfred the Great era books.
I like David Weber for the Honor Harrington space
opera series, Harry Turtledove’s alternate histories,
Lindsey Davis for her funny, compelling and well-researched novels about Marcus Didius Falco, a private
informer in Emperor Vespasian’s ancient Rome, and
Sharyn McCrumb (my fellow migrant word-picker)
and her early mysteries and later ballad tales of Appala-
Outside Alan Lewrie, who in
literature is your favorite fictional hero or heroine? Your
favorite anti-hero or villain?
Hmm, now that’s a real poser.
Tom Jones for his wit and pluck? Ulysses and Odysseus? Harry Paget Flashman, even if he’s so hilariously
flawed? James Bond? I don’t know if there is any one
who stands out as the very best hero. As for anti-heroes
or villains, well, as my late maternal grandmother
would have said, “I just can’t hold with ’em.” As Gandhi said, evil can only flourish for so long before being
conquered by good. Villains can be most entertaining
to watch, but you know they’re doomed in the end,
and who wants to root for them? They’re useful, as
Guillaume Choundras was a useful foil for Alan Lew-
rie, but I don’t care for them.
the lawn, the back of the leasing office, Clubhouse One
and the swimming pool. Girls in bikinis and girls walking their dogs are a welcome distraction. Or inspiration!
Do you enjoy writing?
Oh, immensely. It’s the most fun one can have sitting
upright at a keyboard in a bathrobe – alone. The only
wrench is getting started! Where is Alan Lewrie going
to go this time, what’s he going to do there, and what
new trouble can he get into? My editors have all demanded that I send them an outline so they can see
what they’re buying into. Mine run to around sixteen
to eighteen pages, quite detailed, with snippets of snarky
dialogue where appropriate.
That saps the skull for a time
after submission, and takes
some long thinking as to
whether I’ll stick anywhere
close to the outline when I do
get started. Is there a better location, a better plot? It’s only
after I’ve resolved that I’ve
made the right choices that I
get up one morning, do the
paper, feed and amuse the cat,
preview what’s on the TV that
night, and have a late breakfast
that I steel myself to go into
my office and make a start. After that, I’m on a good roll, at
least three days a week, and
hum or sing bawdy period
songs whilst I’m doing it.
Please describe where you
write?
You’re hosting a dinner party. Which three historical
figures living or dead would you invite?
In my place, where I usually eat off the cocktail table?
Impossible! Even if I moved all the extraneous stuff off
the two-place dinette, I’d still not have proper room.
No, I think in fantasy I’d follow the old Roman custom of
the triclinium, three tables in a
U with nine guests in total,
which they thought best and
convivial.
At one table I would have
George Washington, James
Madison, the author of the
Constitution, and Thomas Jefferson, who wrote the Declaration of Independence. At the
second I would have Napoleon
Bonaparte, Horatio Nelson and
the Duke of Wellington – no
knives or forks, please. The
third table would seat Ernest
Hemingway, Rudyard Kipling
and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
I’d see how long it takes for the
barbs, dinner rolls and mashed
potatoes began flying.
Alan Lewrie had been your
companion for nearly two decades. Is he with you on
days when you’re not writing about him?
I’ve converted one bedroom to a library/office, with
two walls taken up with very full bookcases, with another three-shelf just by the door. I’ve an old assembleyourself desk and hutch in one corner and a decent office chair. Quite near is a radio/CD/cassette player, and
for down moments there is a bamboo settee with good
cushions to loll in and find “inspiration.” I’ve swords
standing in the odd corner and nautical art on the
walls, again for inspiration. My window looks out on
I should be wearing one of those rubber bracelets with
“WWLD?” printed on it for “what would Lewrie do.”
Secretly, I have one from my party days that asks,
“What would Hank Williams Junior do?” Go to do
likewise, as the Bible says.
Alan Lewrie is ever with me, because I never stop
plotting or wondering what he would say. I sometimes
alarm drivers at stoplights when I practice dialogue out
loud, talking to myself, and find myself when alone
talking to myself in a British accent, using Lewrie’s
curses, especially when political news is on or some TV
show drops a clanger in the plot. “Oh, bloody hell,”
and now and then a good old “Mine arse on a bandbox!”
Frankly, I owe him a lot. He’s me having more adventure and more fun, as most authors will admit
about their lead characters, their continuing heroes.
Lewrie and I share the same sense of humor, self-deprecating thoughts and outlook. He just is more successful
at it.
As the years pass in the Lewrie novels, what is your
greatest challenge to creating new stories.
Well, we’re sort of running out of legitimate enemies,
are we not? Tsar Paul of Russia is dead (good riddance!) And Russia is having trouble with Napoleon
more than they are with Great Britain. Sweden’s new
King Bernadotte is a transplanted Frenchman who was
always envious of Napoleon and thinks he’s a better
general, so it’s slim odds he would help France. Denmark, the third leg of the old League of Northern Neutrality, has had its butt kicked in 1801 and 1807, and
learned to sing very small in the world. Spain has
switched sides and become a British ally after the
French invaded in 1808. Holland, now the French
puppet state called the Batavian Republic, lost its taste
for naval adventures after Camperdown. They may still
be building warships, but they’re not going anywhere
with them. There’s a close, effective blockade.
Additionally, the French themselves have backed
away from overseas operations. Emperor Napoleon
shovels funds at his own navy, but after Trafalgar and
Basque Roads and the loss of most of their colonies in
the West and East Indies (except for Mauritius and Ilede-France in the Indian Ocean) there’s not much point
in trying.
I may have to invent some mythical French expeditions to keep the guns roaring, preferably in the West
Indies, Mediterranean or European coastal waters. I
don’t want Lewrie returning to India or what few
Dutch colonies remain in the Far East. There are
events in the works that will require Lewrie to stay closer to home.
Another problem I’m trying to dodge is the matter
of Alan’s increasing seniority. He was a commodore
temporarily in the Bahamas, still in a frigate, where he
had great freedom of action. In 1807 Lewrie got
snookered into HMS Sapphire, a slow Fourth Rate fifty-gunner, but he made the best of it. In A Hard, Cruel
Shore, he is a commodore again over a small squadron,
and still actively commands his own ship, still has need
of his sets of pistols, Ferguson rifled breech-loader musket and his sword.
But if Lewrie becomes a First Rate commodore, he
will be more of a passenger in a 64 or Third Rate 74,
with a junior post captain doing the day-to-day command duties, perhaps, and God forbid, Lewrie will
make rear-admiral. I am kicking around the idea that
personal and professional grudges and jealousy from
the Admiralty may blight his career for a time. Fillebrowne, Grierson and others with powerful patrons
may keep Lewrie a post captain and a second-class
commodore for a good, long time.
Alan Lewrie ain’t the sort to tolerate boredom for
long. A wartime active commission may be all that the
lout is good for, and the eventual peace may make him
yawn to death. A year on the blockade would kill him.
Is there anything else you would like to say to readers?
I am eternally grateful that enough people have read
and enjoyed my rakehell’s adventures over the years
that I can continue being a “migrant word-picker” for a
good long time into the future, Lord willing. Whatever
I have done with the Lewrie novels, I seem to have
struck some kind of chord. Hey, I do live in Music
City! I can only promise that I’ll keep strumming away,
or tootling on my penny-whistle, to keep the adventures fresh, fun and bold – with a naughty bit slung
into the odd corner.
Readers may write to Dewey Lambdin at:
141 Neese Drive
Apartment G-15
Nashville, TN 37211-2755
Editor’s Choice
OFF THE COAST OF DEATH
Alan Lewrie and HMS Sapphire Face New Perils
by George Jepson
C
ALAN LEWRIE has
changed little in the years
since he was snared in a
flagrante dilecto sting with his halfsister Belinda and scuttled off to the
Royal Navy by his hard-hearted
father, Sir Hugo Willoughby.
If life as a midshipman and a career at sea, wearing the King’s coat,
wasn’t young Alan’s plan for his
future in 1780, he has grudgingly
adapted to the service over the
course of twenty-two novels by
Nashville novelist Dewey Lambdin.
A consummate lecher, Lewrie’s
dalliances with the fair sex are legend among his devoted followers,
and add a provocative twist to his
character. However, it is the seasalt-encrusted naval captain to
whom we are drawn.
Cracking a new Lewrie novel is
an annual delight, revealing Lewrie’s latest misfortunes, whether
with the Admiralty, fellow officers,
the Surveyor of the Portsmouth
Dockyards, or his far-flung dysfunctional family.
Serving King and Country, Lewrie proves again and again his mettle as a leader and fierce sea warrior,
while at the same time exposing his
totally human foibles. A favorite
and frequent turn of phrase when
he has reached total exasperation is,
“Mine arse on a bandbox!”
APTAIN
A HARD, CRUEL SHORE
Thomas Dunne Books, $26.95,
U.S. Hardback /
$12.99, Kindle and NOOK
A Hard, Cruel Shore, the twentysecond title in the series, picks up in
early 1809 in the immediate wake
of Kings and Emperors.
Captain Lewrie and HMS Sapphire, the lubberly 50-gun Fourth
Rate two-decker, have arrived at
Portsmouth Dockyard. The ship
requires significant repairs and Lewrie despairs that he may be beached,
lamenting to himself, “God, I’m
stuck in port ’til next Epiphany.”
Traveling to London by post
coach, he presents his case to the
First Secretary of the Admiralty for
Sapphire to remain in commission
under his command.
After a worrisome time, a letter
arrives from the Admiralty appointing him commodore over a small
squadron – which includes Sapphire
– with orders to raid French supply
convoys off the north coast of
Spain, the Costa da Morte or the
Coast of Death.
Dewey Lambdin is a commanding and unique voice in the naval
fiction genre, blending humor with
engaging prose and historical authenticity in the same vain as
George MacDonald Fraser and his
Flashman military novels.
Late in A Hard, Cruel Shore, a
Lambdin passage brilliantly describes Sapphire getting underway,
with the sounds, crew movements
and visuals providing a word picture equal to a Geoff Hunt or Geoffrey Huband oil painting.
Farther along, a vivid Lambdin
battle scene erupts off the pages,
with squealing blocks, the roar of
long guns and carronades, and the
miasma of dense powder smoke.
Lambdin dazzles with skillful
storytelling, once again taking armchair sailors back to the era when
the seas were dominated by Britain’s “wooden walls” and heroic, yet
flawed, men like Alan Lewrie.
Sea Fiction
January
Available Now
The Perils of Command
The Guineaman
by David Donachie
by Richard Woodman
(Allison & Busby, $25.00, UK Hardback) 1747: John
Pearce, having negotiated the highly questionable sale of
the two French prizes taken in The Devil to Pay, has left
HMS Flint, as well as the crew and the wounded Henry
Digby in Brindisi, and is headed for Naples to see his
lover. In an uncomfortable journey he seeks to work out
a way to best both Admiral Sir William Hotham and
Captain Ralph Barclay, men who are his sworn enemies.
All his calculations are thrown into turmoil when he
discovers that Emily is pregnant, which, while it is a
cause for joy, is also a reason to worry; she is still married to Ralph Barclay and by the laws of the time he can
claim the child as his own.
(Endeavour Press, $3.99, Kindle) The year is 1755.
William Kite, is in the wrong place at the wrong time,
and has been accused of murder. He needs to get as far
away as possible from his native Cumbria. By a twist of
fate, and also by vastly exaggerating his surgical skills, he
finds himself installed on the Enterprize, a Guineaman,
or slave ship, bound for the coast of West Africa. Horrified by the brutality and inhumanity of the slave trade,
Kite struggles with the duties in his new life. But when
the ship suffers from a devastating outbreak of the mysterious yellow fever, Kite is the only man left who can
get the ship safely to shore. From the Guinea coast to
the West Indies, Rhode Island to Liverpool, Kite must
survive the threats of storms, tropical diseases, the outbreak of the Seven Years’ War and forbidden love. The
Guineaman is an authentic and adventurous tale, detailing the first half of William Kite’s fortunes on land and
sea.
Sea Fiction
February
February
HMS Prometheus
The Art of War
by Alaric Bond
by Stephen Coonts
(Old Salt Press, $15.50, U.S. Trade Paperback / $8.99,
Kindle) With Britain under the threat of invasion, HMS
Prometheus is needed to reinforce Nelson’s ships blockading the French off Toulon. But a major action has left
her severely damaged and the Mediterranean fleet outnumbered. Prometheus must be brought back to fighting
order without delay, yet the work required proves more
complex than a simple refit. Barbary pirates, shore batteries and the powerful French Navy are conventional
opponents, although the men of Prometheus encounter
additional enemies, within their own ranks. This is a
story that combines vivid action with sensitive character
portrayal. This is the eighth book in the “Fighting Sail”
series.
(St. Martin’s Press, $27.99, U.S. Hardback / $14.99,
Kindle and NOOK) The Chinese dragon is flexing its
muscles. As its military begins to prey on neighbors in
the South China Sea, attacking fishing vessels and
scheming to seize natural resources, the U.S. goes on
high alert. But a far more ominous danger lurks closer
to home: a Chinese sleeper cell has planted a nuclear
weapon in the harbor at Norfolk, Virginia, the biggest
naval base on the planet. The target: a secret rendezvous
of the Atlantic Fleet aircraft carriers and their battle
groups. When the CIA director is assassinated and Jake
Grafton is appointed to take his place, he gets wind of
the conspiracy, but has no idea when or where the attack will occur. In the meantime, a series of assassinations, including an attempt on the life of the President,
shake the country and deliberately mask a far more sinister objective. Can Jake Grafton and his right hand
man, Tommy Carmellini, stop the plot to destroy the
US Navy?
Sea Fiction
Available Now
Available Now
Glendalough Fair
The Pyrate
by James L. Nelson
by Michael Aye
(Fore Topsail Press, $12.99, U.S. Trade Paperback /
$2.99, Kindle) Thorgrim Night Wolf, new-made Lord
of Vík-ló, and the two hundred Viking warriors under
his command have suffered through a brutal winter in
the squalid longphort. Despite having accomplished
much during the months of cold and rain, the patience
of the men has worn thin and violence threatens to tear
the ships’ crews apart. But just as the men are turning
on one another, a local Irish lord arrives with a proposal, a plan for Irish and Norse to join together in a raid
that will bring riches and power to both. It is, by all appearances, a way to easy plunder, using the rivers to
float their longships deep into the Irish countryside, but
it soon turns into a nightmare of massacre and betrayal.
Thorgrim and his band must fight both the mysterious
and skilled leader of the local forces, who torments
them along the way, as well as enemies in their own
camp. It’s a fight in which victory will mean wealth beyond measure, and defeat will mean death to them all.
(Boson Books, $29.99, U.S. Hardback / $9.99, Kindle
and NOOK) Young Cooper Cain is driven from his
home and his country by a nefarious cousin. Little does
he expect the life that awaits him. On his way to Antigua from his native England, Cooper is captured by pirates and eventually signs on to become a member of
their crew. Follow Cooper Cain as he finds his way
aboard a pirate ship, navigating his way through extreme danger, love and loss on the high seas, trying to
reconcile his ideals with his adopted way of life.
NOTE . . .
Glendalough Fair by James L. Nelson (see description at
left) is available through Amazon.com in trade paperback
or Kindle editions. Signed copies are available through
the author’s website at: www.jameslnelson.com.
Readers may sign up for Nelson’s newsletter and announcements of upcoming book releases by going to the
“Contact” page on his website.
Sea Fiction
Available Now
Available Now
I, Horatio
Admiral of Fear
by Donald A. Tortorice
by Victor Suthren
(AuthorHouse, $31.99, U.S. Hardback / $3.99, Kindle
and NOOK) This book is the first presentation of the
life of Horatio Nelson to be narrated in the first person,
a recounting of his life in his own words. It begins with
Nelson as a young 21-year-old captain in the Caribbean
and goes to his death at the Battle of Trafalgar. Along
the way his experiences in carrying out the vision of his
duty in the Caribbean, Corsica, Tenerife, the Battle of
Cape St. Vincent, the Nile, Copenhagen, and Trafalgar
cost him his eye, his right arm, and ultimately his life.
Nelson was blessed and cursed with a nature that was
blind to the specter of failure and deaf to anything other
than the call of duty, the clamor of battle, and victory.
He was also a mortal man whose attraction to women
brought pleasure, frustration, infatuation, and lifelong
satisfaction. This is his story as he would tell it. A former United States naval officer and attorney, Donald
Tortorice has studied Nelson for fifty years.
(Thunderchild Publishing, $9.99, U.S. Trade Paperback /
$2.99, Kindle and NOOK) The year is 1742, and Edward Mainwaring, the courageous American seaman
who defended the honor of the Crown in Royal Yankee
and The Golden Galleon, is called to rough seas – this
time to thwart a possible defeat in the Mediterranean,
where French and Spanish fleets have threateningly
joined together in Toulon Harbor. Once again pitted
against his brutal nemesis, the cunning and dishonorable Chevalier Rigaud de la Roche-Bourbon, Mainwaring faces his most daunting assignment yet: to storm
and conquer the vast French naval fortress. Armed with
only a few, poorly armed ships and a small crew of prisoners, he braves brutal and vengeful attacks and bloody
hand-to-hand battles that are a true test of his sharp
strategic acumen, his valiant swashbuckling skills, and,
ultimately, his drive to defend the British flag against an
unthinkable naval disaster.
Sea Fiction
Available Now
Available Now
Men of Promise
Two If By Sea
by Chris Fasolino
by William H. Northacker
(Dog Ear Publishing, $14.95, U.S. Trade Paperback /
$2.99, Kindle and NOOK) Captain Bowman West of
the Royal Navy loves the ocean, but he is weary of warfare. Now, he wants to be an explorer, sailing to the
edge of the map and discovering new lands. Thanks to
an old friend at the Admiralty, West is given command
of the frigate HMS Promise, and sent on a mission of
exploration to the South China Sea. There, he hopes to
find treasure which will allow him to buy the ship, giving him the freedom to chart his own course for future
voyages. But the mission is full of peril. The fabled challenges of navigating these exotic waters – including
treacherous coral reefs and a blistering typhoon – all
confront West and his ship. Furthermore, this is the
domain of pirates. Captain West finds that all his courage and resourcefulness will be needed upon this voyage
of discovery.
(CreateSpace, $16.95, U.S. Trade Paperback / $4.95,
Kindle) During the height of the Cold War, United
States Navy Commander Lee McKay’s personal fight
against the Soviet Union begins off the Libyan coast in
the midst of a treacherous Mediterranean Sea winter
storm, with the flagship of a Soviet cruiser-destroyer
group intentionally ramming his partially disabled frigate. When two determined forces collide, righteous
honor and dogged persistence seek to overcome the lies
and combat born of evil. Cold War veterans, historians,
and fiction fans who like a combination of action at sea,
military intelligence, and spy dramas will enjoy Two If
By Sea. Contains six Ocean Navigation Charts and
twelve Cold War photographs of the aircraft and ships
mentioned in the book.
Sea Fiction
The William Bentley Novels
by Jan Needle
1 - A Fine Boy for Killing
(McBooks Press, $17.95, US trade paperback / $3.99, Kindle)
Under sealed orders for a long, arduous voyage, Captain
Daniel Swift dispenses shipboard law with an iron fist to
forge an efficient crew from a ragged group of unwilling, inexperienced “volunteers” – the old men, criminals, and
young boys under his command. Center stage is Swift’s
nephew, Midshipman William Bentley. Trapped between his
cruel uncle’s demands to impress and subdue a crew and a
simmering mutiny, Bentley takes steps both toward and away
from his own evolving morality.
3 - The Spithead Nymph
Midshipman William Bentley awaits trial on charges of treason – until he is offered the chance to avoid prison by serving
as first lieutenant to Richard Kaye, now captain of Will’s old
ship, HMS Biter. Will accepts and begins a harrowing journey to Jamaica, unaware that the woman he loves has been
sold as an indentured servant to a depraved Jamaican planter.
The brutality of Will’s shipboard companions further hardens him to navy life, but nothing can prepare him for the
inhumanity that fuels the slave trade.
2 - The Wicked Trade
Young William Bentley, survivor of the bloody Welfare mutiny, reluctantly resumes his naval career as an officer on the
press tender Biter. Bentley’s service in the London River –
surrounded by corruption and greed – teaches him new lessons about the darker side of city life. When Biter is reassigned to combat the “wicked trade” of smuggling, Bentley is
caught up in the investigation of the murder of two customs
officers.
4 - Undertaker’s Wind
(Broadsides Press, $19.95, U.S. Hardback / $3.99, Kindle) Jan
Needle’s fourth Sea Officer William Bentley naval adventure
finds the young lieutenant in the Bahamas. With the Biter
sunk beneath the Caribbean waves, along with Captain
“Slack Dickie” Kaye’s corrupted dream of riches, Will Bentley is forced deeper into the world of Jamaican politics. Although he brilliantly cuts out a mysterious French brig, his
hopes of recovering his lost honor with a triumphant return
to Port Royal are blighted by the news that Deb Tomelty –
his beloved “Spithead Nymph” – has been held responsible
for the death of a leading planter.
McBooks Press offers all titles on its website at 30% off list prices:
Sea Fiction Classics
The Percival Merewether Novels
by Ellis K. Meacham
The Naval Service of the Honorable East India Company, popularly known as the Bombay Marine, operated in romantic areas in
perilous times. From the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea, from Calcutta to Canton, the Company ships were famous for their
speed and daring. The “Bombay Buccaneers” who sailed them were the stuff of legend. Ellis K. Meacham (1913-1998) was a Commander in the US Naval Reserve serving as a gunnery officer in the Pacific during the Second World War. He was an attorney in
Chattanooga from 1937 to 1972, when he became a judge in the Chattanooga Municipal Court. He won the Friends of American
Writers Major Award in Fiction in 1969 for The East Indiaman.
1 - The East Indiaman
(Thunderchild Publishing, $2.99, Kindle and NOOK) For
Percival Merewether, 1806 would be a year to remember.
For in January of that year he was promoted from First Lieutenant to become the junior Captain in the Company’s Service and given the command of his first ship, the Rapid,
which was a match for any pirate ship that crossed its bows.
Armed with quick wits, daring and ambition, Merewether
was about to spend an action-packed and eventful year, facing mutinies, diplomatic intrigues and skirmishes with the
French.
2 - On the Company’s Service
(Thunderchild Publishing, $2.99, Kindle and NOOK) Percival
Merewether is appointed Commodore of the Bengal Squadron, which engages and captures four French ships. From
Mauritius to Teheran, from the Bay of Bengal towards Australia – weathering fierce naval battles, skirmishes with pirate
fleets, and equally hazardous engagements ashore –
Merewether and Rapid’s crew set sail in a rousing tale that
offers much pleasure to those who enjoy a rattling good sea
yarn.
3 - For King and Company
(Thunderchild Publishing, $2.99, Kindle and NOOK) Those
who sailed for the Honorable East India Company called
themselves the Bombay Buccaneers, and under that flamboyant name they blazed a trail of daring and adventure from
the Gulf of Oman to the waters of Macao. Newly in command of the thirty-six gun frigate Pitt, Percival Merewether
embarks on a voyage that plunges him and his crew into new
and ever more hazardous trials: a mutiny, a fierce-fought sea
battle with the French, and a stormy encounter with the
most ferocious pirate ever to hoist a flag, Madame Chin,
scourge of the China Seas.
Historical Fiction
Available Now
Available Now
Britannia
The King’s Assassin
by Simon Scarrow
by Angus Donald
(Headline, ₤18.99, UK Hardback) This is Eagles of the
Empire #14. Roman Britain, AD 52. The western
tribes, inspired by the Druids’ hatred of the Romans,
prepare to make a stand. But can they match the discipline and courage of the legionnares? Wounded during
a skirmish, Centurion Macro remains behind in charge
of the fort as Centurion Cato leads an invasion deep
into the hills. Cato’s mission: to cement Rome’s triumph over the natives by crushing the Druid stronghold. But with winter drawing in, the terrain is barely
passable through icy rain and snowstorms. When Macro’s patrols report that the natives in the vicinity of the
garrison are thinning out, a terrible suspicion takes
shape in the battle-scarred soldier’s mind. Has the acting Governor, Legate Quintatus, underestimated the
enemy, his military judgement undermined by ambition? If there is a sophisticated and deadly plan afoot,
it’s Cato and his men who will pay the price. Includes
maps and charts.
(Sphere, £19.99, UK Hardback) AD 1215: The year of
Magna Carta and and Robin Hood’s greatest battle.
King John is scheming to reclaim his ancestral lands in
Europe, raising the money for new armies by bleeding
dry peasants and nobles alike, not least the Earl of Locksley – the former outlaw Robin Hood – and his loyal
man Sir Alan Dale. As rebellion brews across the country and Robin Hood and his men are dragged into the
war against the French in Flanders, a plan is hatched
that will bring the former outlaws and their families to
the brink of catastrophe – a plan to kill the King. England explodes into bloody civil war and Alan and Robin
must decide who to trust and who to slaughter. And
while Magna Carta might be the answer to their prayers
for peace, first they will have to force the King to submit to the will of his people.
Historical Fiction
Available Now
Available Now
The Lightning Stones
The Assassination Option
by Jack Du Brul
by W.E.B. Griffin and William E. Butterworth IV
(Doubleday, $25.95, U.S. Hardback / $9.99, Kindle and
NOOK) What was Amelia Earhart carrying on her final
flight? The adventure begins two thousand feet beneath
the surface of the Earth when Philip Mercer, a preeminent geologist, arrives in Minnesota to visit his old
friend and mentor, Abraham Jacobs, who is leading a
groundbreaking study on climate change. But as Mercer
approaches, automatic gunfire erupts. Abe Jacobs and
his research team have been brutally attacked, leaving
Mercer to seek not only answers but revenge. Mercer
immediately retraces Jacobs’s tracks. Staying one step
ahead of highly trained assassins, Mercer follows a trail
that leads from a harrowing close call in the Midwest to
a nail-biting showdown in the rugged mountains of Afghanistan to a remote island in the the Pacific. At stake
is an extraordinary scientific discovery that could alter
the planet, centered on a cache of rare crystals called
lightning stones rumored to have been aboard Amelia
Earhart’s plane when it vanished in 1937.
(G.P. Putnam’s and Sons, $9.99, U.S. Hardback /
$14.99, Kindle and Nook) This is the second adventure
in the brand-new Clandestine Operations series about
the Cold War, the fledgling Central Intelligence Agency
and a new breed of warrior. James Cronley thought he
had done well—he didn’t know he’d done this well. His
first successful mission for the about-to-be-official new
Central Intelligence Directorate has drawn all kinds of
attention, some welcome, some not. On the plus side,
he’s now a captain in charge of a top secret spy operation. On the minus side, a lot of people would like to
know about that operation, including not only the Soviets, but his own Pentagon, and a seething J. Edgar
Hoover. Cronley knows that if just one thing goes
wrong, he’s likely to get thrown to the wolves. As if that
weren’t enough pressure, complications are springing up
on all sides. He’s discovered a surprising alliance between the former German intelligence chief and, of all
things, the Mossad.
Sea History
January
Now Available
Seamanship in the Age of Sail
French Warships in
the Age of Sail 1786 - 1862
by John Harland
(Naval Institute Press, $69.95, U.S. Hardback) Numerous successful reprints of contemporary works on rigging and seamanship indicate the breadth of interest in
the lost art of handling square-rigged ships. Model makers, marine painters, and enthusiasts need to know not
only how the ships were rigged, but how much sail was
set in each condition of wind and sea, how the various
maneuvers were carried out, and the intricacies of operations like reefing sails or “catting” an anchor. John
Harland has provided what is undeniably the most thorough book on handling square-rigged ships. Because of
his facility in a remarkable range of languages, Harland
has been able to study virtually every manual published
over the past four centuries on the subject. As a result,
he is able to present for the first time a proper historical
development of seamanship among the major navies of
the world.
by Rif Winfield and Stephen S. Roberts
(Naval Institute Press, $76.95, U.S. Hardback) In 1786
the French navy had just emerged from its most successful war of the eighteenth century, and the reputation of
its ship design and fighting skills never stood higher.
Though the effects of the French Revolution would
devastate the navy’s efficiency, the French would go on
to produce some of the most advanced, innovative ships
of the age. This book contains an abundance of information on the construction and careers of each of these
marvelous ships. The result of such detail is the first
concise, clear resource on the development of French
warships in the latter half of the sailing era.
Sea History
Now Available
Now Available
The Illustrated Edition
Sailing Alone Around the World
The Complete Illustrated Edition
Wreck of the Whale Ship Essex
by Joshua Slocum
by Owen Chase
(Zenith Press, $35.00, U.S. Hardback) This the first illustrated edition of the classic sailing memoir by Joshua
Slocum, the first man to circumnavigate the globe alone
aboard his sloop, Spray. The book was an immediate
success when it was first published in 1900. Slocum was
a highly experienced navigator and ship owner. He rebuilt and refitted the derelict sloop Spray in a seaside
pasture in Fairhaven, Massachusetts. Between April 24,
1895, and June 27, 1898, Slocum sailed 46,000 miles
aboard Spray. This new edition is filled with art, photographs, maps, artifacts, and period illustrations. Included in this edition are excerpts from those who, inspired
by Slocum, also circumnavigated the globe, as well as
other well-known sailors, sailing enthusiasts, and sailing
writers such as Henry Dana, Geoffrey Wolff, William
F. Buckley, and Nathaniel Philbrick.
(Zenith Press, $35.00, U.S. Hardback / $2.99, Kindle /
$13.49, NOOK) Read Owen Chase’s memoir which
inspired Moby-Dick and In the Heart of the Sea, the major motion picture from Ron Howard, which was released in December. Chase was the first mate on the
ill-fated American whaling ship Essex, which was attacked and sunk by a sperm whale in the southern Pacific Ocean in 1820. The crew spent months at sea in
leaking boats and endured the blazing sun, attacks by
killer whales, and lack of food. The men were forced to
resort to cannibalism before the final eight survivors
were rescued. Filled with art, photographs, maps, and
artifacts, this is a richly illustrated edition of Chase’s
memoir, augmented with memoirs of other participants,
as well as the perspectives of historians, contemporary
and modern.
Sea History
Available Now
Available Now
Victory
The Sea & Civilization
by Iain Ballantyne and Jonathan Eastland
by Lincoln Paine
(Pen and Sword, $24.95, UK Paperback) There is no
more illustrious warship name in British naval history
than HMS Victory, which is inextricably linked with
Admiral Lord Nelson and the Battle of Trafalgar. In
1805 the most famous Victory was the scene of Nelson’s
greatest triumph and also his death. She is today preserved at Portsmouth as the oldest commissioned warship in the world. Less well known is that six previous
warships also carried the name. The first Victory was Sir
John Hawkins’ flagship during the Battle of the Armada
in 1588 while the loss of the sixth in 1744 was considered a national tragedy. All manner of maritime life is
included in this book, from piracy in the Azores to gentlemanly encounters between fleets and the battle of
annihilation that was Trafalgar. The full horror, majesty
and thunder of naval strategy and warfare in the age of
fighting sail are all revealed via first-hand accounts of
the action and key events. The post-Trafalgar career of
Victory is also studied.
(Vintage, $23.00, UK Paperback / $16.99, Kindle and
NOOK) A monumental retelling of world history
through the lens of the sea – revealing in breathtaking
depth how people first came into contact with one another by ocean and river, lake and stream, and how
goods, languages, religions, and entire cultures spread
across and along the world’s waterways, bringing together civilizations and defining what makes us most
human. The Sea and Civilization is a mesmerizing,
rhapsodic narrative of maritime enterprise, from the
origins of long-distance migration to the great seafaring
cultures of antiquity; from Song Dynasty human-powered paddle-boats to aircraft carriers and container
ships. Lincoln Paine takes the reader on an intellectual
adventure casting the world in a new light, in which the
sea reigns supreme. Above all, Paine makes clear how
the rise and fall of civilizations can be linked to the sea.
The Sea and Civilization is a stunning work of history.
Sea History
Available Now
Available Now
The Ship that Wouldn’t Die
The Unseen Lusitania
by Don Keith
by Eric Sauder
(NAL, $27.95, U.S. Hardback / $14.99, Kindle and
NOOK) In May 1942, Admiral Jack Fletcher’s Task
Force 17 closed in for the war’s first major clash with
the Japanese Navy. The Neosho, a vitally important
tanker capable of holding more than 140,000 barrels of
fuel, was ordered away from the impending battle. Minimally armed, she was escorted by a destroyer, the Sims.
As the Battle of the Coral Sea raged two hundred miles
away, the ships were attacked by Japanese dive bombers.
Both crews fought valiantly, but when the smoke
cleared, the Sims had slipped beneath the waves, and the
Neosho was ablaze and listing badly, severely damaged.
It was the beginning of a hellish four-day ordeal as the
crew struggled to stay alive and keep their ship afloat,
while almost two hundred men in life rafts drifted away
without water, food, or shelter. Only four of them
would survive to be rescued after nine days. An acclaimed naval historian, Don Keith tells one of the most
inspiring sea stories of World War II.
(The History Press, $29.95, UK Hardback) Lost to a
German torpedo on May 7, 1915, Cunard’s RMS Lusitania captured the world’s imagination when she entered service in 1907. Not only was she was the largest,
fastest ship in the world, she was revolutionary in design. Also a record breaker, Lusitania is now sadly remembered for her tragic loss, when she was hit by a
U-boat torpedo on May 7, 1915, sinking in eighteen
minutes with the loss of 1,198 souls. Through neverbefore-seen material, Eric Sauder brings RMS Lusitania
to life once again. With vivid, unseen photographs and
postcards from his extensive private collection, this absorbing read will transport the reader back one-hundred
years to a time when opulent ships of state were the only way to cross the Atlantic.
Sea History
January
Available Now
The Big E
Stay the Rising Sun
by Edward P. Stafford
by Phil Keith
(Naval Institute Press, $75.00) A lasting tribute to the
USS Enterprise, this heavily illustrated, new edition tells
the classic tale of the carrier that contributed more than
any other warship to the naval victory in the Pacific.
The original book, published in 1962, has remained one
of the most celebrated World War II stories for more
than four decades. The Big E participated in nearly every major engagement of the war against Japan and
earned a total of twenty battle stars. The Doolittle Raid,
the Battles of Midway, Santa Cruz, Guadalcanal, the
Philippine Sea, Leyte Gulf, and the invasions of Iwo
Jima and Okinawa are all faithfully recorded from the
viewpoint of the men who served her so well. This superb study of a great ship, her crew, and the action they
saw has been called one of the finest pieces of naval
writing to emerge from the war. Author Edward
Stafford mined genuine nuggets from the mountain of
research and lengthy interviews he conducted to write
this book.
(Zenith Press, $30.00 / $14.99, Kindle and Nook) In
May 1942, the United States’ first naval victory against
the Japanese in the Coral Sea was marred by the loss of
the aircraft carrier USS Lexington. Another carrier was
nearly ready for launch when the news arrived, so the
navy changed her name to Lexington, confusing the Japanese. The men of the original “Lady Lex” loved their
ship and fought hard to protect her. They were also
seeking revenge for the losses sustained at Pearl Harbor.
Crippling attacks by the Japanese left her on fire and
dead in the water. A remarkable 90 percent of the crew
made it off the burning decks before Lexington had to
be abandoned. Lexington’s legacy did not end with her
demise, however. Although the battle was deemed a tactical success for the Japanese, it turned out to be a strategic loss: For the first time in the war, a Japanese
invasion force was forced to retreat. The lessons learned
at Coral Sea impacted tactics, air wing operations, damage control, and ship construction.
Collectible Books
condition is also very important. Marks, creases, and
tears greatly reduce the value of a book or card.
What about autographs? An author’s autograph
nearly always increases the value of a book and a player’s
signature usually, but not always, makes a baseball card
more valuable.
While scanning book listings on that excellent book
source of used books from many book dealers,
www.abebooks.com, I came across a C. Northcote Parkinson novel that was not only an autographed first edition, but was much more scarce that that! It was a
unique copy of Dead Reckoning, the sixth and final book
in Parkinson’s Richard Delancey novels.
Why do I feel free to call this book “unique”? I use
that adjective correctly because it was described by the
dealer as the dedication copy. A dedication copy is the
autographed copy given by the author of a book to the
specific person or persons to whom the book is dedicat-
ed in the text of the book—often on the page following
the title page.
Look at the lengthy inscription on the title page by
C. Northcote Parkinson. Surely this is the dedication
copy for “Christopher and Mary” mentioned on page 4.
In addition to www.abebooks.com, amazon.com
and ebay.com have also become good sources for used
books. When you find yourself replacing your “reading
copies” with first editions or when you lust after a dedication copy, be careful. You may be descending that
slippery slope from book reader to book collector!
If you are interested in purchasing the dedication
copy of Dead Reckoning, please email Alex Skutt at
alex@mcbooks.com.
By George!
tion of Jaws, his first novel, Benchley wrote, “Like millions of other children, I developed, early on, a
fascination with sharks. Because I spent my summers on
Nantucket . . . I was able to indulge my passion on a
regular and continuing basis. In the 1940s and ’50s the
waters around Nantucket were rich in wildlife, including sharks of many species . . .”
By the time we disembarked from the great cranberry
van in front of the local post office, we had our bearings
and a much better sense of the island’s geography and
history, as related by Gail. We were now on our own. I
was interested in the island’s literary legacy.
Nantucket’s permanent population numbers about
11,000, but during the summer it swells to nearly
50,000 souls. Surprisingly, there are two independent
bookshops catering to the literary and information
needs of the community.
Mitchell’s Book Corner on Main Street in Nantucket
Town’s historic district is a reminder of the independent bookshops that were common across America in
the not-so-distant past, but sadly have disappeared with
the arrival of online emporiums and brick-and-mortar
chains.
Mitchell’s was a daily stop on our treks about the
town. The shop, which features comfortable seating for
reading, carries a broad selection of books. The back
room is devoted primarily to books about Nantucket,
Martha’s Vineyard and Cape Cod. It was here that I
spent most of my time browsing and adding to our
home library.
A second independent bookseller, Nantucket Bookworks, was undergoing a renovation during our stay,
but has since reopened.
There was a time when our local independent shop,
John Rollins Bookseller, was a destination most evenings, where John encouraged browsing and reading.
On most nights, one could expect to find friends, the
usual suspects, discussing favorite authors and titles.
Mitchell’s rekindled these memories.
My initial exposure to Nantucket was through reading Moby-Dick by Herman Melville. At that time, I
didn’t know that he had not set foot on the island until
a year or so after the novel was published. Nonetheless,
those early words in Chapter 14 stuck with me: “Nantucket! Take out your map and look at it . . . How it
stands there, away off shore more lonely than the Eddystone lighthouse.”
With spring some months away, I have returned to
Moby-Dick, reading a few chapters each evening. I
picked up a new edition in Mitchell’s. It rests on my
reading table. I’ve also returned to Nat Philbrick’s Why
Read Moby-Dick?, which is a delightful companion volume.
The island has been home to authors for years.
Philbrick, author of In the Heart of the Sea, writes and
resides there with his wife. Notable local novelists include Nancy Thayer, Elin Hilderbrand, Nan Rossiter,
and Leslie Linsley. Thayer, Hilderbrand and Rossiter
write romantic fiction, which is often set on the island.
Linsley wrote the text for Nantucket Cottages & Gardens,
which was beautifully photographed by Nantucketer
Terry Pommett.
Strolling along the cobbled streets, with red-brick
sidewalks, we met some wonderful people. One morning while taking in the beautiful historic homes on
Main Street, we came on a large, robust gentleman
wearing a baseball cap, who was accompanied by a
friendly Golden Retriever named Bear. It turned out
that Bear was walking Tom, who told us his furry pal
was the “Mayor of Nantucket.”
Tom, now in early eighties, was a recent widower. It
turned out that he had played football at the University
of Wisconsin in the 1950s and was familiar with our
part of the world. Each morning, Bear would lead him
toward the town center, where the pair would hold
court on a street corner. Passersby would stop to visit
with Tom and pet Bear. It was a reminder of another
slower era in America, when people actually took time
to relax and chat without a cell phone in their hand.
Winter has now settled in, with wind-blown snow
swirling and drifting around our home. It’s a time to
reflect by the fireside with a good book. Out on Nantucket, folks revel in the natural beauty, quiet and peace
that autumn and winter bring, when those from away
depart and the island is returned to its inhabitants.
George Jepson
© Geoffrey Huband
Marine Art – Geoffrey Huband
“The Rendezvous” by Geoffrey Huband, ARSMA
A British naval cutter (right) and a Third Rate 74 meet on blockade duty off the French coast.
E
Photo by George D. Jepson
nglish marine artist Geoffrey Huband exhibited “The Rendezvous” at the Royal Society of Marine
Artists (RSMA) Annual Exhibition at
the Mall Galleries in central London
in October.
This Open Exhibition is widely
recognized as a showcase for the best
in contemporary marine art by RSMA
members, as well as non-members.
Classic Boat magazine selected Hu-
band’s painting as one of the six best
in the exhibition. The “6 of the best”
were featured in the publication’s December 2015 issue.
Huband has created cover art for
every title in the Richard Bolitho naval series by Alexander Kent, which is
published by McBooks Press. His
work is also featured on the covers of
the McBooks Press editions of the
Douglas Reeman novels.
Geoffrey Huband

here - McBooks Press

Transcription

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