Joan Druett’s Tupaia – Captain Cook’s Polynesian Navigator : A Review

Joan Druett’s new book, Tupaia – Captain Cook’s Polynesian Navigator, fills an important blank space in the history, as well as the legend, of Captain Cook. On his first voyage to the Pacific in HMS Endeavour, during a stop in … Continue reading

Cockleshell Heroes – The Final Witness, a new book by Quentin Rees

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

After 67 years, the truth of HMS Dasher tragedy is revealed

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

New Biography of Joshua Slocum by Geoffrey Wolff

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

The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks and Giants of the Ocean by Susan Casey, – A Review

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

Did a Steering Error Sink the Titanic?

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

Fire on the Horizon – The Untold Story of the Gulf Oil Disaster, by John Konrad and Tom Shroder

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 Merchandising Begins – Teen Sailor Jessica Watson’s Book and Album

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

Schooner, Building a Wooden Boat on Martha’s Vineyard – A Review

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

Julian Stockwin’s Victory – A Review

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

Battle of Surigao Strait by Anthony P. Tully – a Review

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

Schooner: Building a Wooden Boat on Martha’s Vineyard

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