Naval category: 2015 books

The Barbary pirates came from the four North African countries of Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli — known as the Barbary States.  What began as Mohammedans making war on Christians, turned into centuries of raids on merchant vessels, and forced slavery. Only a year after America and England...

Tracing an awe-inspiring oceanic route from Boston, around Cape Horn, to the California coast, Two Years Before the Mast is both a riveting story of adventure and the most eloquent, insightful account we have of life at sea in the early nineteenth century. Richard Henry Dana is only nineteen when...

The Clipper Ship Era is a fascinating book about American and British Clipper ships in the 19th century.

Over the years there have been so many books published on both the existence and the history of Cutty Sark, that one may wonder if there is anything new to be added. In this ebook no attempt has been made to add anything new; its object is merely to create a more vivid impression of an historic event...

In the first-ever Seven Seas history of the world's female buccaneers, Pirate Women: The Princesses, Prostitutes, and Privateers Who Ruled the Seven Seas tells the story of women, both real and legendary, who through the ages sailed alongside—and sometimes in command of—their male counterparts....

A gripping tale of heroism and doomon the high seas . . . The sinking of the German battleship Bismarcka masterpiece of engineering well-armored with a main artillery of eight 15-inch gunswas one of the most dramatic events of World War II. She left the port of Gotenhafen for her first operation on...

Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521), the first to circumnavigate the globe, sailed on behalf of the Spanish monarch from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, and discovered the straights that now bear his name and the Philippines. “Magellan is written in a tone of astonished...

Attack aircraft carriers, battleships, destroyers, frigates, light and heavy cruisers, and patrol crafts. 1,300 different ships and submarines from WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and the Gulf War have their crests displayed in brilliant full color. This book is an encyclopedia, preserving the emblems that...

The elite navy pilot and author of Topgun Days tells the thrilling story of his struggle to become one of the best to ever take the skies. An instructor in the navy’s Topgun Program, Dave “Bio” Baranek had always dreamed of becoming a jet fighter. After graduating from college, he joined...

The Senior Service has, for 100 years, had submarines. Originally thought to be un-English, submarines helped the British win two world wars and have played a great part in Britain’s nuclear deterrence program. Submariners are a breed apart, according to themselves. Here is a collection of stories from the men involved in the submarine service.

An officer in the US Merchant Marine from World War II to the Korean War, Jack Beritzhoff sailed from the South Pacific to Casablanca to Kuwait to Liverpool to Pusan... and back. Sail Away follows him from port to port, around the globe to five continents, discovering friendship and heroism (as well...

An unconventional and engaging take on Caribbean history After a life-changing diagnosis, Dutch entrepreneur Jacob Gelt Dekker decides to take a step into the unknown. Setting sail from his home in Key West, he embarks on an odyssey around the Caribbean islands, navigating treacherous waters...

Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell | Includes Analysis   Preview of this Instaread: Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of Seal Team 10 by Marcus Luttrell with Patrick Robinson is a gritty and compelling narrative that recounts what happened...

Summary of Dead Wake by Erik Larson | Includes Analysis    Preview: Dead Wake by Erik Larson is a non-fiction account of the German Unterseeboot, or U-boat, sinking of Lusitania, a British merchant vessel belonging to Cunard Line, on May 7, 1915 and its aftermath. On...