Nautical History: Shipping Books That Capture Life At Sea

by Bill Lindsay
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5 books
These five books are a mixture of fiction and true life. The thing that they have in common is that they are easy to read, full of facts, and capture what life at sea was really like. All of them are page turners.
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Sailor of Liberty

'Rivals the immortal Patrick O'Brian' Angus Donald
J. D. Davies, 2023
So many maritime books focus on the Nelson days from the British points of view. Unlike the others, this one focuses on naval fiction from the French point of view. It works very well and brings to the fore a new hero, Phillippe Kermorvant, son of an English aristocrat and a French nobleman in the days of the infant French Republic.

The Wager

David Grann, 2023
This is a blockbuster which has already captured the attention of critics and readers alike. Unputdownable it is the true story of HMS Wager, one of a group of ships sent out to capture Spanish gold in the mid-18th century. Wrecked on the other side of the world, the survivors struggle to return to British waters across 3000 miles. Mutiny, murder, hardships abound.

Madhouse at the End of the Earth

The Belgica's Journey into the Dark Antarctic Night
Julian Sancton, 2022
A true-life horror story of a Belgian ship sailing in the hope of reaching Antarctica in 1897. What follows is a story of survival and madness on the ship stuck fast on the ice. The characters and events are brought to life in this classic tale.

Voyages of Hope

The Saga of the Bride-Ships
Peter Johnson, 2011
The story of women emigrating to the west coast of Canada following the Gold rush in the mid-19th century. The surplus of men meant that there was an acute absence of women. Enterprising philanthropists in England were determined to assist the colony. The harrowing journey across the Atlantic is vividly brought to life.

William Schaw Lindsay

Victorian Entrepreneur
Bill Lindsay, 2023
A true story of a penniless orphan boy who became a shipping magnate in Victorian days. He ran away to sea as a cabin boy to become a captain of an oceangoing sailing ship, encountering many near death experiences. He set up a shipbrokers company in London and in the mid-1850s owned one of the largest shipping companies in Britain. He became an MP and was heavily involved in the Crimean and American Civil Wars. The book includes many anecdotes of famous people of the time including Brunel, Nightingale, Queen Victoria, Dickens, and many others.