The 10th International Symposium on Boat and Ship Archaeology was held in Roskilde, Denmark in 2003. The theme of the meeting was "Connected by the Sea", and was designed to emphasize the role of the sea, seafaring and watercraft as bridges rather than barriers. Maritime archaeology tends to take place within national borders, with a national focus, yet the very premise of seafaring is the desire to travel beyond the horizon to establish contact with other places and cultures. The conferen...

"Variably genial, cautionary, lyrical, admonitory, terrifying, horrifying and inspiring…A lifetime of thought, travel, reading, imagination and memory inform this affecting account." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)Blending history and anecdote, geography and reminiscence, science and exposition, New York Times bestselling author Simon Winchester tells the breathtaking saga of the Atlantic Ocean in a masterful work of narrative nonfiction. A gifted storyteller and...

In 1795 three boys discovered the top of an ancient shaft on uninhabited Oak Island in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia. The boys began to dig, and what they uncovered started the world's greatest and strangest treasure hunt but nobody knows what the treasure is. Two hundred years of courage, back-breaking effort, ingenuity, and engineering skills have failed to retrieve what is concealed there.Theories of what the treasure could be include Captain Kidd's bloodstained pirate gold, an army p...

A guide to the British Royal Navy in the Napoleonic Age for fans of the Aubrey–Maturin series: "A gem of a book" ( Minneapolis Star Tribune).What is a sand-grouse, and where does it live? What are the medical properties of lignum vitae, and how did Stephen Maturin use it to repair his viola? Who is Admiral Lord Keith, and why is his wife so friendly with Captain Jack Aubrey?More than any other contemporary author, Patrick O'Brian knew the ...

The gripping, marvel-filled account of how a native son took a casual walk up a mountain on Cape Breton Island and made an archeological discovery of world-shaking proportions.In the summer of 2002, at home for his parents’ fiftieth wedding anniversary, Paul Chiasson decided to climb a mountain he had never explored on the island where eight generations of his Acadian family had lived. Cape Breton is one of the oldest points of exploration and settlement in the Americas, with a his...

This is a book of days and moments spent sailing on the east coast of Newfoundland and over the Atlantic to the Azores. Newfoundland is a beautiful cruising ground, one of the best in the world for a short period of the year in July and August, perhaps from late June. Optimistically and romantically, the Bay of Exploits has been called the Caribbean of the north. Many cruising days in summer start from calm in the morning, develop into a strong wind in the afternoon, sometimes as much as 2...

The Viking reputation is of bloodthirsty seafaring warriors, repeatedly plundering the British Isles and the North Atlantic throughout the early Middle Ages. Yet Vikings were also traders, settlers, and farmers, with a complex artistic and linguistic culture, whose expansion overseas led them to cross the Atlantic for the first time in European history. Highlighting the latest archaeological evidence, Julian Richards reveals the whole Viking world: their history, society and culture, and t...

An illuminating look at the monumental inventions of the Middle Ages, by the authors of Life in a Medieval Castle.

Saturnine and quick-tempered, the formidable North Sea is often overlooked – even by those living within a stone's throw of its steel-grey waters. But as playground, theatre of war and cultural crossing-point, it has shaped the world in myriad ways, forged villains and heroes, and determined the fates of nations.It's not all grim, though: the seaside holiday was born on North Sea beaches, and artists, poets and writers have been as equally inspired by glinting sun on the wave-tops ...

Why will a sailor never go to sea on Friday 13th?Why are boats always referred to as 'she'?How do you navigate the ocean without a compass?Does the Bermuda Triangle really exist?Why do sailors wear earrings?Did Blackbeard actually exist?Did Nelson really say 'Kiss me, Hardy'?What's the correct way to bury a body at sea?Why is a rope never called a rope?This fascinating collection of maritime folklore and trivia delves into the...

2017 Robbie Robertson Dartmouth Book Award — ShortlistedPaul Chiasson reveals the possibility that early Chinese settlers landed in Cape Breton long before Europeans.From the very beginning of the European Age of Discovery, Cape Breton was considered unusual. The history of the area even includes early references to the island having once been the land of the Chinese. In 1497, at least a century before any attempt at European settlement in the regio...

Filling a gap in the literature for an academically oriented volume on the Viking period, this unique book is a one-stop authoritative introduction to all the latest research in the field.Bringing together today’s leading scholars, both established seniors and younger, cutting-edge academics, Stefan Brink and Neil Price have constructed the first single work to gather innovative research from a spectrum of disciplines (including archaeology, history, philology, comparative religion...