Tasked with destroying as many British merchant ships as possible, German aristocrat Felix von Luckner and his ship the Seeadler succeeded in spectacular fashion.n 1916, a three-masted windjammer bearing Norwegian colours sailed out of a quiet anchorage in Germany, loaded with cargo and apparently bound for Australia. Her true mission was quite different.The ship was, in fact, the SMS Seeadler, commanded by swashbuckling German aristocrat ...

This unique and entertaining travel guide to Greek waters recreates parts of voyages undertaken in myth, anchoring off landmarks or ports associated with ancient legends. It follows the trails of Odysseus, Hercules, and Jason and the Argonauts, as well as visiting the sites where Poseidon lost his trident (off Paxos) and built his temple (on the Saronic Gulf), the cliff where Theseus's father threw himself to his death after fearing his son had been killed by the minotaur, and Troy, the re...

How did a big-game fishing trip rudely interrupted by sharks inspire one of the key scenes in Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea? How did Robert Louis Stevenson's cruise to the cannibal-infested South Sea islands prove instrumental in his writing of The Beach of Falesa and The Ebb Tide? How did Masefield survive Cape Horn and a near-nervous breakdown to write Sea Fever?The waters of this world have swirled through storytelling ever since the Cel...

In the era of commercial sail, clipper ships were the ultimate expression of speed and grace. Racing out to the gold fields of America and Australia, and breaking speed records carrying tea back from China, the ships combined beauty with breathtaking performance.With over 200 gorgeous paintings and illustrations, and thrilling descriptions of the adventures and races on the water, this beautiful book brings the era vividly to life.Chapters include:The origins of the...

After a bout with the measles that left his vision impaired, Harvard undergrad Richard Henry Dana signed up for a two-year engagement as a sailor, thinking that the fresh sea air might improve his vision. The diary that Dana kept during his stint on the open sea formed the basis for this wildly popular memoir, which was later made into a movie. A must-read for fans of rip-roaring nautical tales or social history buffs.

Stranded on the beach with the Nazis closing in, the British army managed one of the most unlikely maneuvers in modern military historyIn May of 1940, the remnants of the French and British armies, broken by Hitler’s blitzkrieg, retreated to Dunkirk. Hemmed in by overwhelming Nazi strength, the 338,000 men who gathered on that beach were all that stood between Hitler and Western Europe. Crush them, and the path to Paris and London was clear. And so, unable to retre...

One of the most remarkable stories in the history of Special Forces' operations - Daily ExpressIn the bleak moments after defeat on mainland Europe in winter 1939, wartime leader Winston Churchill knew that Britain had to strike back hard.He recruited a band of eccentric free-thinking warriors to become the first 'deniable' secret operatives behind enemy lines, offering these volunteers nothing but the potential for glory and all-but-certain death....

Flashman In The Great War" is an adventure story about Willie Flashman, the grandson of General Sir Harry Flashman. Like his grandfather Willie is a charming scoundrel and coward; he first designs and then unwillingly fights in British and German tanks in WWI.

John Masefield's present book 'Gallipoli' was first published in the year 1916. This book is a detailed description of the American Australian war. "A little while ago, during a short visit to America, I was often questioned about the Dardanelles Campaign. People asked me why that attempt had been made, why it had been made in that particular manner, why other courses had not been taken, why this had been done and that either neglected or forgotten, and whether a little more persistence, h...

The remarkable true story.At Scapa Flow on 21 June 1919, there occurred an event unique in naval history. The German High Seas Fleet, one of the most formidable ever built was deliberately sent to the bottom of the sea at the British Grand Fleet's principal anchorage at Orkney by its own officers and men.The Grand Scuttle became a folk legend in both Germany and Britain. However, few people are aware that Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter became the only man in history to sink...

HMAS Sydney's hunt for the German raider, Emden.When the ships of the new Royal Australian Navy made their grand entry into Sydney Harbour in October 1913, a young nation was at peace.Under a year later Australia had gone to war in what was seen as a noble fight for king, country and Empire. Thousands of young men joined up for the adventure of having ‘a crack at the Kaiser’. And indeed the German threat to Australia was real, and very near – in the Pacific...

There are many books on the First World War, but award-winning and bestselling historian Peter Englund takes a daring and stunning new approach. Describing the experiences of twenty ordinary people from around the world, all now unknown, he explores the everyday aspects of war: not only the tragedy and horror, but also the absurdity, monotony and even beauty. Two of these twenty will perish, two will become prisoners of war, two will become celebrated heroes and two others end up as physic...