Sons Of The Waves

A brilliant telling of the history of the common seaman in the age of sail, and his role in Britain’s trade, exploration, and warfare British maritime history in the age of sail is full of the deeds of officers like Nelson but has given little voice to plain, "illiterate" seamen. Now Stephen Taylor draws on published and unpublished memoirs, letters, and naval records, including court-martials and petitions, to present these men in their own words. In this exhilarating account, ordinary seamen are far from the hapless sufferers of the press gangs. Proud and spirited, learned in their own fashion, with robust opinions and the courage to challenge overweening authority, they stand out from their less adventurous compatriots. Taylor demonstrates how the sailor was the engine of British prosperity and expansion up to the Industrial Revolution. From exploring the South Seas with Cook to establishing the East India Company as a global corporation, from the sea battles that made Britain a superpower to the crisis of the 1797 mutinies, these "sons of the waves" held the nation’s destiny in their calloused hands.

"[A] rollicking narrative . . . Superb"--Ben Wilson, Times A brilliant telling of the history of the common seaman in the age of sail, and his role in Britain's trade, exploration, and warfare British maritime history in the age of sail is full of the deeds of officers like Nelson but has given little voice to plain, "illiterate" seamen. Now Stephen Taylor draws on published and unpublished memoirs, letters, and naval records, including court-martials and petitions, to present these men in their own words. In this exhilarating account, ordinary seamen are far from the hapless sufferers of the press gangs. Proud and spirited, learned in their own fashion, with robust opinions and the courage to challenge overweening authority, they stand out from their less adventurous compatriots. Taylor demonstrates how the sailor was the engine of British prosperity and expansion up to the Industrial Revolution. From exploring the South Seas with Cook to establishing the East India Company as a global corporation, from the sea battles that made Britain a superpower to the crisis of the 1797 mutinies, these "sons of the waves" held the nation's destiny in their calloused hands.

A brave, intimate, beautifully crafted memoir by a survivor of the tsunami that struck the Sri Lankan coast in 2004 and took her entire family. On December 26, Boxing Day, Sonali Deraniyagala, her English husband, her parents, her two young sons, and a close friend were ending Christmas vacation at the seaside resort of Yala on the south coast of Sri Lanka when a wave suddenly overtook them. She was only to learn later that this was a tsunami that devastated coastlines through Southeast Asia. When the water began to encroach closer to their hotel, they began to run, but in an instant, water engulfed them, Sonali was separated from her family, and all was lost. Sonali Deraniyagala has written an extraordinarily honest, utterly engrossing account of the surreal tragedy of a devastating event that all at once ended her life as she knew it and her journey since in search of understanding and redemption. It is also a remarkable portrait of a young family's life and what came before, with all the small moments and larger dreams that suddenly and irrevocably ended.

One of "The Most Fascinating Books WIRED Read in 2020" "One part science book, one part historical narrative, one part memoir . . . harrowing and inspiring.”—The Wall Street Journal How a determined scientist cracked the case of the first successful—and disastrous—submarine attack On the night of February 17, 1864, the tiny Confederate submarine HL Hunley made its way toward the USS Housatonic just outside Charleston harbor. Within a matter of hours, the Union ship’s stern was blown open in a spray of wood planks. The explosion sank the ship, killing many of its crew. And the submarine, the first ever to be successful in combat, disappeared without a trace. For 131 years the eight-man crew of the HL Hunley lay in their watery graves, undiscovered. When finally raised, the narrow metal vessel revealed a puzzling sight. There was no indication the blast had breached the hull, and all eight men were still seated at their stations—frozen in time after more than a century. Why did it sink? Why did the men die? Archaeologists and conservationists have been studying the boat and the remains for years, and now one woman has the answers. In the Waves is much more than just a military perspective or a technical account. It’s also the story of Rachel Lance’s single-minded obsession spanning three years, the story of the extreme highs and lows in her quest to find all the puzzle pieces of the Hunley. Balancing a gripping historical tale and original research with a personal story of professional and private obstacles, In the Waves is an enthralling look at a unique part of the Civil War and the lengths one scientist will go to uncover its secrets.

Grab your ol' flip-flops and your sunblock, too, for this fun-in-the-sun story told to the tune of the debut original song by Lennon and Maisy Stella, stars of the hit ABC show Nashville. Head to www.harpercollinschildrens.com/inthewaves to listen and sing along as the girls gather their boogie boards and sip homemade lemonade. With a sweet surprise ending, this story will delight readers young and old, and with photos of the girls from years past, this picture book keepsake is the perfect present for any Lennon and Maisy fan.

An epic history of the Royal Navy, from the Spanish Armada to the present, that tells the story of how it dominated the world and laid the foundation for the modern age. This is the story of an institution in which courage in battle and bravery in death were a byword, from Nelson's death at Trafalgar to Commander Robert Scott's death in the icy wastes of Antarctica. It is also the story of a military force very different from any other, with a cast of individual personalities, from Sir Frances Drake and Captain James Cook to Charles Darwin and Sir Winston Churchill. But above all, the Royal Navy is part of the story of how one nation rose to global dominance without precedent and without equal, even today. But it also facilitated trade and communication with every other part of the planet. Thanks to its navy, the British Empire became the first truly global community, bound together by law, language, and commerce - and by the 'hearts of oak' of British ships and sailors. It created the first balance of power in Europe and helped to free the Continent from a succession of dictators, from Philip II of Spain and Louis XIV of France to Napoleon and Hitler. commerce, and established the bonds that hold together today's world.

First published in 1957, this is a classic monograph in the area of applied mathematics. It offers a connected account of the mathematical theory of wave motion in a liquid with a free surface and subjected to gravitational and other forces, together with applications to a wide variety of concrete physical problems. A never-surpassed text, it remains of permanent value to a wide range of scientists and engineers concerned with problems in fluid mechanics. The four-part treatment begins with a presentation of the derivation of the basic hydrodynamic theory for non-viscous incompressible fluids and a description of the two principal approximate theories that form the basis for the rest of the book. The second section centers on the approximate theory that results from small-amplitude wave motions. A consideration of problems involving waves in shallow water follows, and the text concludes with a selection of problems solved in terms of the exact theory. Despite the diversity of its topics, this text offers a unified, readable, and largely self-contained treatment.