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Author: Bella Bathurst Publisher: HMH ISBN: 0544301617 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 372
Book Description
An “entertaining” historical investigation into the scavengers who have profited off the spoils of maritime disasters (The Washington Post). Even today, Britain’s coastline remains a dangerous place. It is an island soaked by four separate seas, with shifting sand banks to the east, veiled reefs to the west, powerful currents above, and the world’s busiest shipping channel below. The country’s offshore waters are strewn with shipwrecks—and for villagers scratching out an existence along Britain’s shores, those wrecks have been more than simply an act of God; in many cases, they have been the difference between living well and just getting by. Though Daphne du Maurier and Poldark have made Cornwall famous as Britain’s most notorious region for wrecking, many other coastal communities regarded the “sea’s bounty” as a way of providing themselves with everything from grapefruits to grand pianos. Some plunderers were held to be so skilled that they could strip a ship from stem to stern before the Coast Guard had even left port. Some were rumored to lure ships onto the rocks with false lights, and some simply waited for winter gales to do their work. This book uncovers tales of ships and shipwreck victims—from shoreline orgies so Dionysian that few participants survived the morning to humble homes fitted with silver candelabra, from coastlines rigged like stage sets to villages where everyone owns identical tennis shoes. Spanning three hundred years of history, The Wreckers examines the myths, realities, and superstitions of shipwrecks and uncovers the darker side of life on Britain’s shores. “Bathurst, who won a Somerset Maugham Award for The Lighthouse Stevensons, offers a spellbinding tale of seafaring men, their ships and the ocean that cares for neither.” —Publishers Weekly “A fascinating, haunting account of pillagers, plunderers, and pirates.” —John Burnett, author of Dangerous Waters: Modern Piracy and Terror on the High Seas
Author: Bella Bathurst Publisher: HMH ISBN: 0544301617 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 372
Book Description
An “entertaining” historical investigation into the scavengers who have profited off the spoils of maritime disasters (The Washington Post). Even today, Britain’s coastline remains a dangerous place. It is an island soaked by four separate seas, with shifting sand banks to the east, veiled reefs to the west, powerful currents above, and the world’s busiest shipping channel below. The country’s offshore waters are strewn with shipwrecks—and for villagers scratching out an existence along Britain’s shores, those wrecks have been more than simply an act of God; in many cases, they have been the difference between living well and just getting by. Though Daphne du Maurier and Poldark have made Cornwall famous as Britain’s most notorious region for wrecking, many other coastal communities regarded the “sea’s bounty” as a way of providing themselves with everything from grapefruits to grand pianos. Some plunderers were held to be so skilled that they could strip a ship from stem to stern before the Coast Guard had even left port. Some were rumored to lure ships onto the rocks with false lights, and some simply waited for winter gales to do their work. This book uncovers tales of ships and shipwreck victims—from shoreline orgies so Dionysian that few participants survived the morning to humble homes fitted with silver candelabra, from coastlines rigged like stage sets to villages where everyone owns identical tennis shoes. Spanning three hundred years of history, The Wreckers examines the myths, realities, and superstitions of shipwrecks and uncovers the darker side of life on Britain’s shores. “Bathurst, who won a Somerset Maugham Award for The Lighthouse Stevensons, offers a spellbinding tale of seafaring men, their ships and the ocean that cares for neither.” —Publishers Weekly “A fascinating, haunting account of pillagers, plunderers, and pirates.” —John Burnett, author of Dangerous Waters: Modern Piracy and Terror on the High Seas
Author: Iain Lawrence Publisher: HarperCollins UK ISBN: 0007135548 Category : Adventure stories Languages : en Pages : 242
Book Description
John Spencer fears he is a sole survivor of a shipwreck along Cornwall's rocky coast but discovers his father is still alive. Can John rescue his father from the murderous wreckers who are holding his Dad prisoner.
Author: John Viele Publisher: Pineapple Press Inc ISBN: 9781561642199 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 260
Book Description
Today, on the Keys between Key West and the mainland, some forty thousand residents and thousands of visitors fish, swim, sail and dive int he crystal clear waters off a tropical reef; relax in the sun adn cooling trade wind breezes; and sleep in the air-conditioned comfort of their homes and hotel rooms. On these same islands, as short a time as eighty years ago, fewer than three hundred inhabitants tried to eke out a living without benefit of electricity, running water, radios, or telephones. The stories of these hard pioneers and their predecessors, as far back as the Native Americans who lived on the Keys at least one thousand years ago, are told, many for the first time, in this book.
Author: Iain Lawrence Publisher: Yearling ISBN: 0440415969 Category : Juvenile Fiction Languages : en Pages : 210
Book Description
"Steer clear of that ship," warns the mysterious gentleman who shares a coach with John and his father. "Death she'll bring you," says the man. "It's the way of a ship that was christened with blood." This is an ominous introduction to the schooner John is about to be entrusted with for a voyage to London. But he's too charmed by the pretty Dragon to heed the advice. The ship looks clever and quick, and John can hardly wait to sail her. She was a smugglers' vessel once, but now she's his Dragon, and she'll proudly carry wool for honest trade. But soon John will be forced to consider the gentleman's warning. And to wonder what he really knows about his bonny crew.
Author: John Viele Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield ISBN: 1561646466 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 205
Book Description
In this third book in a series on the history of the Florida Keys, John Viele tells the true story of the Florida Keys wreckers, the daring seamen who sailed out in fair weather or foul to save lives and property from ships cast up on the unforgiving Florida Reef in the passage south of the Florida Keys, one of the most dangerous in the world, having claimed thousands of ships and lives. In the 1850s, the heyday of the wreckers, ships were piling up on the reef at the rate of nearly one a week. Salvaging these wrecks was a highly competitive and hazardous gamble of the lives, limbs, and vessels of the wreckers against an often elusive gain. From the archives of the federal court at Key West, or “wrecking court," and from contemporary letters, diaries, and newspaper articles, the author has captured the drama of the lives and times of the Florida Keys wreckers with accuracy and clarity. Richly illustrated with drawings from nineteenth-century magazines and newspapers, artists' concepts of wrecking scenes, and reproductions of old paintings and photographs, this book will fascinate sailors and landlubbers alike. See all of the books in this series
Author: Norman Jorgensen Publisher: Fremantle Press ISBN: 1925815463 Category : Juvenile Fiction Languages : en Pages : 220
Book Description
Red Read doesn't set out to find trouble, but trouble sure has a way of findinghim. Expelled from school, he is whisked off by Captain Black Bowen, one ofthe most infamous smugglers ever to ply the coast of northern Australia inthe early years of the twentieth century. Together they battle demon storms,crazed pirates and killer diseases while hunting down a great lost treasure.Non-stop action, adventure and excitement!
Author: Bella Bathurst
Author: Bella Bathurst
Author: Iain Lawrence
Author: John Viele
Author: Iain Lawrence
Author: John Viele
Author: Nick Roche
Author: Ernst Toller
Author: Annie Jenkyns
Author: Norman Jorgensen
Author: Mary Rosa Stuart Kettle