By Dane Anthony Morrison, John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD (2014) Reviewed by Michael A. Verney In True Yankees, Morrison chronicles how voyages in the old China trade and across the Indian and Pacific Oceans between 1783 and 1844 helped define what it meant to be an American, and clarified the nation’s hierarchical relationship with
By Sheila Nickerson, University of Alaska Press, Anchorage (2014) Reviewed by Jan Churchill The North Pole was the ultimate prize. Before aviation, ships could only go so far thanks to polar ice. The best way to travel, with supplies and food, was by dog sledge. However, the British Royal Navy made men, not dogs, haul
By Matthew T. Eng I wanted to be a bit spontaneous yesterday. I decided to skip the throng of crowds in Baltimore’s Bicentennial of the Star-Spangled Banner (Our friends at NHHC had it covered) and spent the day in Winchester, VA. The sleepy, historic town was just over an hour away. It would be the perfect
By Andrew C. A. Jampoler, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, (2013). Reviewed by Mark Lardas The nineteenth century United States Navy exploration efforts included the Exploring Expedition of 1838–1842 that circumnavigated the globe and discovered parts of Antarctica and the 1848-49 hydrographic expedition charting the Dead Sea. Both were notable successes. On the other end
By David Childs, Seaforth Publishing, South Yorkshire, UK, (2012). Reviewed by Thomas Sheppard The arrival of British settlers in the so-called “New World” has been characterized at various times as a discovery, an encounter, or even a clash of civilizations. All these descriptions have merit, but David Childs contends that perhaps the century of English
By Robert D. Hicks, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis MD. (2011) Reviewed by Mark Lardas When Britain’s first North America colonies were established, transatlantic voyages were challenges analogous to trips to the Moon today. What did it take to sail the Atlantic four centuries ago? Voyage to Jamestown: Practical Navigation in the Age of Discovery; by
