Robert Gardiner Knihy

The Heyday of Sail: The Merchant Sailing Ship 1650-1830By the middle of the seventeenth century, a recognizable division had arisen between ships built for war and those intended for trade. Although many merchant vessels, like East Indiamen, continued to make useful naval auxilaries in times of conflict, this division was a highly significant step for ship design, and between this final divergence of warship and merchantman circa 1650 and the triumph of steam from 1830 onwards, there were no comparable revolutions in ship design. Nevertheless, the merchant sailing ship was subject to almost continuous improvement and diversification, in both hull form and rig, and the result was an ever expanding spectrum of local types and specialized variants.Taking this variety as its central them, The Heyday of Sail departs somewhat from the pattern of the Conway series to concentrate on developments at regional and local levels, emphasizing the influence of trading conditions on the history of each type of ship. Despite the importance of the subject - the prime vehicle of European economic and colonial expansion - this is the first book to sttempt a detailed survey of the merchant sailing vessel in its heyday.Lavishly illustrated, this informative title includes over 165 drawings, 25 black-and-white photos and over 20 tables and graphs. A must read for anyone interested in the history of shipping and ship design.

This book charts the sailing ships course, the development of the schooner, and the sailing ship's transition from wood to iron and steel construction.

Written in response to a report by the former governor of Gibraltar, this book argues that the British territory should remain under civilian control rather than being administered by a military governor. The author, Robert Gardiner, provides a detailed look at the history of the territory and the arguments for and against military rule. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in the politics of Gibraltar and its place in the British Empire.

With just a hint of Ogden Nash, this volume of light verse takes a sly, quirky look at the human scene, and finds in most of it a readily available source of mirth. For example. Foibles: "Reflections of a Gossip." Aging: "Just too Old to be a Good Liar." Naughty: "On Julia's Clothes." Strange predilections: "The Dung Beetle." Critters: "How to Make a Cow Eco-friendly." Vittles: "Last Words to a Lobster." The joys of medicine: "Ode to a Colonoscopy." Cheerful Nonsense: "Ode to a Pair of Missing Pants." These poems are just a few of the 125 that comprise this new and witty compendium, designed, in the words of the sub-title, "to jostle your chuckle-bone."

Over 100 models in stunning full-colour photographs. Close-ups, details and thematic spreads for variety and visual interestIn-depth captioning, annotations and an authoritative text.

After the setbacks of the American Revolutionary War, the Royal Navy had been renewed and revitalized, so in 1793 a well-prepared fleet embarked on the new conflict with France in a state of high confidence. This was rewarded immediately with a series of almost uninterrupted victories. In such an atmosphere there was a considerable appetite for pictures of every incident, large or small: a thriving trade grew up for prints, engravings and - for the more affluent - watercolours and oils by celebrated artists. Besides these "public" works, many officers and men kept personal journals and sketchbooks illustrated with drawings and watercolours, often depicting the everyday aspects of wartime life at sea that were ignored by the more celebratory artistic media. This volume is the first of five covering the whole of the French Revolutionary, Napoleonic and 1812 Wars based on comtemporary images, a series depicting the reality of warfare under sail.