Prize Season
I’ve had to keep this under my hat for the last couple of months, but now that the decision has been ratified, I’m finally able to announce that I’ve been awarded the Society for Nautical Research’s Anderson Prize for the best maritime history book of 2017, for Kings of the Sea: Charles II, James II and […]
Kindling Some Disinterest
A confession: I have a Kindle. While the world is generally united on the merits of the computer and the physical book, it’s split down the middle on the subject of Kindles (note: other e-readers are available), which is undoubtedly the Marmite of the literary world. Shaun Bythell, the famously – nay, mythically – grumpy […]
Lest We Forget
Posted at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, one hundred years on. Words are largely superfluous. Here, with minimal captioning, are some relics and memorials of the ‘war to end all wars’, encountered during my travels over the years.
Of Commemoration and Cake
To Pembroke Dock for the weekend, to attend and give a paper at a conference commemorating Wales and the Sea during the First World War. Jointly organised by Morol, the Institute of Welsh Maritime Historical Studies, and the U-Boat Project of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, this proved to […]
Flight of Fancy
Apologies – I thought this had been posted last Monday, and have only just realised that it wasn’t! Obviously not yet got the hang of scheduling on the new WordPress platform…anyway, enjoy! *** I got a certificate last week. The getting of certificates is, of course, one of life’s many little pleasures, especially in one’s […]
Baroque and Roll
There’s an old adage to the effect that the best tourist experiences are obtained in places where tourists don’t go, and in recent weeks, I’ve been on a couple of trips which amply bear that out. Take, for example, this photo which I took in the Hall of Mirrors at the palace of Versailles at […]
The British Fleet at the Battle of Solebay, 28 May 1672
This week, this blog returns to one of its principal focuses, raising awareness of seventeenth century naval history and particularly that of the ‘Restoration age’. To that end, I’m delighted to welcome back, as a guest blogger, Frank Fox, the author of Great Ships: The Battlefleet of King Charles II and The Four Days Battle of 1666. For […]
Review: The New Tudor and Stuart Seafarers Gallery at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich
A disclaimer: this post has been written and posted rather more rapidly than usual, as it was only yesterday evening (19 September) that I went with the ‘LadyQJ’ of my Twitter feed (aka Wendy) to the launch event for the four new permanent galleries at the National Maritime Museum. So apologies if there are more […]
Act of Remembrance
This post is due to be published on 3 September 2018. (Apologies for the delay – there was a glitch in scheduling it.) On that date, I’ll actually be in France, and specifically at the Saint-Sever military cemetery, on the outskirts of Rouen. The reason for being there is that it’s the centenary of the death […]
