The Conquest of the Ocean: An Illustrated History of Seafaring

by Brian Lavery

Overview

An engaging and vivid read by author and naval historian Brian Lavery, The Conquest of the Ocean tells the 5,000 year history of the remarkable individuals who sailed the seas for trade, to conquer new lands, and to explore the unknown. From the early Polynesian sailors to the first circumnavigations by the Portuguese and the British, The Conquest of the Ocean explores the lives of these sailors and their tales of epic sea voyages, great feats of seamanship, navigation, endurance, and ingenuity.

Explore the lives of famous land-seekers and globe-charters such as Christopher Columbus, Captain James Cook, and Vitus Bering through eyewitness accounts of their maritime adventures. Full color photographs, paintings, diagrams, and maps are woven into the text to help tell the compelling stories of life at sea that lie behind man's search for new lands, new trade, conquest, and uncharted waters.

From the conquest of Mexico to World War II, and the voyages of the Vikings to the Exxon Valdez crisis, The Conquest of the Ocean covers the history of ships and sailing in times of exploration, war, discovery, and disaster.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781465413871
Publisher:	DK
Publication date:	08/19/2013
Series:	DK Short Histories
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	400
File size:	166 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Brian Lavery is Curator Emeritus at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, and author of over 30 books on ships and seafaring. As a highly respected maritime historian, he was consultant on the film Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, advised on the replica of Captain Cook's Endeavour, and wrote the best-selling accompanying book to the BBC drama series Empire of the Seas.

Table of Contents

Introduction 8

The First Ocean Sailors to 1450 12

Exploring the Pacific 14

Seafaring in the Mediterranean 20

The First Sailing Vessels 22

Map: The Mediterranean Sea 28

The Voyages of the Vikings 30

Map: The North Sea and Baltic 36

Arab Seafaring 38

Finding the Way 44

The Voyages of Zheng He 46

Pilgrims and Galleys 52

The Battle of Winchelsea 58

The Age of Exploration 1450-1600 62

The New World 64

Map: The North Atlantic Ocean 68

Medieval Ships 72

To India by Sea 74

Circumnavigating the Earth 84

The Conquest of Mexico 94

Exploring Canada 104

Map: The South Atlantic Ocean 108

Drake's Plunder 110

The Age of Empire 1600-1815 116

Colonies in America 118

Early Modern Ships 124

The Wreck of the Batavia 126

Map: The Indian Ocean 128

East Indiamen 134

A Life of Piracy 136

Slave Ships in the Atlantic 146

Cook in the Pacific 154

Finding Latitude 162

John Paul Jones and American Independence 164

The Battle of Trafalgar 174

Map: The Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico 176

Finding Longitude 182

Death in the Arctic 184

Steam and Emigration 1815-1914 190

Fire on the Oceans 192

Early Steamships 196

Going to America 202

China, Japan, and the Perry Expedition 210

Map: The China Seas 216

The Birth of Oceanography 222

Saving Lives at Sea 230

The Alabama and America at Sea 240

The Great Tea Race 248

Clipper Ships 256

John Holland and the First Submarines 258

Early Submarines 264

To the Other Side of the World 266

The Birth of the Luxury Liner 272

The Great Arms Race 280

Dreadnoughts 282

The Wars on the Oceans 1914-1945 288

The Battle of Jutland 290

Modern Warships 296

High Society at Sea 300

The Battle of the Atlantic 308

The Battle of Midway 318

Map: The Pacific Ocean 322

The D-Day Landings 326

Landing Craft 328

The Global Ocean 1945-Present 334

The Container Revolution 336

The Cuban Missile Crisis 342

Exploring the Deep 350

Undersea Exploration 356

The Falklands War 358

Winning the America's Cup 364

Ocean Racing 366

The Exxon Valdez Disaster 372

The Lawless Oceans 380

Glossary 388

Bibliography 390

Index 392

Acknowledgments 398

Editorial Reviews

Lavery (All Hands) presents a choppy survey of humanity’s history on the seas in this far-ranging volume. The prolific British maritime historian begins about 30,000 years ago with Polynesian seafarers’ colonization of Pacific islands and continues through to address harrowing accounts of modern-day piracy. Ports of call between these distant coasts include the treasure voyages of Ming official Zheng He, the discovery of the New World, the invention of the Fresnel lens, the Battle of Midway, and many others. Throughout the book, two-page insets highlight various technological milestones, such as the advent of the sextant and snapshots of the evolution of ships. Each receives a brief treatment and is sumptuously supplemented with maps and images. Yet like our understanding of the deep oceans themselves, Lavery’s account is woefully incomplete—a six-page section on whaling, for example, relies only on Captain Scoresby’s accounts and fails to even mention Moby Dick or devote a single sentence to the importance of fishing over the course of human history. Similarly, the 17th-century wreck of the Batavia is treated to a whole chapter, while the fate of the Titanic is summed up in a captioned illustration and one line. This is an adequate introduction to the topic for nautical neophytes, but salty sailors should slake their thirst elsewhere. Color maps, photos, and illus. throughout. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"[Author Brian] Lavery has a sound sense of how to interest new readers. He accentuates human-interest angles by quoting memoirists who experienced a famous naval battle or shipwreck or by sketching key individuals in the development of technological advances, such as ocean liners, submarines, and containerized shipping. Lavishly illustrating the extension of sea travel to transoceanic dimensions, Lavery's work ably serves a collection's need for a general, visually attractive chronicle of ships, sailors, and the sea." -Booklist

"[A] lavishly illustrated and readable work…Useful for research and enjoyable for leisure reading for students interested in naval history, exploration, and adventure." - School Library Journal

"Lavishly illustrating the extension of sea travel to transoceanic dimensions, [author Brian] Lavery's work ably serves a collection's need for a general, visually attractive chronicle of ships, sailors, and the sea." -Booklist

From the Publisher

Gr 8 Up—Lavery offers 5000 years of ocean history in this lavishly illustrated and readable work. Although stating that the oceans can never be conquered, he narrates many stories of bravery, perseverance, and greed that resulted in the exploration of unknown worlds. Beginning with the first sailors of Polynesia, the Mediterranean, China, and Arabia, and covering oceangoing activities until modern times, this book has a vast reach. Much of the text consists of first-person narratives, often personal and exciting in the telling of great dangers and adventures. Included are discussions of the great explorations of the New World; the unbelievable travels of the extraordinary 15th-century Chinese seaman Zhen He, covering 30,000 miles in a flotilla totaling 27,000 men; the vast Viking journeys; and the use of naval power as a force for conquest. In the modern era, luxury ocean liners, America's Cup races, and World Wars are reviewed as well as the vast oversea migrations of the 19th century. The voices quoted give substance to the facts and figures outlining victory and loss. Piracy is a constant theme; whether for personal gain or in the employ of monarchs, the oceans were fair game for theft and plunder. Fittingly the last chapter relates to the treacherous Somali pirates of today. Photos, reproductions, diagrams, or maps appear on almost every page. The well-researched and popularly presented text is aided by an ample glossary, bibliography, and index. Useful for research and enjoyable for leisure reading for students interested in naval history, exploration, and adventure.—Eva Elisabeth VonAncken, formerly at Trinity-Pawling School, Pawling, NY

School Library Journal