The best
Ship History books:
Reddit reviews
From 3.5 billion Reddit comments
The best of Ship History books by number of unique Reddit comments:
![The Sea in World History [2 volumes]: Exploration, Travel, and Trade](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51-zOGIQltL._SL500_.jpg)
Top Reddit reviews mentioning Ship History books:
If it does there is a small industry of books published to explain it all. Patrick O'Brian's Navy for example.
On that same note, Lansing's The Endurance (about Shackleton's attempted voyage to the South Pole and absolutely miraculous escape from what would have or should have been certain death) is equally amazing for the real-life adventure readers.
The ships he is interested in are the so-called "Big 5" of the Tennessee and Colorado classes, as well as the Pennsylvania and Nevada.
The best single book for this would probably be Norman Friedman's US Battleships: An Illustrated Design History. Includes those classes as well as others before and after. That Amazon pricing is really good - looks like the 2016 paperback reprint did wonders for making it affordable (though, if the reviews are to be believed, less complementary to some of the images). It's 480 pages long, so that $37 gets you a lot of book!
Whilst waiting for the book, there are plenty of images and drawings on Navsource.org for those ships. He might also be interested in the weapons themselves, which can be found on Navweaps.com.
I think your book is going to be like Empire of Blue Water
"Alright, Ill give this book about pirates even though Im not really a pirate guy..."
One of the most fascinating books I've ever read. I recommend it to everyone.
A Night to Remember really holds up! Thanks for sharing your experience! I know exactly how you feel- let me recommend On a Sea of Glass if you're interested in another stellar (and slightly more accurate) account of the sinking.
Glad to have you here!
... a supply of seal blubber and sugar cubes can get you through till tuesday.
I recommend a copy of Endurance as reading while waiting for your snow to melt.
"The Story of the Titanic as Told by its Survivors" contains first-hand accounts by both Second Officer Lightoller and radio operator Harold Bride.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0486206106/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_Z7KCTFNFPRTBYRWHAH3D
So many...
One of my favorite reads of all time, though, is "The Endurance" by Alfred Lansiing.
A non-fictional account of an amazing heroic story of survival, exploration and leadership in the Antarctic in the golden age of exploration of the poles. What they did, when they did it, with the technology they had at the time - it's truly unbelievable. A must read:
In the same genre, Aspley Cherry Gerard's "The Worst Journey in the World" is a long but incredible story of Antarctic exploration written by a survivor academician that was actually there.
The Worst Journey in the World - Wikipedia
Exploration and adventure non-fiction is a powerful genre for me, easily more impactful than even the best fiction (and I'm a big fan of that too!) because reality gives it that more powerful punch.
The extreme conditions of the arctic and Antarctic race to the poles are pretty amazing tales of human perseverance and bravery when you consider the conditions, the challenge, and the capabilities of human technology at the time these almost foolhardy men accomplished it.
lol. You are peddling common misconceptions and long debunked conspiracy theories so your words have no weight.
I recommend checking out On a Sea of Glass if you'd like to actually learn something about the topic.
Take a look at “In the Heart of The Sea: the Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex”. It’s the real story that inspired Moby Dick. The scary part is that after the whale sinks the ship, most of the crew survives, but are stranded in whale boats, for a very long time. They eventually had to resort to what they euphemistically called “the custom of the sea”. I don’t blame them.
Unrelated to the cards, but related to your theme. I'm assuming you like pirates, I recently read this book and it was very fun, it's about the economics of pirating and their ship politics https://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Hook-Hidden-Economics-Pirates/dp/0691150095
Definitely start with Endurance by Alfred Lansing
It’s the story of Ernest Shackleton’s voyage to Antarctica in his ship Endurance
4.8 star rating from almost 9000 readers.
It’s an incredible read. The next family member will have a hard act to follow
PS. There are many versions of this historical voyage, make sure you choose the one by Lansing. His research was outstanding.
https://www.amazon.com/Story-Titanic-Survivors-Dover-Maritime/dp/0486206106
Features the accounts of Lawrence Beesley, Harold Bride, Col. Archibald Gracie and Second Officer Lightoller. Gracie interviewed several of his fellow survivors for his account as well.
I recommend The Story of the Titanic As Told By Its Survivors. It has accounts by Lawrence Beesley, Archibald Gracie, Harold Bride, and Second Officer Lightoller: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0486206106?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
It was referred to as “the custom of the sea”. Those sailors who survived being stranded at sea were generally not shamed to their face, but it was very difficult for them to be seen in polite company for the rest of their lives.
Read In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick. Tells the true story of a whaling ship sunk by an angry whale and how some of the crew survived months at sea in the small whale boats.
Many many good books on Shackleton, but I was transfixed by one about a an explorer from a couple decades earlier - George DeLong, who attempted to find the northern passage and encountered a very similar, unbelievable, expedition in the arctic.
Book is called In the Kingdom of Ice. https://www.amazon.com/Kingdom-Ice-Terrible-Voyage-Jeannette/dp/0307946916
Endurance by Alfred Lansing - tells the true story of Ernest Shackleton's 1916 South Pole expedition. I read this a few years ago when going through a rough patch at work, put it all into perspective.
Was it based on a true story? It sounds a lot like the Shackleton mission, and I found a book called Endurance that is based on it.
If you like that, you'll enjoy Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage. It's the story of an expedition to the Antarctica in 1914. The ship was crushed by ice and the crew had to travel across the frozen ocean to the nearest civilization outpost. The book is based on the crew's journals.
If you're thinking about this question you might enjoy the book Endurance which is the true story of Shackleton's expedition to the South Pole. The food issue plays a major role.
https://www.amazon.com/Endurance-Shackletons-Incredible-Alfred-Lansing/dp/0465062881
To answer your question on the other response. I am not sure if any books talk at length about the people sitting in the life boats but there is a commednum book that includes some well known passengers books they wrote on the subject. Archibald Gracie writes in depth about the lifeboat process, which ones were loaded and when they left. He was also one of the men on the upturned boat. This is probably my favorite book I have read and includes Gracies book along with Second Officer Lightoller and a second class passenger named Lawrence Beasley. https://www.amazon.com/Story-Titanic-Survivors-Dover-Maritime/dp/0486206106/ref=sr_1_8?crid=1LIKY8DYH2Y4E&dchild=1&keywords=archibald+gracie+titanic&qid=1598381937&sprefix=arcibald+gracie+%2Caps%2C229&sr=8-8
Top left is a Treaty cruiser. Top right might be Alaska or Baltimore.
The image is from Norman Friedman's U.S. Battleships: An Illustrated Design History
>I graduated within the past 5 years and I don't think the indoctrination you are referring to is so prevalent that we need to do screening for it.
Many people watching the news disagree with you. You should look into pirates' use of signaling.
https://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Hook-Hidden-Economics-Pirates/dp/0691150095
The SJW/Neomarxist crowd is working hard at making anyone with a degree unemployable outside of those corporations that have already been infiltrated (like google).
>there are certain fields of work that can't just be self taught.
Very few, not anywhere near enough to justify universities in their current form. And I'm hard pressed to think of any that don't require the use of specialized tools or lab equipment. And then it's more about access to tools than the ability to self educate. That's not an insurmountable problem (trade schools, hacker spaces, etc.).
Simmons clearly researched the shit out of that story. It really felt like is was happening way back in the wooden ship era. I also definitely got onto Google Maps to see about where they were stuck.
A non-fiction book I read recently that scratched some of the same itch was:
https://www.amazon.com/Kingdom-Ice-Terrible-Voyage-Jeannette/dp/0307946916
Hadn't heard about the tv adaptation, maybe AMC will do a good job, some of their shows are pretty decent for basic cable.
Empire of Blue Water - covers the main characters (e.g. Morgan), and gives a history of piracy in the caribbean around the 17th Century. Some incredible tales of hardship, perseverance and success. https://www.amazon.com/Empire-Blue-Water-Americas-Catastrophe/dp/0307236617
Do you have both Thedas books? The second one is also great.
I gifted the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Characters and World Compendium to a friend and he seemed to like it very much. There are a lot of similar things for Tolkiens universe.
My personal favourite companion book is Patrick O'Brians Navy.