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FOR SALE Old , Scarce, & Out
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ten pound island book company 3 Center St. , Gloucester, MA 0 1930 (6 17) 283-5299
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA PRESS SIDDDERT'S WAR: Naval Operations During the Quasi-War with France, 1798-1801 by Michael A. Palmer
CONFEDERATE NAVY CHIEF: Stephen R. Mallory by Joseph T. Durkin, S.J. This is the standard biography of Stephen R. Mallory, regarded by many hsitorians as one of the two ablest members of the Confederate cabinet. The book is enriched with period photographs and drawings. with special anention co Confederate submarines. mines and rnrpedo-boacs. C lo th , 446 pp., #518, $19.95
THE BRITISH NAVY AND THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION by John A. Tilley This is the srnry of how one of hiscory's proudesl military instituci ons proved that a navy cannot suppress a rebellion . Tilley"s book is about people - the unhappy admirals on the orth America n Station who tried to fo rce the rebellion into a form that would let them destroy it and the adm inistrato rs in London who failed dismally to establish a strategy that would win the war. The book is illustrated with contemporary pai ntings. drawings , e ngravings and specially executed maps and battle diagrams. C loth, 340 pp., #517, $24.95
IRON AFLOAT: The Story of the Confederate Armorclads by William N . Still, Jr. This is the definitive history of the planning, building and ope ration of the Confederate iro ncl ad navy. Iro n Afloat cakes us from the inception of the program, through the working out of designs, the problems of building and fitting out the vessels, the careers of the vessels themselves, up to their eve ntual destruction or surrender. Cloth, 260 pp. , #454, S21.95
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Stoddert's War is a history of a nearly forgotten struggle, the Franco-American undeclared naval war of 1798-1801. This is a critical study of com mand and operations, as directed by the first secretary of che navy, Benjamin Stodden. Under Stoddert's direction, the navy proved itself ship for ship as, if not more, effective agai nst French privateers th an the Royal Navy. C loth, 300 pp., #499, $24.95
WHAT FINER TRADITION: The Memoirs of Thomas 0 . Selfridge, Jr., Rear Admiral, U.S.N. by Thomas 0 . Selfridge, Jr. Selfridge (1836-1924) was the first officer to receive a diploma under the permanent naval academy system when he graduated from Annapolis in 1854 at the head of his class. Selfridge was the only one of the six Monitor commanders co write his memoirs. This is a thorough accou nt of a career in the early U.S. avy. Cloth, 296 pp., #507, $19.95
CONFEDERATE SHIPBUILDING by William N. Still, Jr. In Confederate Shipbuilding, Still cogently demonstrates the real grounds for the Co nfederacy's failure to build a navy. This study contributes co our understanding of the failure of the Southern shipbuilding program but also to our knowledge of the reasons for the downfall of the Co nfederate States of America. Cloth, 132 pp., #551, ~17.95
To Order: Send check or money order (SC resident add 5% tax) along with $1.50 per book for postage and handling to : UNIVERSITY OF sourH CAROLINA PRESS 508 Assembly Street Columbia, SC 29208 or call (803) 777-5243
Trade and Civilization in the Indian Ocean: An Economic History from the Rise oflslam to 1750 , K. N. Chaudhuri (Ca mbrid ge University Pre ss, New York , 1986 , 269 pp , illu s, $44.50hb/ $ 17.95pb) Until the coming of the Europeans at the close of the fifteenth century , the Indi an Ocean was the preserve of a farflung , but unified , trading system reaching from East Africa to Southeast Asia and thence to China and Japan. The exte nsive trade routes were disturbed only by pirates who operated from outside the me rcantile establi shment centered on g reat ports and emporia such as Malacca , Hormuz and Zanzibar. Then, suddenly , this network was shattered by a handful of Portuguese ships whose " Mediterranean style of trade and warfare, by land and sea, was a violation of the agreed conventions and certainly a new experience," as K. N. Chaudhuri writes in his Trade and Civilization in the Indian Ocean. " [M]ost Asian rulers with a stake in the long-di stance seaborne trade were totally taken by surpri se at the single-minded determination of Lisbon in seizing the most profitable ports in East Africa, the Malabar, Konkan , the Persian Gulf, and the strait of Malacca." The subseq uent decline of the Asian traders was not due to clear technological inferiority: the indigenous ships were idea ll y adapted to local conditions , and sh ipbuilders were quick to adopt superior European techniques. Indeed , by the eighteenth century they were producing ships for sale to Europeans. The decline seems rather to have been due to social structures and their political ramifications. l n the great powers of the regionthe Ottoman , Moghul and Manchu empires-th e predominant classes held merchants in low esteem and gave them little backing . On the other hand , the kings of Portugal were directl y involved in trade , and the governments of Holland and England saw it as their lifeblood . European merchants received full political and military support and they used it to suppress Asian rivals. K. N. Chaudhuri divides his work into two parts. The first deals primarily with the chronological history of the region from the rise of Islam to the coming of the Portuguese, Dutch and English. The second treats related subjects such as seafaring communities, navigational techniques, ships and shipbuilding. As the full title indicates , the book is concerned above all with economic history. But although the emphasis is on trade, by both land and sea, those interested in purely SEA HISTORY , AUTUMN 1987