to reproduce, and that, in any case, the publisher would not permi t the use of pullouts. Fo r the steep cover price of this book, the reader expects a little better. ]oHN RousMANIERE Annapolis, Maryland
Bloodstained Sea, The US Coast Guard in the Battle ofthe Atlantic, 1941-1944, by Michael G. Walling (McGraw Hill , New York, 2004 photos, appen, gloss, notes, biblio, index, ISBN 0-07142-401 -6; $24.95hc) Walling's Bloodstained Sea, as the subtitle indicates, is the story of the US Coast Guard's to le in that long-drawn-out and bitterly fo ught duel between the merchant navies of th e Allies and the U-Boats of the Third Reich. Many books on the Battle of the Atlantic have been published over the years, and it is a measure of this event's complexity that a new book can appear and be so grip ping. The book is graphic in its descripti ons, well-illustrated and hard to put down. It tells the story from the Coast G uard's viewpoint, with emphasis on the horrific North Atlantic weather which was as much the enemy as the submarines. A good portion of the book is about the class of USCG Cutters named after Treasury Secretaries: Bibb, Duane, Spencer, Hamilton, Taney, Ingraham, and Campbell, built in government shipyards and commissioned in 1936-37. They were 327 feet overall and able to reach speeds of twenty knots. The ships could sustain 13 knots for 11 ,000 nautical miles. Designed to last twenty-five years, the last one almost made fi fty-two. The desperate need fo r co nvoying and the scarcity of available ships saw every kind of vaguely-suitable vessel from Bush-deck destroyers to under-sized Flower class co rvettes pressed into service. Even US Navy convoy commodores rode the Coast Guard's 327s whenever they could. l11ey became a legend in their time, and their story has not been told so completely before. The two main East Coast co nvoy ports were H alifax and Sydney, Nova Scotia, making the direct distance to Northern Ireland about twenty-five hundred miles and the typical time about eight days fo r the fast, nine-knot convoys and seventeen days for the slow, seven-and-one-half SEA HISTORY 111 , SUMMER 2005
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Love and Fame Edgar Vincent
Young Men and the Sea
A New York Times Notable Book of the Year
Yankee Seafarers in the Age of Sail Daniel Vickers and Vince Walsh
Young Men
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"The best modern biography of Britain's greatest admiral:' -John Keegan, Daily Telegraph
"With th e quiet competence of a seasoned shipm aster in ill-charted waters, Vickers has redefined the m eaning of seafaring under sail. .. . Elegantly written, this is a stunning book:' -W. Jeffrey Bolster
18 b/w + 58 color illus. $ 19.95 paperback
25 illus. $35.00
The British Seaborne Empire
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"A rem arkable book on all fronts. ... Masterly:' - Hilary Spurling, New York Times Book Review
Jeremy Black nm BRITISH Ranging from SE' 'lNE the period of EMJ>IRE imperial expansion to the twentieth century, this book is "an important contribution to military history [and ] reminder that we are all part of a long historical narrative." -Publishers Weekly
The Remarkable Story of Darwin's Captain and the Invention of the Weather Fo recast John Gribbin and Mary Gribbin
"A definitive work:' -William Anthony Hay, Washington Times
A "superb and moving biography" (Toby Green, Independent) of the British naval comm ander, governor of New Zealand, inventor of weather fo recastingFitzRoy was all of these and m ore during a life of high adventure and accomplishment but also tragic disappointment.
18 illus. $40.00
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