Seashaken Houses

Seashaken Houses PDF

Author: Tom Nancollas

Publisher: Particular Books

Published: 2019-08

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 9781846149382

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Lighthouses are striking totems of our relationship to the sea. For many, they encapsulate a romantic vision of solitary homes amongst the waves, but their original purpose was much more utilitarian than that. Today we still depend upon their guiding lights for the safe passage of ships. Nowhere is this truer than in the rock lighthouses of Great Britain and Ireland which form a ring of twenty towers built between 1811 and 1904, so-called because they were constructed on desolate rock formations in the middle of the sea, and made of granite to withstand the power of its waves. Seashaken Housesis a lyrical exploration of these singular towers, the people who risked their lives building and rebuilding them, those that inhabited their circular rooms, and the ways in which we value emblems of our history in a changing world.

Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town

Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town PDF

Author: Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock

Publisher: Ember

Published: 2022-04-12

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 1984892622

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

A lyrical and heartfelt collection by an award-winning writer that connects the lives of young people from small towns in Alaska and the American west. Each story is unique, yet universal. In this book, the impact of wildfire, a wayward priest, or a mysterious disappearance ricochet across communities, threading through stories. Here, ordinary actions such as ice skating or going to church reveal hidden truths. One choice threatens a lifelong friendship. Siblings save each other. Rescue and second chances are possible, and so is revenge. On the surface, it seems that nothing ever happens in these towns. But Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock shows that underneath that surface, teenagers' lives blaze with fury, with secrets, and with love so strong it burns a path to the future.

The Ship Asunder

The Ship Asunder PDF

Author: Tom Nancollas

Publisher: Penguin Press

Published: 2023-03-30

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780241434154

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

A Sunday Times Book of the Year 'Three and a half millennia of British Maritime history, from the Middle Bronze Age to the early 20th century ... This book is written with passion and sympathy. It will live with me for a very long time' Francis Pryor, author of The Fens If Britain's maritime history were embodied in a single ship, she would have a prehistoric prow, a mast plucked from a Victorian steamship, the hull of a modest fishing vessel, the propeller of an ocean liner and an anchor made of stone. We might call her Asunder, and, fantastical though she is, we could in fact find her today, scattered in fragments across the country's creeks and coastlines. In his moving and original new history, Tom Nancollas goes in search of eleven relics that together tell the story of Britain at sea. From the swallowtail prow of a Bronze Age vessel to a stone ship moored at a Baroque quayside, each one illuminates a distinct phase of our adventures upon the waves; each brings us close to the people, places and vessels that made a maritime nation. Weaving together stories of great naval architects and unsung shipwrights, fishermen and merchants, shipwrecks and superstition, pilgrimage, trade and war, The Ship Asunder celebrates the richness of Britain's seafaring tradition in all its glory and tragedy, triumph and disaster, and asks how we might best memorialize it as it vanishes from our shores.

Sentinels of the Sea

Sentinels of the Sea PDF

Author: R. G. Grant

Publisher:

Published: 2018

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780500519769

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Lighthouses have always unsettled and attracted in equal measure, highlighting the triumphs and failures in humanity's battle with the forces of nature. Taking as its heroes the lighthouses themselves, Sentinels of the Sea describes the engineering genius that allowed their construction on even the smallest of rock outcrops and the innovations that made the lights so powerful and reliable. Intricate, elegant architectural plans and elevations, and evocative period drawings and photographs showcase the innovative designs and technologies behind fifty historic lighthouses built around the world from the 17th to the 20th century. R.G. Grant's engaging and authoritative text chronicles the incredible feats of engineering and endurance that brought these iconic, isolated towers into being, the advances in lens technology that made the lights so effective, and the everyday routines of the lighthouse keepers and the heroic rescues that some performed. Packed with extraordinary stories of human endeavour, desperate shipwrecks, builders defying the elements and heroic sea rescues, the book also reveals the isolation and vulnerability of the dedicated lighthouse keepers.

Ireland's Forgotten Past: A History of the Overlooked and Disremembered

Ireland's Forgotten Past: A History of the Overlooked and Disremembered PDF

Author: Turtle Bunbury

Publisher: Thames & Hudson

Published: 2020-03-17

Total Pages: 226

ISBN-13: 0500775400

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This volume delves into Ireland’s forgotten history bringing to light some of the most colorful characters and intriguing episodes of the country’s long history. Ireland is approximately the size of the state of Indiana, yet this small country boasts an extensive, rich, and fascinating history. Ireland’s Forgotten Past is an alternative history that covers 13,000 years in 36 stories that are often left out of history books. Among the characters in these absorbing accounts are a pair of ill- fated prehistoric chieftains, a psychopathic Viking, a gallant Norman knight, a dazzling English traitor, an ingenious tailor, an outstanding war-horse, a brothel queen, an insanely prolific sculptor, and a randy prince. This volume offers a succinct account of the Stone Age and Bronze Age, as well as insights into the Bell-Beakers, the Romans, and the Knights Templar. Historian Turtle Bunbury writes a gently off-beat take on monumental events like the Wars of the Roses, the Tudor Conquest and the Battle of the Boyne, as well as the Home Rule campaign and the Great War. Ireland’s Forgotten Past adds color to the existing histories of the country by focusing on the unique characters and intriguing events. This volume will delight anyone interested in the rich untold history of Ireland.

The Lighthouse Stevensons

The Lighthouse Stevensons PDF

Author: Bella Bathurst

Publisher: Harper Collins

Published: 2011-06-28

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 0062094742

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

For centuries the seas around Scotland were notorious for shipwrecks. Mariners' only aids were skill, luck, and single coal-fire light on the east coast, which was usually extinguished by rain. In 1786 the Northern Lighthouse Trust was established, with Robert Stevenson appointed as chief engineer a few years later. In this engrossing book, Bella Bathhurst reveals that the Stevensons not only supervised the construction of the lighthouses under often desperate conditions but also perfected a design of precisely chiseled interlocking granite blocks that would withstand the enormous waves that batter these stone pillars. The same Stevensons also developed the lamps and lenses of the lights themselves, which "sent a gleam across the wave" and prevented countless ships from being lost at sea. While it is the writing of Robert Louis Stevenson that brought fame to the family name, this mesmerizing account shows how his extraordinary ancestors changed the shape of the Scotland coast against incredible odds and with remarkable technical ingenuity.

Brilliant Beacons: A History of the American Lighthouse

Brilliant Beacons: A History of the American Lighthouse PDF

Author: Eric Jay Dolin

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 2016-04-18

Total Pages: 448

ISBN-13: 1631491539

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

"What Moby-Dick is to whales, Brilliant Beacons is to lighthouses—a transformative account of a familiar yet mystical subject." —Laurence Bergreen, author of Columbus: The Four Voyages In this "magnificent compendium" (New Republic), best-selling author Eric Jay Dolin presents the definitive history of American lighthouses, and in so doing "illuminate[s] the history of America itself" (Entertainment Weekly). Treating readers to a memorable cast of characters and "fascinating anecdotes" (New York Review of Books), Dolin shows how the story of the nation, from a regional backwater colony to global industrial power, can be illustrated through its lighthouses—from New England to the Gulf of Mexico, the Great Lakes, the Pacific Coast, and all the way to Alaska and Hawaii. A Captain and Classic Boat Best Nautical Book of 2016

Bell Rock Lighthouse

Bell Rock Lighthouse PDF

Author: Michael A. W. Strachan

Publisher: Amberley Publishing Limited

Published: 2018-06-15

Total Pages: 191

ISBN-13: 1445670615

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

A lavishly illustrated history of the iconic Bell Rock lighthouse which has stood as an industrial ‘wonder of the world’ since its completion in 1811.

The Lighthouse

The Lighthouse PDF

Author: Keith McCloskey

Publisher: The History Press

Published: 2014-07-01

Total Pages: 259

ISBN-13: 0750957417

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

On 26 December 1900, the vessel Hesperus arrived at Eilean Mor in the remote Outer Hebrides with a relief lighthouseman and fresh provisions. The lighthouse had been in operation for a year, but it had been noted that no light had been seen from Eilean Mor for several days. The relief keeper, Joseph Moore, found the lighthouse to be completely deserted, and a subsequent search of the island failed to reveal any sign of what had happened to the three keepers. The last entry in the logbook had been made on 15 December and contained a number of strange and distressing clues as to the mental states of the men. One was reported to have been crying, while another had become 'very quiet'. When it was revealed that the men's oilskin coats were missing and the clock in the lighthouse had stopped, theories surrounding the keepers' fates inevitably proliferated. These included a giant wave washing them away, murder or suicide. Others favoured more esoteric explanations – Eilean Mor was believed to have mystical properties. In The Lighthouse, Keith McCloskey explores this mysterious and chilling story in depth for the first time and reveals a shocking conclusion.

The Lighthouses of Trinity House

The Lighthouses of Trinity House PDF

Author: Jane Wilson

Publisher: Thomas Reed

Published: 2009-08-29

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781904050001

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This book is a wonderful celebration of the traditional lighthouses of England and Wales which are all administered by Trinity House. Fascinating personal reminiscences of some of Britain's last lighthouse keepers are included, together with individual portraits of all the Trinity House Lighthouses and light vessels in service today.