A thrilling account of the brutal decades-long battle between Christendom and Islam for the soul of Europe. This struggle's brutal climax came between 1565 and 1571, seven years that witnessed a fight to the finish decided in a series of bloody set pieces: the epic siege of Malta, in which a tiny band of Christian defenders defied the might of the Ottoman army; the savage battle for Cyprus; and the apocalyptic last-ditch defense of southern Europe...

On June 19, 1864, just off the coast of France, one of the most dramatic naval battles in history took place. On a clear day with windswept skies, the dreaded Confederate raider Alabama faced the Union warship Kearsarge in an all-or-nothing fight to the finish, the outcome of which would effectively end the threat of the Confederacy on the high seas. Authors Phil Keith and Tom Clavin introduce some of the crucial but historically overlooked players,...

A series of events aboard a U.S. destroyer during World War II culminate in an alleged mutiny, which leads to a court martial. Misery begins when a paranoid commander, Captain Queeg takes charge. In a matter of days he has alienated everybody -- & all on board believe Queeg to be insane. In a tense situation during a critical period of the war, Queeg loses all self-control. In the better interest of the ship & the nation, the second-in-command, Lieutenant...

Although only 23 years old at the time of publication, Theodore Roosevelt made his mark as a military scholar with this detailed analysis of naval combat between the United States and Great Britain from 1812–15. Engagingly written and comprehensively researched, The Naval War of 1812 exercised considerable influence on the formation of the modern American Navy and remains a cornerstone work in its field. Drawing upon official documents, letters,...

"On July 30, 1945, four days after delivering components for the atomic bomb destined for Hiroshima, the U.S.S. Indianapolis was torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine. The U.S. Navy's blunders, delayed response, and subsequent cover-up is arguably the most appalling scandal of World War II. Of the 1,199 men on board, 883 perished." "Culled from previously unavailable files, this chilling story examines how and why the U.S. Navy left the crew...

A fast-paced, little-known story of danger at sea on the eve of World War II. On the sweltering evening of August 30, 1939, the German luxury liner S.S. Bremen slipped her moorings on Manhattan's west side, abandoned all caution (including foghorns, radar, and running lights), and sailed out of New York Harbor, commencing a dramatic escape run that would challenge the rules for unrestricted warfare at sea. Written by naval historian Peter Huchthausen,...

On May 1, 1915, a luxury ocean liner as richly appointed as an English country house sailed out of New York, bound for Liverpool, carrying a record number of children and infants. The passengers were anxious. Germany had declared the seas around Britain to be a war zone, and for months, its U-boats had brought terror to the North Atlantic. But the Lusitania was one of the era's great transatlantic "Greyhounds" and her captain, William Thomas Turner,...

The story of how a U.S. Navy program sought to develop the marine equivalent of the space station-- and forever changed man's relationship to the sea. We learn of men unafraid to test the limits of physical endurance to conquer a hostile undersea frontier-- and of a government unwilling to take the same risks underwater that it did in space.

Originally published in 1898. PREFACE: The definite object proposed in this work is an examination of the general history of Europe and America with particular reference to the effect of sea power upon the course of that history. Historians generally have been unfamiliar with the conditions of the sea, having as to it neither special interest nor special knowledge; and the profound determining influence of maritime strength upon great issues has consequently...

Although previously undervalued for their strategic impact because they represented only a small percentage of total forces, the Union and Confederate navies were crucial to the outcome of the Civil War. In War on the Waters, James M. McPherson has crafted an enlightening, at times harrowing, and ultimately thrilling account of the war's naval campaigns and their military leaders. McPherson recounts how the Union navy's blockade of the Confederate...