It was a feat that had never been accomplished and one that would forever change the face of sailing. Ten months later, only one of the nine men would cross the finish line and earn fame, wealth, and glory. For the others, the reward was madness, failure, and death.In this extraordinary book, Peter Nichols chronicles a contest of the individual against the sea, waged at a time before cell phones, satellite dishes, and electronic positioning systems. A Voyage for Madmen is a tale of sailors driven by their own dreams and demons, of horrific storms in the Southern Ocean, and of those riveting moments when a split-second decision means the difference between life and death.

    For more than eighty-five years now, the terror and tragedy of that night has gripped the world's imagination, and the legacy of the Titanic has only continued to grow.Here, for the first time, is the most complete story of the Titanic - the construction of the largest and most luxurious ship the world had ever seen, her passengers and maiden voyage, the terrifying night of the sinking, the dramatic discovery, recovery, and conservation efforts, as well as astonishing new scientific information and artifacts gathered during recent expeditions to the site. Finally, answers to many of the enduring mysteries surrounding the Titanic.- Features photographs from recent RMS Titanic, Inc. expeditions.- Includes new research, insights, and images from the acclaimed Discovery Channel documentary Titanic: Anatomy of a Disaster.

    Ken Marschall's lavish paintings depict the ships in their shining prime as well as in their eerily poignant underwater repose.

    Robert Ballard, one of the discoverers of the sunken Titanic, now retells the story of that great calamity and goes on to describe the sinking of four other seagoing giants. Showing readers what it's like to dive down to a gigantic wreck, he tells the story of the Empress of Ireland, which sank with more loss of life than was experienced on the Titanic; the Lusitania, whose sinking helped propel the United States into World War I; the Britannic, the sister ship of the Titanic, which was sunk by German submarines; and most recently the Andrea Doria, stuck and sunk off the coast of Massachusetts in 1956. With superb and thrilling illustrations by Ken Marschall, this is a book for whose interest in sea disasters has been whetted by the enormous attention the Titanic has recently received.

    It's much more than a knot book, though the knots a sailor needs are all here. It's a book for sailors who want the satisfaction and hard-cash savings of stepping their own masts, inspecting and maintaining their own rigs, and turning their own tailsplices and wire eyesplices. It is for boatowners who want to replace an entire gang of rigging themselves--measuring, choosing appropriate wire, turning soft eyes, leathering, and serving. It is for bluewater voyagers who want to feel secure in the knowledge that, should a shroud carry away far at sea, they will be able to repair it.The Complete Rigger's Apprentice is also a free-roaming collection of useful ideas and tips on everything from supplementing winches with block and tackle, to rigging snubbers at anchor, to using pantyhose for an emergency fanbelt. In short, it's the definitive book on the art of rigging, written by its most entertaining practitioner.

    Although our own government-all the way up to the White House-was fully aware of the potential for disaster, they buried the facts, deciding to protect the American public from the truth...but not from the danger.Now, for the first time, in the words of the survivors, the whole story is told-a minute-by-minute, heartbeat-by-heartbeat account of the underwater terror and top-secret, top-level intrigue. From the military command centers of both the U.S. and Soviet Union to the bridge of the stricken sub itself, you'll share in a riveting true chronicle of courage, deception, and senseless death.

    Full accounts are given of the famous events of the period, such as the loss of the turret ship "Captain", the bombardment of Alexandria in 1882, the ramming of the "Victoria" by the "Camperdown" in 1893, the Spanish-American War of 1898 and the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05. Illustrated throughout with many rare contemporary photographs, this is an indispensable study of one of the most exiting periods in warship development.

    After the setbacks of the American Revolutionary War, the Royal Navy had been renewed and revitalised, so in 1793 a well prepared fleet embarked on the new conflict with France and was rewarded with a series of almost uninterrupted victories.

    Each ship is described in a vivid short essay that captures its personality as well as its physical characteristics, construction, and history, from the drawing board to the scrap yard or museum. Even fictional ships and boats, such as the African Queen, are included. Two hundred illustrations show the grandeur and grace of oceangoing vessels, maps help the reader follow the tracks of the great seafarers and naval campaigns, and time lines offer a chronological perspective on archaeological sites, naval warfare, technology, exploration, and disasters at sea. Ships of the World is not only an invaluable reference but fascinating reading for anyone who has the slightest interest in history or who simply likes messing about in boats, whether on the water or from a comfortable chair at home.

    . . . Alterations and the addition of more lifeboats and rafts after the Titanic sank made the Eastland so unstable that it rolled over in the Chicago River. . . . The vessel's entire career is examined, and . . . the disaster itself is meticulously described and analyzed. Hilton also critically evaluates the subsequent civil and criminal court proceedings, raising a number of issues relating to marine safety regulations and the compensation of the victims' families."—Choice"Irony and tragedy combine in this account of America's worst marine disaster. . . . Hilton constructs a careful account of the events leading up to the calamity. The disaster itself is recounted minute by minute. . . . The numerous illustrations and period photographs, as well as numerous appendixes, make this a definitive account."—Library Journal"This is the book on the Eastland."—Inland Seas"It contains vivid accounts of drownings and rescues, heroism and cowardice."—Chicago Tribune