Book picks similar to
The C. S. S. Florida: Her Building and Operations by Frank Lawrence Owsley Jr.
commerce-raiding
florida
maritime
navy
Destiny's Tide
J.D. Davies - 2019
But a more cruel and dangerous foe is on the horizon. When Henry VIII dissolves the monasteries and wages war against France and Scotland simultaneously, Jack must take up his family destiny at the head of the Dunwich fleet.But enemy blades may be the least of his problems. Aging ships, treacherous rivals and ghosts from the past all threaten to interfere with the war effort. The only man he can trust is Thomas Ryman, a former warrior turned monk.As the English fleet descends on Edinburgh, the dangerous game of politics and war reaches a shattering climax aboard the pride of Henry’s navy – the Mary Rose. Stannard and Ryman know that it is not just their lives that are at stake, but the future of England herself...
Free Fish Friday: Introducing Slacker Mills
Lee Stone - 2014
A vagabond fisherman extraordinaire, the self-indulgent Slacker has just two goals in life. The first is to spend every conscious hour doing only what he loves – hooking and battling big game fish on the ocean by day and hooking up with bar stool sirens at night. The second goal is to avoid any responsibilities that might get in the way of achieving the first. His persistent search for the ultimate angling experience takes him from one ocean paradise to another, where he inevitably becomes entangled in a mystery adventure. His story begins in Key West, Florida, where the 37-year-old Slacker believed he had finally found the ideal life and a lasting home. With his mounted trophies covering the walls of the famous Rusty Hook tavern, he was acclaimed as the best saltwater angler around and never had to pay for a beer. Because every Friday night at the tavern was celebrated with a complimentary banquet of his catch, he also was recognized as a benevolent hero. Through wandering eyes of vacationing ladies, he was typically viewed as "The Catch of the Night." Slacker’s dream lifestyle was attributable to the influence of his best friend and benefactor Jerry Porter, who had landed in Key West aboard his yacht five years earlier. Due to a unique talent for engaging people to talk about themselves while revealing nothing about himself, Jerry quickly bonded with everyone around him. Using those bonds as foundations, he tried to build what he viewed as better and more successful people ... and Slacker was his pet project. The transformation of the Rusty Hook from a local fishermen’s haunt to a Key West landmark was Jerry's crowning achievement. No one had inquired or even speculated much about Jerry Porter’s personal history prior to his arrival in Key West; all were content to revel in his presence. However, when Porter is the victim of a violent death, the traditionally peaceful community is shocked by revelations that there may be a killer in their midst and that perhaps not all of Porter's deeds were worthy of celebration. The charter fishing industry had been losing major clients and perhaps Jerry was the reason for it. A criminal investigation turns up information that damages dozens of families, fractures friendships, and leads to unwelcome national publicity for a town that relies on tourism to fuel the local economy. The police also single out Slacker as the prime suspect, destroying his treasured image among most Islanders, even his closest friends. Exactly who was the mysterious Jerry Porter? How and why did he meet such a violent end? Slacker Mills discovers the answers, and begins to discover himself, in Free Fish Friday.
Dutch Courage: A Brandy Wyne Mystery
Anne Avery - 2020
His death didn’t bother me much, but the fact he’d been driving a brand new Porsche I knew nothing about was a tad upsetting.And that was before I discovered his various banking and investment accounts stuffed with a whole lot of cash I definitely hadn’t known existed. Widowhood, it turned out, was a whole lot more profitable than I’d ever have imagined.It wasn’t long before I’d ditched the Goodwill hand-me-downs I’d been wearing in favor of Versace and Chanel, bought my own brand new Porsche, then driven all the way across country to the Chica Perdida Hotel, the ultra-luxurious resort on Chica Perdida Key in the Florida Keys, which was about as far from California and my old life as I could get and still keep my feet on the ground.The Chica promised sun, sand, and every luxury a girl could want. I assumed it was just bad luck that it also included a dead body on the beach. That is, I did until the local Chief of Police somehow connected the dead man with my dead husband and promptly started eyeing me for the role of Murder Suspect Numero Uno!
An Eidolon Black Ops Boxset Vol 1: Books 1-5
Maddie Wade - 2020
Hot alpha protectors willing do anything to protect the woman they love.Men that live in the shadows they fight for the innocent, for the lost but when they meet the women who bring them to their knees, they realise that fighting isn't always enough--sometimes you have to trust too. As these sexy heroes fall one by one, they realise dying to protect the woman you love isn't always enough sometimes you have to rise from the shadows.
Batfishing in the Rainforest: Strange Tales of Travel and Fishing
Randy Wayne White - 1991
The first collection from the acclaimed Outside columnist.
Wake of the Wahoo: The Heroic Story of America's Most Daring WWII Submarine, USS Wahoo
Forest J. Sterling - 1960
Sterling. USS Wahoo (SS-238) was the most successful American submarine in the World War II Pacific Fleet. She was the first to penetrate an enemy harbor and sink a Japanese ship. And was the first to wipe-out an entire convoy single-handedly. In her 11 short months of life, Wahoo managed an incredible 21 kills, totaling over 60,000 tons of ships. Then, just 45 minutes before leaving Midway (island) for what would be her last and fatal patrol, Yeoman Forest Sterling was suddenly transferred to other duty. The result is this book; Wake of the Wahoo, Sterling's fantastic yet completely authentic account of a remarkable crew, captain and the ship they lived and died for. Wahoo's captain the aggressive and brave Lieutenant Commander Dudley 'Mush' Morton was the pride of the submarine fleet. He would earn the Navy Cross at the helm of Wahoo. The sub's executive officer the daring Lieutenant Richard H. 'Dick' O'Kane. O'Kane would later receive the Medal of Honor in command of the submarine USS Tang (SS-306. Forest Sterling tells the story as no one else could Wake of the Wahoo is a true account of American submarine warfare from a man who lived it ... and live to tell about it.
Nashville 1864: The Dying of the Light
Madison Jones - 1997
This award-winning novel follows twelve-year-old Steven Moore and his slave companion on a nightmarish journey behind Union lines.
Bushwhacker: Autobiography of Samuel S. Hildebrand
Samuel S. Hildebrand - 1871
Like William Clarke Quantrill and "Bloody Bill" Anderson, Samuel Hildebrand was a proud Missouri bushwhacker. In this long out of print book, Hildebrand describes raids and executions his band of men carried out. He remained at the end of the war and unreconstructed rebel and fervent racist. Like many of his southern brethren who fought, he never owned slaves but kept a captured black man with him after the war. This self-serving but fascinating account is a valuable addition to the canon of Civil War literature. In it, Hildebrand claims that others have tried to tell his story but have gotten it wrong, so he has a notarized statement by prominent men included as verification of authenticity. Every memoir of the American Civil War provides us with another view of the catastrophe that changed the country forever. For the first time ever, this long-out-of-print book is available as an affordable, well-formatted book for e-readers and smartphones. Be sure to LOOK INSIDE or download a sample.
PAPA Hemingway in Key West
James McLendon - 1972
From his first days on the island he came to know and love fishing and the sea. For the next twelve years the famed author called the island his home. His years in Key West became the most crucial and prolific years of his life. During that period he wrote Death in the Afternoon, Green Hills of Africa, numerous important short stories, To Have and Have Not, and began For Whom the Bell Tolls. He also created and became his own living legend, self-consciously constructing the swaggering image known to the world as Papa.In the early 1970s journalist James McLendon seized the opportunity to interview Ernest Hemingway’s Key West friends who remained alive. A Key West resident himself, McLendon wrote this book by combining his knowledge of the island with his conversations and with the extensive Hemingway-related material held by the Monroe County Public Library. McLendon recreates the slow-paced, sub-tropical setting, the island’s Depression years, and the people and places that infused and inspired Hemingway. These were the years that saw his love affair with Martha Gellhorn and the crumbling of his marriage to Pauline Pfeiffer. Beyond letters and legal documents, too little of the Hemingway era in Key West is found in biographical studies. Because this book was first published in 1974, much of what exists in those studies today is derived from this manuscript. This book gives us a penetrating look at the significance of the Key West era in Hemingway’s career. James McLendon was a columnist for the Key West Citizen, a creative writing instructor and a freelance writer. His dispatches and articles appeared in various U.S. newspapers and magazines, including UPI wire services, the Christian Science Monitor and Writers Digest.
Our Simple Gifts: Civil War Christmas Tales
Owen Parry - 2002
A writer whose work has been called, “gripping” (Washington Post), “top-notch” (Chicago Tribune), and “marvelous historical fiction” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch), Parry brings us a moving quartet of unforgettable tales that celebrate the simple and often forgotten pleasures of generosity, friends, kindness, and family. Our Simple Gifts is a wonderful gift of hope and joy from an unparalleled storyteller.
Valor's Measure: Based on the heroic Civil War career of Joshua L. Chamberlain
Thomas Wade Oliver - 2013
From his legendary bayonet charge down the slopes of Little Round Top hill during the Battle of Gettysburg, to the startling calling of Union troops to salute as the defeated Confederate Army surrendered to him at Appomattox, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain redefined the scale of greatness in this country. Wounded six times in battle, twice assumed to be a fatality, the volunteer officer from Maine continued to lead gallantly until the final shot was fired during the Civil War. Valor's Measure tells the death-defying tale of this Medal of Honor hero and captures his spirit as no autobiography can.
The Palm Beach Murder: The True Story of a Millionaire, Marriage and Murder
Marion Collins - 2004
But when the reckless social climber and adulterer turned marriage in their Palm Beach mansion into a luxurious hell, the beautiful Georgia debutante wanted out--and half of her husband's fortune to take with her.Then in 1987, a hit man unloaded three bullets into Lita's head.Her family demanded justice. James had other plans--and the money to insure it. But it wasn't until eleven years later that a startling confession from a surprise witness would bring James Sullivan's comfortable life crashing down around him. The cold-blooded millionaire was indicted and fled the country turning hotspots across the globe into exotic private playgrounds before settling with his new fiancée in a sumptuous resort near Bangkok, where he was arrested four years later. From Palm Beach elite to life in a squalid Thailand jail cell, Marion Collins' Palm Beach Murder is the astonishing true story of one man's flight from justice and one family's burning desire to make him pay.
Military Memoirs of a Confederate: A Critical Narrative
Edward Porter Alexander - 1993
His memoirs, however, has earned him the most fame, and is one of the most cited accounts of the Civil War.
The Last Citadel: Petersburg, Virginia, June 1864-April 1865
Noah Andre Trudeau - 1991
For 292 days, the war's final drama was played out over the fate of this once gracious Southern town, the last bulwark of the Confederacy. The book covers the 11-month siege of Petersburg.
Dark Waters: An Insider's Account of the NR-1, The Cold War's Undercover Nuclear Sub
Lee Vyborny - 2003
Navy's top-secret, four-hundred-ton submarine, an expensive, dangerous vessel with a custom-built miniature nuclear reactor designed as a secret weapon during the Cold War. Reprint. 25,000 first printing.