History - Maritime History & Piracy

Notable shipwrecks of Lake Michigan throughout a century of enterprise, industry, heroism, and disaster on the Great Lakes The Great Lakes are graveyards of a vast number of shipwrecks (30,000 by some estimates), and Lake Michigan has more than the other four lakes combined....

In 1628 the Dutch East India Company loaded the Batavia, the flagship of its fleet, with a king's ransom in gold, silver, and gems for her maiden voyage to Java; the ship itself was a tangible symbol of the world's richest and most powerful...

Set against the backdrop of the Age of Exploration, Black Flags, Blue Waters reveals the surprising history of American piracy's "Golden Age" - spanning the late 1600s through the early 1700s - when lawless pirates plied the coastal waters of North America and beyond....

Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard, was one of the most notorious pirates ever to plague the Atlantic coast. He was also one of the most colorful pirates of all time, becoming the model for countless blood-and-thunder tales of sea rovers. His daring exploits,...

Discover the "fascinating and outrageously readable" account of the roguish acts of the first pirates to raid the Pacific in a crusade that ended in a sensational trial back in England--perfect for readers of Nathaniel Philbrick and David McCullough (Douglas Preston, #1 New York...

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...

2025 Readers' Favorite Book Awards Gold Medal-winner A breakneck adventure of war, romance, and politics in the golden age of piracy. Captain William Kidd stands as one of the most notorious "pirate" outlaws ever, but his legend is tainted by a bed of lies....

2025 Readers' Favorite Book Awards Gold Medal-winner 2025 American Book Fest Best Book Award Finalist A breakneck adventure of war, romance, and politics in the golden age of piracy. Captain William Kidd stands as one of the most notorious "pirate" outlaws ever, but his...

2025 NAUTILUS BOOK AWARDS GOLD WINNER"Deep Water is a major achievement....Bradley's skills both as novelist and essayist converge here to create this wise, compassionate and urgent book, characterized throughout by a clarity of prose and a bracing moral gaze that searches water, self and...

National Outdoor Book Awards Winner The true, harrowing story of the ill-fated 1913 Canadian Arctic Expedition and the two men who came to define it.In the summer of 1913, the wooden-hulled brigantine Karluk departed Canada for the Arctic Ocean. At the helm was Captain...

This is the amazing story in words and images of the historic discovery of the wreck of Ernest Shackleton's Endurance, deep beneath the ice of Antarctica. In March 2022, an international polar expedition team made an astonishing find: the wreck of Ernest Shackleton's legendary...

"Thoroughly engrossing . . . a spirited, suspenseful, economically told tale whose significance is manifest and whose pace never flags." --The Wall Street Journal From The New York Times-bestselling author of The Ghost Map and Extra Life, the story of a pirate who changed...

Become an eyewitness to the tragic story of the Titanic - from its incredible construction, catastrophic sinking, and lasting legacy. Travel back to the year 1912 and experience the Titanic's fateful maiden voyage from Southampton, UK, to New York City. Learn what life was...

Become an eyewitness to the tragic story of the Titanic - from its incredible construction, catastrophic sinking, and lasting legacy. Travel back to the year 1912 and experience the Titanic's fateful maiden voyage from Southampton, UK, to New York City. Learn what life was...

Florida is largely influenced by the illicit and fascinating activites of pirates. Authors James and Sarah Kaserman recount the stories, legends, and myths of piracy in Florida.The coast of southwest Florida, with its shallow waters, inlets, and mangrove islands provides the setting and backdrop...

A definitive, sweeping account of the Underground Railroad's long-overlooked maritime origins, from a pre-eminent scholar of Atlantic history and the award-winning author of The Slave Ship As many as 100,000 enslaved people fled successfully from the horrors of bondage in the antebellum South, finding...

On December 4th, 1872, a 100-foot brigantine was discovered drifting through the North Atlantic without a soul on board. Not a sign of struggle, not a shred of damage, no ransacked cargo--and not a trace of the captain, his wife and daughter, or the...

In this breathtaking chronicle of the most spectacular shipwrecks and survivals on the Great Lakes, William Ratigan re-creates vivid scenes of high courage and screaming panic from which no reader can turn away. Included in this striking catalog of catastrophes and Flying Dutchmen are...

Author Jennifer Boresz Engelking explores the intriguing history of Lake Erie. What lies below the surface of Lake Erie? Gold coins from long-ago shipwrecks, like the tragic sinking of the G.P. Griffith. The menacing, mysterious Lake Erie Monster. How about a whiskey ship that...

The terrifying true story of a fight for survival for 28 hours in shark-infested waters.October, 8, 2022.Three friends are fishing for red snapper when their boat, tied to an oil rig, begins taking on water and sinks 15 miles out in the Gulf of...