When Queen Victoria came to the throne in 1837, the British Battle Fleet comprised ships that were only marginally different from those that had won the Battle of Trafalgar a generation earlier. By the end of her reign in 1901 their successors would have been unrecognisable to Nelson's sailors. Gone were the towering sail plans, the 'wooden walls' and large numbers of relatively small muzzle-loading guns, to be replaced by black-painted steel hulls, driven independent of the winds by steam machinery, protected with sophisticated armour, and mounting a very few large breech-loading guns firing explosive shells. The only thing unchanged was the Royal Navy's dominance of the world's oceans, seized at Trafalgar and never relinquished. How the Naval Administration coped with this unprecedented revolution in technology without losing maritime ascendancy is the theme of this latest book by Norman Friedman. He analyses the broader factors of politics, economics and international rivalry that bore down on the decision-making and explains how these influences worked through into the ships that were actually built. The result is a much deeper and more sympathetic understanding of the 19th-century Royal Navy and its warship designs. It is a well-illustrated and comprehensive gallery of photographs with in-depth captions accompanied by specially commissioned plans of the important classes by A. D. Baker, and a colour section featuring the original Admiralty draughts, including a spectacular double gatefold. 400 huge pages, 25 x 29.5cm.
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First published 10 years ago and still relevant, this study examines the progressive sidelining of the Royal Air Force since its decisive role in the Allied victory of World War II in which the RAF had developed quickly with the help of US and Canadian lend-lease money to form the front line of defence against a numerically superior force. Scaling down began in 1945 as the country contemplated a huge economic challenge following the cost of defeating the Axis powers, in contrast to the US which had not suffered bombing raids on housing and infrastructure. At the same time, in the post-war years, Britain started to negotiate the loss of empire which had constituted a major cost to the nation in administering and defending distant territories. Britain's retention of the nuclear deterrent depended on the special relationship with America as the world started to divide between the two superpowers. The RAF has shouldered a greater burden of defence cuts than the other two forces, particularly following the infamous 1957 white paper from Duncan Sandys which proposed the cutting and discontinuation of forces stationed in Germany. This exacerbated the on-off saga of the TSR2 project, opposed by Mountbatten who was chief of defence staff, and its cost-effective alternative, the F-111 with its variable geometry swing-wing designed by Barnes-Wallace. The "trip-wire" scenario of the fifties gave way to "flexible response" but the whole system and its political assumptions were overturned by the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989. The author follows the RAF from its establishment in 1918 with 22,000 aircraft to the Strategic Defence Review for the coalition government of 2010 with George Osborne as chancellor. Arguments for the disbanding of the RAF came from all political shades of opinion. Some elements would go to the Fleet Air Arm, but big planes such as transports, tankers and airborne warning and control would pose a challenge for the other services to operate, particularly the latter which was deployed in Afghanistan at the time of the book's publication. Here are fascinating tales of aerial adventure, sonic boom and iconic aircraft and the security the RAF brings us. 256pp, many photos.

This classic account of the event that changed the course of World War I was first published in 1956 and revised in 1996. The huge Cunard passenger ship Lusitania was torpedoed on 7 May 1915 and sank quickly, with a loss of 1198 lives. With her revolutionary turbines she had pushed transatlantic speeds up several knots, and her elevators, complete electrification and rudimentary air conditioning set a standard of comfort well into the following decades. The disaster brought America into the war, although the authors dismiss suggestions that Churchill suppressed information about nearby U-boats in order to bring about this outcome. Rumours of gold bullion, however, have never been satisfactorily answered. The U-20 captained by Kapitanleutnant Schwieger struck near the Irish peninsula of Kinsale. The book follows a wide range of passengers including Charles A. Plamonden and his wife, a machinery manufacturer, who along with several other passengers received a mysterious telegram warning him not to travel. Businessman Edward B. Bowen cancelled his sailing because of a premonition. The German embassy in Washington issued a warning about sailing into British waters, but it was dismissed by the manager of Dewar's whisky, who was also travelling, as "tommyrot". Mme de Page was a charity worker raising funds for Belgian relief, while the fabulously wealthy Alfred Vanderbilt was travelling along with the playwright Justus Forman. The realities of the war had not sunk in to many Americans, and the author alternates scenes aboard the U-20 with social life on board the Lusitania. There was a nursery for first class passengers, though the majority of children were in second. Six year old Ellen Smith, rescued by a Canadian journalist, lost her mother, father and sister. Survivor Elizabeth Duckworth, a steerage passenger returning to her home in Blackburn, jumped from one lifeboat to another in order to help with the rowing. Vivid descriptions of the sinking come from the eyewitness testimonies of survivors, for instance Theodate Pope or Margaret Mackworth who jumped 60 feet into the sea, while the experiences of those waiting for news are poignantly described. 259pp, paperback, photos.

The UK's regional aeronautical treasures are housed in a wealth of museums of all sizes, in amazing venues, containing aircraft of the world, of national or regional importance. With region-by-region coverage, the backgrounds of the formative museums are highlighted along with the pedigrees of their most significant exhibits. Included are such icons as the de Havilland Aircraft Museum, home of the Mosquito, the Brooklands Museum, headquarters of Sopwith, Hawker and Vickers; the Helicopter Museum, the world's largest rotorcraft collection and Solent Sky, shrine to flying-boats and the Spitfire. Smaller collections for example the Martlesham Heath Control Tower Museum, home of the British flight test; the RAF Air Defence Radar Museum devoted to the vital 'magic eye' of the Battle of Britain; the Glenn Miller Museum at the airfield from which the band leader departed to his doom, and the Fort Paul Armouries, dominated by the enormous Beverley airlifter. Over 60 museums and their most important exhibits are profiled with over 300 photographs of aeronautical gems. Some colour, 352pp.

Styled for the Road was an exhibition held at the Wolfsonian-Florida International University which holds an impressive range of posters, prints, books, toys, models, paintings and ephemera about ocean liners to automobiles from the late 19th through to the mid-20th century. The aim was to provide a catalogue inviting viewers to consider the significant role of designers, illustrators and architects in the development of the newly emerging car culture and growing industry. A network of new showrooms displayed automobiles and served the needs of clients and salesmen and fuelled the imagination of prospective buyers with sleek poster designs for the Lincoln Zephyr gleaming, the Buick of 1939, to the light delivery car. Gorgeous full page colour illustrations show in-house styling studios at work for General Motors, the Sheller steering wheel, motor shows, the Ford tow truck, Goodyear tyres, the Dodge four-door Sedan 1948 to the REO Master Speed Wagon and a futuristic view of intercity transportation 1940 by John Ricketts, all in the finest sleek design. Streamlined cars, the convertible Victoria, the Duesenberg convertible, here are the glamour cars of the 30s and Chryslers built with quality, all making dreams come true. With biographies. Gorgeous colour plates, large spiralbound softback 102pp, 20 x 26 cm. Colour.

A heartbreaking, inspirational and uplifting true story of hope and bravery. Only those who have been prisoners have any concept of the horrors of incarceration or the ineffable joy of release. In mid-1943, a British PoW in Germany began cryptic communication back to England with one goal in mind - to establish a secret trust fund that prisoners of war could use in order to purchase their very own Spitfire to soar above them in the skies over occupied Europe. It was to be named Unshackled Spirit, and this aircraft, along with this one man's selfless act, epitomised the courage and strength of thousands of men. The accounts compiled are from a collection of original YMCA personal wartime logs as issued to RAF prisoners of war in 1944. The book draws out the story of each aviator, how they became a prisoner and life in the various camps. Extensive and amazingly detailed pieces of artwork are taken from the logs and illustrated in the book. An important aspect is how agencies helped by supplying all manner of equipment to the thousands of men behind barbed wire. The role of MI9 is revealed and how it participated in those agencies exploring efforts taken to smuggle escape material into camps without breeching the Geneva Convention and finally the extraordinary measures taken to secure intelligence during the process of prisoner repatriation. Shoot the proofreader for some glaring errors in an otherwise interesting book with chapters on Wing Commander Douglas Bader and Warrant Officer Sydney Eric Hamblin and Bernard Howard Nutt among them, the RAF in Buchenwald and Stalag XII. 320pp, well illus.

The Garrick Theatre (telephone Southport 5000) poster entices listeners to come and hear the latest tunes by Joe Loss, see George Formby or watch Babes in the Wood at the Pier Pavilion. In a superb gallery of steam trains, we follow the rise of cinema and the decline of music halls, Morecambe and Wise getting their act together on a train while touring the provinces, the bread and butter circuit, the theatre architect extraordinaire Frank Matcham and right back to the good old days when Charles Dickens catches the train during Hard Times. This beautiful and nostalgic book by Lancashire-based social historian Hindle embraces more than 320 excellent colour photographs and black and white images of steam-hauled passenger trains that once conveyed passengers to the great Victorian and Edwardian music halls and variety theatres. Supported by copious variety bills, anecdotes and personal reminiscences, here are the seaside shows, the famous Blackpool Tower, the Moss Empire circuit and the infamous Glasgow Empire. Railways brought mass mobility for passengers long before the age of the car and special trains accommodated complex sets and all the paraphernalia to be transported for the performing companies around the country. They enabled famous London and northern-based performers such as Marie Lloyd to travel the country and reach their matinées and twice-nightly performances on time. The passing of Ken Dodd signalled the last of the genre of music hall performers and the end of an era, recorded beautifully in this 184 glossy page book. Colour. Satin pagemarker.

Whenever vessels have foundered off the coasts of Britain, there have always been those willing to give their all to save those in peril. But in 1823 Sir William Hillary decided that this admirable but impromptu approach was not enough. He believed that many more lives could be saved by the establishment of a national, organised rescue service and his idea was realised the following year. We read here of the exploits of Harry Blogg of Norfolk, the most decorated life boatman ever and the only one to be awarded three gold medals other than Sir William Hillary himself; the merchant ship spared by a WW2 U-boat 'ace' whose crew were rescued by Paddy Murphy of the County Down Lifeboat later in the war; Lieutenant Parry of the coastguard, the Trafalgar veteran who earned his gold medal rescuing the crew of a French fishing vessel only to be shot during an encounter with smugglers three months later, causing his premature retirement, and Father O'Shea, the Waterford priest who initiated a rescue attempt with a cry of 'Come, boys! Who will help me to man the lifeboat?' And Grace Darling who has a worthy place in any story collection featuring lifeboat heroism. Above all these are human stories using information gleaned from archives, contemporary newspaper accounts and genealogical records. 261pp in large softback, photos.

Here is a tale of armies of men travelling halfway round the world to shovel foreign soil into English wheelbarrows, a story of high finance with millions raised in London for such exotic sounding enterprises as the Ferrocarril al Oeste, or the Bombay, Baroda and Central Indian Railway. The first 'railways' were used in mines in Germany with trucks running on plain wooden tracks with a groove down the middle. The development of steam engines paved the way for the locomotive. This special book tells the story of how the British were responsible for the construction and management of a large proportion of the railways constructed in Africa, South America and Australasia, not to mention many thousands of miles of mileage in Asia, India, Malaya, Burma, China and Japan. The book looks at the political, economic and technical aspects of this development. 264 glossy white pages with over 100 colour and archive images and woodcuts for example of Robert Stephenson the great engineer, photos of American railroads, navvies at Balaklava and a McIntosh Caledonian Railway locomotive built by North British for the Belgian Stage Railway circa 1908.

'By Road, Rail and Water 1948-1972' is the sub-title of this lavish heavyweight Silver Link Silk Edition, a companion to code 94649 By Rail to The Music Halls. Turn back the calendar to the mid 20th century and the wet cobblestones of Preston Station, a strategic junction on Lancashire's railways in 1962 with the 11.30am departure for Southport waiting, one of the 'call offices' and an old wooden telephone booth still visible. When your train arrived it was anything from six to 14 coaches long with a guard's/luggage van at one end for large luggage, prams, bicycles, motorcycles, small merchandise and baskets of racing pigeons under supervision of the guard. When we ride these coaches on preserved steam railways today we contrast them with the hard-padded, airline-style seating in the claustrophobic modern coaches with their masked views from the seats behind. The steam locomotive on the head of your train barked and hissed as it blasted its way out of town in a volcanic cloud of black smoke and white steam and gathered speed, the exhaust echoing against bridges and lineside buildings. We galloped through the countryside at 70mph on a well oiled network. The author's father passed down his 1925 vintage Kodak Brownie No.2 box camera to him when he was 10, and this photographer always looks back. This combined edition covers all of the country from Kent, London and Sussex, Wessex to Cornwall, Norfolk to Cheshire, Widnes to Furness, Yorkshire to the Border, Wales, Man and Scotland. Approximately 500 quality nostalgic colour and black and white images witnessing the twilight of the canal trade, tramways, steam railways, trolleybuses, ocean liners, harbours, shipyards, horse-draw vehicles and steam road locomotive. 336 glossy colourful pages, satin pagemarker.