Historic Sail: The Glory of the Sailing Ship from the 13th to the 19th Century (Greenhill Historic Series) [ILLUSTRATED] (Hardcover)

~ Stephen Howarth (Author), (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Howarth and Wheatley's spectacular collaboration isn't exactly a history of sailing ships. It's a beautiful and informative picture book aimed at nautically minded grownups--a set of splendid, full-page, high-contrast illustrations depicting 91 ships, from the medieval Danish vessel called a "cog" to a Scottish tea-carrying ship of 1869. Obscure striped flags dangle from looming diagonal spars, and intricate webs of rigging give space and position to sails actual and potential, as each of Wheatley's meticulously drawn crafts catches the wind from off the page. British naval historian Howarth (Nelson) provides a fact-filled paragraph to accompany each plate, and also supplies a long glossary at the end, defining such terms as "galleass" ("hybrid between an oar-powered galley and a sailing ship") and "jib-boom" ("extension to the bowsprit for mounting a flying jib"). Howarth and Wheatley's volume is the first book of reconstructed sailing-ship illustrations since the '60s, and incorporates new research on how medieval and Renaissance ships, in particular, must have looked and functioned. Maritime duffers will admire the drawings' elegance, while nautical experts will thrill to Howarth and Wheatley's grasp of technical detail. German cogs, Howarth writes, "were characterized by an angular straight stem-post," while English and Danish cogs kept their stem-posts curved--those stem posts "prevented the use of a tiller; instead the rudder was fitted with a crossbar equipped with rope tackles to work it." BOMC alternate. (May)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description

91 color plates 14 x 15
* Lavishly illustrated with large-scale, color artwork
* Detailed narrative of the rise and fall of sailing ships
* Covers more than 500 years of maritime history

This special, large format, magnificently illustrated book is a lavish panorama of some of the most elegant ships ever built and an essential addition to literature on this captivating subject.

Historic Sail features wonderful color artwork by Joseph Wheatley and accompanying text by leading naval historian Stephen Howarth. The vessels covered include: Portuguese carracks; Venetian merchantmen; Spanish galleys and galleons; Elizabethan warships; European ships of the line; and the sleek frigates, yachts and clippers of the nineteenth century.

Joseph Wheatley has spent more than thirty years researching and illustrating the history of sailing vessels. Stephen Howarth is a leading expert on maritime history and the author of numerous books, including a biography of Nelson.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 206 pages
• Publisher: Greenhill Books; illustrated edition edition (April 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1853673994
• ISBN-13: 978-1853673993
• Product Dimensions: 13 x 12.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #496,194 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pictures A-Plenty !!, November 16, 2000

By A Customer

If you are a just lover of Historic Tall Ships and especially if you are a serious Model Shipwright, this book is a must! The *large* pictures and historic details, make this book well worth the price. ...and the price here is a deal. I bought this book when it came out for the full price and don't feel I've missed out not getting it for the lower price here. I promise you, you will enjoy this book forever!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully detailed drawings., January 17, 2003

By	A. J. Watson "Bones" (Newcastle-on-Tyne, UK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A young lad is inspired to draw ships by a challenge from his friend's mother - this developed into a life-long passion and in this book we see the results of that passion. 91 exquisitely-drawn pictures of historic craft from the 13th to the 19th Century are just part of this man's production - would that we could see more.
The detail is amazing; all the stays, halliards, sheets and braces are all in the correct positions; the rake of masts, type of tops, position of gunports etc. is accurate. All this is the result of years of travel and visits to museums, libraries and naval archives, in order to portray the heyday of sail as accurately as possible.
Arranged on facing pages, text by Stephen Howarth on the left, drawing on the right, this is the best collection I have seen in print.
Much of the early data is lost so the drawings of those ships must necessarily be educated guesswork, but generally speaking, if it looks right, it IS right ... and these do look right.
It is fairly unusual to see orthoganal views, normally they are side-on, but a good portion of Mr.Wheatley's drawings show the vessel in 3/4 profile, which gives a much better view of the whole aspect of the ship.
A pricey book, but a delight to the eyes and an inspiration to the amateur artist or modeller.