Lieutenant-Commander John Blake, FRIN, served in the Royal Navy and in the Reserve for nearly 16 years as an executive and navigating officer. During his Naval time he served extensively in sea-going ships and qualified as a Navy underwater diver and a Naval air defence specialist. On leaving the service he gained a business diploma and moved into retailing, opening three retail stores in Covent Garden, London; Boston, Massachusetts and later in Osaka, Japan, featuring exclusively British gift products.
In 1991 John Blake and his wife started an Intellectual Property Licensing Agency, Classics Licensing Company, and in 1996 initiated and ran the licensing of the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office archives, producers of the Admiralty sea charts, as their Licensing Agent for six years under the brand name "The Admiralty Collection®".
He is a keen maritime historian and writes regularly on maritime history for "Traditional Boats and Tall Ships" and other magazines.
AOS Other Non-Fiction |
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| Series: n/a | ||
| Year | Book | Comment |
| The Sea Chart | The Illustrated History of Nautical Maps and Navigational Charts | |
| Charts of War | The Maps and Charts That Have Informed and Illustrated War at Sea | |