February 2017

There is one new naval fiction titles out this month together with some non-fiction releases.

Brief information is given below with links to the full website articles.

This month articles have appeared about the following books:

Fiction

Author Julian Stockwin's new novel, Persephone, will be released in hardcover and kindle and audio formats worldwide on 18 May 2017. It is now available for pre-order.

Non-Fiction

This year sees the 350th anniversary of the Dutch attack on the Medway in June 1667 during the Second Anglo-Dutch war. A number of events are planned to mark this anniversary. Also a book first published in 1970, The Dutch in the Medway by P. G. Rogers, is to be re-released and as few original copies are available this will be the first chance many who want to know more about this conflict will have to read it.

According to J. D. Davies, author of The Journals of Matthew Quinton, an expert on the navies of the period who is writing a foreword for the new edition "..... his account remains the fullest available in English, and is highly readable". It is available for pre-order and will be released in the UK on 28 February 2017 and in the US on 15 April 2017.

Helen Hollick has a new non-fiction book available for pre-order, Pirates: Truth and Tale. It will be released in hardcover in the UK on 15 February 2017 and in the US on 1 May 2017.

Other Nautical Fiction

David O'Neil recently released a new novel, Privateer. It is available worldwide in Paperback.

Each month I provide a short bio of one of the authors on the site. This month we will look at Robert Michael Ballantyne

Robert Michael Ballantyne (1825 - 1894) was principally a writer of fiction for young adults. He was was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and went to Canada aged 16, where he spent five years working for the Hudson's Bay Company. He traded with the local Native Americans for furs, which required him to travel by canoe and sleigh to the areas occupied by the modern-day provinces of Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec, experiences that formed the basis of his novel Snowflakes and Sunbeams (1856).

In 1847 Ballantyne returned to Scotland to discover that his father had died. He published his first book the following year, Hudson's Bay: or, Life in the Wilds of North America, and for some time was employed by the publishers Messrs Constable. In 1856 he gave up business to focus on his literary career, and began the series of adventure stories for the young with which his name is popularly associated. He spent his later years in Harrow, London, before moving to Italy for the sake of his health. He died in Rome.

Among his many novels can be found some on life at sea including two which can be classed as historic naval fiction. Many of his novels are not copyright in many countries and some are available as free eBooks.

First editions or first paperback releases this month

Fiction

Title: An Honorable War: The Spanish-American War Begins

Author: Robert N Macomber

Regions: Worldwide

Format(s): Hardcover

Release Date: 15 February 2017

Non-Fiction

Title: The Burning of His Majesty's Schooner Gaspee: An Attack on Crown Rule Before the American Revolution

Author: Steven Park

Regions: UK

Format(s): Hardcover

Release Date: 28 February 2017

Title: Pirates: Truth and Tale

Author: Helen Hollick

Regions: UK

Format(s): Hardcover

Release Date: 15 February 2017

As fans of the genre, I'm sure many of you will already know that author Douglas Reeman has died at this home in Cobham, Surrey, at the age of 92. He wrote many naval and nautical books but he is probably best known for the Bolitho series written under the pen-name Alexander Kent.

Today we have a steady flow of new works from a number of authors but that was not always the case and a new book in the Bolitho series was something you could look forward to.

Douglas has certainly left his mark on the genre and nautical literature as a whole, a legacy that will last.

Do you enjoy reading the books? If so why not chat about them in the forum at: historicnavalfiction.net

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