• Latest Publication:

    Fighting Ships - From the Ancient World to 1750

    Beginning with Ramses III's dramatic defeat of the 'sea people' in 1176 BC – the world's earliest visual record of a naval battle – Fighting Ships tells the story of 3000 years of maritime history through 150 glorious images [...] Read more...

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    Fighting Ships - From the Ancient World to 1750

  • Other Publications:

    The Fighting Temeraire

    The latest book to be published by the naval and maritime historian Sam Willis. For the first time it tells the fascinating story of the vessel in J.M.W. Turner's iconic painting as well as the making of the painting itself [...] Read more...

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    The Fighting Temeraire

  • Other Publications:

    Fighting Ships 1750-1850

    Sails blaze and shred, ranks of cannon trade volleys and, glimpsed through palls of smoke, desperate figures fall to the waves or cling for dear life. Through the eyes of the most famous maritime painters of their time [...] Read more...

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    Fighting Ships 1750-1850

  • Other Publications:

    Fighting Ships 1850-1950

    As bombs rain down, smoke engulfs sinking ships, and the stench of burning oil rises, men struggle to turn the course of history. In a single shot, a photographer captures the blazing Mikuma and Mogome at the Battle of Midway [...] Read more...

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    Fighting Ships 1850-1950

  • Other Publications:

    Shipwreck: A History of
    Disasters at Sea

    Shipwrecks are treasure troves of the past, revealing remarkable stories of heroism and tragedy. They have intrigued us for centuries, capturing the imagination of artists and writers, and illuminating the past for historians and archaeologists [...] Read more...

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    Shipwreck

  • Other Publications:

    Fighting at Sea in the Eighteenth Century: The Art of Sailing Warfare

    Until now the history of warfare between sailing warships has long been divorced from the practicalities of seamanship and the harsh reality of battle. The skills required to fight have, for generations, been poorly understood [...] Read more...

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    Fighting at Sea in the Eighteenth Century: The Art of Sailing Warfare

Maritime Historian and Archaeologist

Dr Sam Willis is a maritime historian and archaeologist. His writing is infused with his own experience and knowledge of seafaring. Before becoming a full time author he spent eighteen months at sea on square-rigged sailing ships which included work on the Hornblower TV series and on Channel 4’s award winning film Shackleton. The Shackleton project involved building a replica of Shackleton’s ship the Endurance and sailing her into an arctic ice pack.

On his return from the arctic Sam worked in the curatorial department of the historic ship, I.K. Brunel’s ss Great Britain, as the final stages of her innovative conservation plan were implemented. To arrest the rusting of the iron hull, a glass ‘sea’ was constructed that sealed the hull from the elements. Read more...

Latest Blog:

Chatham Dockyard, The Fighting Temeraire and HMS Achilles.

Geoffrey Winter has kindly got in touch from Australia because he was particularly interested in the construction of the Temeraire at Chatham Dockyard.  His great great great grandfather, John Weekes, was the Assistant Master Shipwright at Chatham until his retirement in 1830. His work between 1815 and 1830 would therfore have perfectly straddled the period [...]

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