Sovereigns of the Sea: The Quest to Build the Perfect Renaissance Battleship

by Angus Konstam

Overview

Savor the story of the ultimate warship in Sovereigns of the Sea: The Quest to Build the Perfect Renaissance Battleship, which chronicles the history of Sovereign of the Seas, an immensely powerful floating fortress. You will enjoy this gripping tale of an arms race that created and ruined empires, changed the map of the world, and led Europe out of the Renaissance and into the Modern age. Understand how the Sovereign of the Seas became the model for a whole new generation of warships that would dominate naval warfare until the advent of steam power.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781620458747
Publisher:	Trade Paper Press
Publication date:	08/01/2008
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	338
File size:	8 MB

About the Author

ANGUS KONSTAM is a widely published author who has written several books on piracy, including Blackbeard: America’s Most Notorious Pirate, The History of Pirates, and Piracy: The Complete History. A former naval officer and museum professional, he worked as a curator of weapons in the Tower of London and as the chief curator in the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum in Key West, Florida, before becoming a full-time historian and writer. An expert on weapons, shipwrecks, and piracy, he has advised several underwater archaeological groups and appears regularly on both the Discovery and the History channels. He lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.

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Table of Contents

Atlas     vii
Preface     xi
Acknowledgments     xiii
Introduction: The Quest     1
Europe Comes of Age     9
Knights of the Sea     23
The Shipbuilding Revolution     63
The Great Rivals     83
The Black Art of Gunfounding     123
The Baltic Connection     143
From Carrack to Galleon     171
The Invincible Armada     193
Phoenix from the Ashes     217
Prestige over Practicality     233
Toward the Holy Grail     263
The Sovereign of the Seas     281
Postscript: The Ship of the Line     301
Notes     309
Bibliography     321
Credits     329
Index     330