World History from

This is the fourth printing of Rails to the Tableland, The Story of the Cairns Railway, published by the Australian Railway Historical Society in 1976 and a best-seller for many years. It is the fascinating story of the history, construction and operation of the Cairns Railway, both main and branch lines. It includes detailed descriptions of the sections, including the Chillagoe… Read more about this item

This is a first edition of Great Maritime Museums of the World, a very high-quality coffee table book. Each museum covered has case histories and descriptions written by their curators. The museums covered are: Australian Maritime National Museum, Sydney, Australia Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada Vancouver Maritime Museum, British Columbia, Canada Viking… Read more about this item

This is a first edition of Clans and Tartans of Scotland, by the Scots historian Iain Zaczek. Photo #1 is from the publisher. It is an illustrated guide to the clans, tartans and families of Scotland, with high-quality images and the histories of the clans. It begins with a brief overview of the clan system and the tradition of wearing tartan;… Read more about this item

This is a first edition (1967) of The Search for Speed Under Sail 1700-1855, by Howard Chapelle (1901-1975), a naval architect and curator of maritime history at the Smithsonian. It is considered an important work on the development of the fast sailing ship; it uses a new method of comparing the speed of sailing vessels built at different dates. It is… Read more about this item

This is a very handsome copy of The Spanish Inquisition: A Historical Revision, by the British historian Henry Kamen, who is an expert on the subject. In it, he dispels many of the myths and misconceptions about what happened during that dark time; he argues that there was less persecution and violence than we think. This book was first published in… Read more about this item

This is an unread First US Edition of I Saw Esau: The Schoolchild's Pocket Book, written by the English folklore experts Iona and Peter Opie. It was originally published in 1947. In 1992, it was re-published, this time full of color illustrations by the great American illustrator Maurice Sendak, best known for Where the Wild Things Are, and his many… Read more about this item

This is the first edition, first printing, of The Spycatcher Omnibus, the first collection of the works of Lt. Col. Oreste Pinto (1889-1961), the Dutch counter-intelligent agent who worked for MI5. He was very successful and his activities led to the capture of at least 8 spies. His books were made into a radio series, then a TV series, of… Read more about this item

This is a first edition (American printing) of Mistress to an Age: A Life of Madame de Stael, published in 1958. It is the biography of Germaine de Stael, the 18th-century French intellectual, writer, and salon hostess who was so influential, and so vigorously in opposition to Napoleon, that she was kicked out of France. This copy is in near-mint condition.… Read more about this item

This is a pristine copy, and first printing, of The Folio Society's version of Memoirs of a Georgian Rake, a book known for its excellent portrayal of British society in the late 1700s and early 1800s. It is the memoir of the English lawyer William Hickey (1749-1830); it was written in 1810 but not published until 1913. The Folio Society published… Read more about this item

This is a stated First U.S. Edition of Selkirk's Island: The True and Strange Adventures of the Real Robinson Crusoe. It was written by the British author Diana Souhami and published in 2002. It's a fascinating book, telling the life of Alexander Selkirk and all of the circumstances surrounding his stranding, his life on the island, the ships he sailed on,… Read more about this item

This is a hard-to-find copy of Raj: A Scrapbook of British India 1877-1947, written by the British historian Charles Allen, best known for his famous book Plain Tales of the Raj. It is an 8" x 10" soft cover collection of rare photographs depicting the life of the British in India, along with lots of explanatory text. This copy has a crease… Read more about this item

This is the second reprint of Jane's Fighting Ships of World War I, originally published by Jane's in 1919. This is now the world's greatest reference work of its kind, accepted everywhere as a symbol of accuracy and authority. It begins in 1914 with photographs, line drawings and data tables of warships and includes submarines and the aircraft that were integrated… Read more about this item

This is the 1975 reprint of Jane's Fighting Ships 1950-51. The original book is a collector's item; so is this reprint. It's an important book because it illustrates the pattern of development of the world's navies after WWII. It shows the development of the aircraft carrier, and the American Navy's first atomic-powered submarine. It's an exact reprint, in that it includes… Read more about this item

This is a first edition of The Far Lands, by the American writer James Normal Hall (1887-1951), who is best known for the Mutiny on the Bounty trilogy. It was published in 1950. It is the fictional re-telling of the settlement of Hawaii seen through the eyes of the legendary figures found in Hawaiian mythology. A group of Tongans are in… Read more about this item

In 1939, John Player & Sons issued the 24-page book Uniforms of the Territorial Army. Smokers in Britain and Ireland found a card in their packages and pasted them into the book. This is one of those books, with the complete collection pasted inside. Note: These images are scans. The book's covers are quite soiled and pages 11-14 (one piece) have come… Read more about this item

This is a pristine First American Edition (1975) of Napoleon by the English author John Bowle. It is the biography of the great general, going from birth to death. It was first published in the UK in 1973. This copy was also printed in the UK, then shipped to the US for marketing by a Chicago publisher. Laminated covers. Unclipped dust jacket.… Read more about this item

This is a stated First American Printing (1927) of Revolt in the Desert, by the British soldier T. E. Lawrence, aka Lawrence of Arabia (1888-1925). It was published in the UK in 1926 and is Lawrence's shortened version of The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, which is the account of his experiences while serving as a liaison officer with rebel forces… Read more about this item

This is a near-mint copy of Harper's Magazine, April 1993. It has not been read; the subscription cards are still in it. 96 Pages See Table of Contents Scan Cover: The Last Shot: Basketball in Brooklyn: Black Kids Looking for a Way Out - Medical Residences: The Next Health Care Crisis - Intercontinental Lost Souls - Gays, The Military, My Son - Human Rights After the Cold… Read more about this item

This is a stated First American Edition of SMITHSONIAN MUSIC: THE DEFINITIVE VISUAL HISTORY, published in 2013. Through text and a massive number of images, it shows how music has evolved with human society, accompanying our leisure, religious rituals, and popular festivities. It begins with pre-history and before musical notation, when melodies were memorized or improvised and goes through historical… Read more about this item

This is the second printing (1971) of The Tower of London, by the British author R.J. Minney. It was first published in 1970 and was a best-seller. It is a chronicle of the events, and a discussion of the major exhibits, at the famous building. 233 pages, 8 3/4" x 11 1/4". Loads of photos, mainly black and white. The dust jacket… Read more about this item