The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea (Oxford Reference)

Rating:
Summary: An Encyclopaedia of Ships and the Sea.
Review: Every time I pick up this book I find myself being drawn into reading far more than was either planned or expected. It is a beguiling book because each fact explained seems to lead to another which must also be found and read. But, in turning the pages one is constantly hijacked by something of interest which has simply caught the eye - and so it continues.

Laid out in true encyclopaedic form, this book contains almost one thousand pages of facts - many of which are supported by black and white graphics or photographs. The only exception is the colour used right at the end to show; Ships flags, ships lights, Buoys and Buoyage - all of which are, of course, wholly dependant on colour in order to be fully explained.

The bookshelf of anyone engaged in the research of ships and shipwrecks would be empty without a copy of this excellent and most useful publication.

NM

Rating:
Summary: An indispensable guide
Review: I am a lay reader, not a student of nautical history, and I found this guide absolutely essential while reading the Aubrey-Maturin novels of Patrick O'Brian.

Rating:
Summary: Another unreliable "reference"
Review: My hobby being nautical history for about twenty years now, I eagerly bought this book hoping it to be a gem. However, to my dismay, the first (and only) time I looked for a subject in it, I found it to be rubbish.

Reading under the subject "caravel": - the old northern confusion between "caravela" and carvel-built ship lurks (they are not equivalent, although the latter definition includes the former) - the "round" caravel is called "caravela rotunda" (in portuguese: "fat caravel"!) instead of its real name of "caravela redonda" or "caravela de armada" - the (very well documented) four mast "round" caravel is described as having three masts: two forward masts with square rig and a lateen mizen!!! Does it mean every three mast square-rigged ship is a caravel? - The "nau" (carrack) "Santa Maria" is called a caravel!!! - The "naus" of Magalhaes are also called caravels!!!

If it wasn't a serious issue, it would be rather comical!

Rating:
Summary: Best possible reference
Review: With an encyclopedic format, this book provides the reader with a wide array of very well written definitions, explanations and anecdotal references to all things nautical. It also includes a significant amount of biographical information on sailors of historical renown and those of more recent times. It is written in such a way as to be captivating on its own - I often find myself looking up a nautical reference and then spending many more minutes or even hours engrossed in the book because of the other items I see when looking up the first. In each entry, the terms used to describe the entry are asterisked if those terms are further defined elsewhere in the book. I found this extremely useful for knowing where else to look for more information related to the particular entry reading. An excellent reference book for novice and expert.