Books published by Chaplin Books

The Ismay Line charts the rise and fall of one of the most eminent British shipping companies - and tells the story of the family behind it. The founder of the White Star Line, T H Ismay, pioneered a revolutionary design of iron steamships, built for him by Harland & Wolff of Belfast. By the time of his death in 1899 he had become the most successful steamship owner in the world. He was succeeded by his son, Bruce Ismay, who in April 1912 was aboard his latest ship, Titanic, when it collided with an iceberg on its maiden voyage. Ismay survived by boarding the last lifeboat to leave the starboard side of the sinking liner: and thus began one of the greatest witch-hunts of modern times. The Ismay Line draws on many previously unpublished family diaries and correspondence and offers a robust defence of Bruce Ismay's conduct. Originally published in 1961, the book has been out of print for many years and is now a sought-after collector's item.

Haslar was Britain's best-loved hospital. That's not an idle boast. Even Queen Victoria said: 'It would be difficult to think of a hospital more loved than the Royal Hospital Haslar.'Known for its wards with gleaming floors, immaculate bed-linen and dedicated staff, it served the Royal Navy for nearly 250 years, eventually becoming a Tri-Service hospital and then admitting civilians. Little wonder, then, that when it was threatened with closure, 22,000 people took to the streets of Gosport in protest.Memories of Haslar is packed with stories and anecdotes from patients and staff, plus over 100 photographs, many from the hospital's own archives. The stories told here span seven decades, from World War II to the day Haslar closed its doors for the last time in 2009. Some will make you laugh, and some undoubtedly will bring a tear to your eye. All will make you realise just what a special place Haslar occupies in so many people's hearts.

England's Secret Weapon examines the way Hollywood used Sherlock Holmes in a series of fourteen films that spanned the years of World War II in Europe, from The Hound of the Baskervilles in 1939 to Dressed to Kill in 1946. Basil Rathbone's portrayal of Holmes has influenced every actor who has subsequently played this popular character on film, TV, stage and radio, yet the film series has, until now, been neglected in terms of detailed critical analysis.The book looks at the films themselves in combination with their historical context. Though the first two films were set in the detective's 'true' Victorian period, Holmes was then 'updated' and recruited to fight the Nazis. He came to represent the acceptable face of England for the Americans - the one man who could be relied upon to ensure an Allied victory. Enthusiasm for a Nazi-fighting Holmes soon waned, and the series moved first into ghost-and-ghouls chillers, and finally into visceral horror films in which Professor Moriarty, Holmes' old enemy, had been replaced by a new breed of villain - a deadly female.England's Secret Weapon analyses the way the studio steered a careful course between modernising the detective and making sure he was still recognisable as the 'old Holmes' - in clothes, locations and behaviour.

Until that fateful day in 1970 when the Royal Navy abolished the rum ration, the one thing that every Royal Navy sailor could rely on was that 'Up Spirits' would be piped at approximately 11:45 each day . 'Tot-time' was the cue for plenty of banter and lamp-swinging, but also for baffling negotiations as to who might have sippers, wets, gulpers, halfers, sandy bottoms, or their share of 'Queen's'. With the same humour, affection and story-telling ability that characterised his earlier naval memoirs, including HMS Ganges Days and HMS Bermuda Days, Peter Broadbent tells the tale of his nine months as an Able Seaman on board HMS Gurkha, touring the Persian Gulf with a few detours to the Seychelles, Kenya and the Mozambique channel. Along the way he coxswains Royal Marines on a RIB to track down smugglers, pits his wits against a line-up of ultra-intelligent dolphins, persuades dozens of girls from a jam factory in Leeds to write to 'lonely sailors', is one of the transfer team that initiated the 'Beira Bucket' when used to trade its contents for desperately needed toilet paper from HMS Eskimo, and makes it to Gibraltar in time to celebrate England winning the 1966 World Cup. Ayo Gurkhali!

When Penelope Gordon was headhunted to go and work in Doha, Qatar, her sole experience of the Middle East had been a brief luxury break in Dubai. Her husband Lionel, a much-travelled naval officer, was more blasé about the move, but neither was quite prepared for the experience that followed.Penelope left her NHS job at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth to head up medical leadership and education in a state-of-the-art set of hospitals in Qatar - a country, she discovered, where there were no maps, where everyone drove their cars rather like they'd drive camels (fast and wildly), where many of her female staff were completely swathed in black with only their eyes visible, and where no-one expected to have to do something when there was a servant to do it for them, even if it was only pressing the 'start' button on the coffee machine.In this captivating and amusing memoir, Penelope shows how she managed to find the humour in dealing with a culture that was often baffling and opaque - and how she not only survived 800 days in Doha, but turned it into an adventure.