Books published by Fireship Press

"If you only ever read one book in your lifetime about the legendary Old Tom Morris-THIS is the one to read!" Written during Old Toms' lifetime by a longtime friend of his-William Tulloch-it is the only biography of Tom Morris that was seen by him prior to his death. It is not only the definititive work on his life, it beautifly captures both St. Andrews and what golf was like in its earliest and purist form. Follow the life of Old Tom Morris-his beginnings as an apprentice golf clubmaker, his titanic matches with Willie Park and Davie Strath, and his four British Open championship wins. Witness the development of his son, Tom Morris, Jr. as he develops into a world-class player, winning four Open Championships in a row, then tragically dies at the age of 24. And meet the various colorful characters who made up golf before it became a multinational industry. This is a must read for any golfer even remotely interested in the history of the game.

¿[The Cruise of the Cachalot] is immense¿there is no other word. I've never read anything that equals it in its deep-sea wonder and mystery; nor do I think that any book before has so completely covered the whole business of whale-fishing, and at the same time given such real and new sea pictures.¿ RUDYARD KIPLING The Cruise of the Cachalot is the story of a ship¿a South Sea whaler¿and the men who sailed on her. First published in 1897, it is the first whaling account written from the standpoint of an accomplished seaman, by an accomplished seaman. In 1869, at age 12, Frank Bullen went to sea. Over the years he travelled the world while serving in every capacity from ship¿s boy to first mate. In 1883 he became a clerk in the relatively new British Meteorological Office where he made a sufficient name for himself to eventually become a Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society. But, his first love was always the sea; and his primary respect was always for the common seaman. As a result, he spent the last years of his life writing books and lecturing in an attempt to better the health, safety and living conditions of those men. The the level of detail presented in this book is truly astonishing. Making it all the more remarkable is that every bit of it is based on first-hand experience, and delivered with a unique and engaging mixture of literary simplicity and nautical authority. If you wish to genuinely understand the world of the 19th Century whaler, the book to read is not Moby Dick, or some other moby-clone. It is THIS one. "Mr. Bullen has a splendid subject, and be handles it with the pen of a master... The Cruise of the Cachalot is a book which cannot but fascinate all lovers of the sea, and all who can appreciate a masterly presentation of its wonder and its mystery, its terrors and its trials, its humours and its tragedies." THE LONDON TIMES

"This is an intelligent, articulate, Cole Younger-not the blood-thirsty desperado of myth. Now he tells HIS side of the story."The Kansas-Missouri border was a bitter place in the 1850''s, and no one knew that more than the Younger family. Southern sympathizers, the Younger brothers saw their father murdered, their mother burned out of her home, their cousins imprisoned, and their property pillaged.This led Cole Younger to join Quantrell''s Raiders and later to become a lieutenant in the Confederate army; where he acquired a reputation for bravery to the point of recklessness.After Appomattox Younger was prepared to settle down, but the war was not prepared to let him. In Missouri the brutally unfair Drake Constitution gave amnesty to Union soldiers for deeds done during the war, but held Confederates account-able. No former confederate soldier or sympathizer could practice any profession, hold any office, or even vote. In effect, Cole Younger was forced to become a criminal-literally as a continuation of the war he wanted so desperately to quit.At that point the legend began."On the eve of sixty, I came out into the world to find a hundred or more books, of greater or lesser pretensions, purporting to be a history of "The Lives of the Younger Brothers." I venture to say that in the whole lot there could not be found six pages of truth."This then is HIS side of the story.

Lost for almost 100 years. An engaging portrait of the man who is arguably the greatest Admiral of the Napoleonic Wars-Sir Sidney Smith. Everyone knows the two greatest heroes and the two greatest battles of the Napoleonic Wars. They were Admiral Horatio Nelson''s victory at Trafalgar, and Field Marshall Arthur Wellesley''s victory at Waterloo. However, it''s entirely possible that there would have never been a Trafalgar or a Waterloo if it had not been for one man-Sir Sidney Smith. Sir Sidney who? Yes, exactly. That''s the point of this book. Joseph Parson paints an unforgettable portrait of a truly overlooked hero. It is not a history or a biography, as it makes no pretense at being exhaustive. Rather, in a short, easy to read, volume, he paints a vivid portrait of this man, and why he was so important. Consider just three of his many feats: In 1793, at Toulon, Sir Sidney personally destroyed 10 French ships of the line, and Nelson criticized him for not having destroyed more. In 1798, Nelson defeated 13 French ships at the Battle of the Nile. What would have happened if Nelson had faced 23 French? Would there have even been a battle, or would the hunter have become the hunted? In 1799, Napoleon marched out of Egypt to take Constantinople. To do that, he had to take the city of Acre first. In a two-month battle, a British naval officer-Sir Sidney Smith-defeated Napoleon, head-to-head, on land. His immediate superior, Admiral Nelson, never lifted a finger to help him out; yet, if Smith had not defeated Napoleon at Acre, there would have never been a Battle of Trafalgar. In 1807, Spain and France had divided Portugal, and Napoleon very much wanted to take Lisbon. At stake was a royal treasury estimated at 500,000,000 francs-money Napoleon desperately needed. Smith forced an indecisive royal family (and their treasury) to flee out of one end of town, literally as the French were entering the other. If Napoleon had gotten that money, would there even have been a Battle of Waterloo in 1815; or would it have been all over by then? If you only ever read one book about Sir Sidney Smith, this is the one to choose!

Me Father was the keeper of the Eddystone light,He married a mermaid one fine night...The Eddystone Rocks are among the most feared and romanticized rock formations in the world. Guarding the approaches to Plymouth, England, over the centuries it has claimed hundreds of ships and thousands of sailors.In 1696 Henry Winstanley tried to build a lighthouse there. It, along with the good Mr. Winstanley. were swept away in the Great Storm of 1703.In 1706 John Lovett commissioned John Rudyerd to began work on a lighthouse to which he could charge a toll to passing ships. Completed in 1709, it burned down.It remained for a scientific instrument maker, and self-proclaimed civil engineer, from Leeds, England to complete the job. With amazing intuitive insight, John Smeaton borrowed his basic design from the shape of an oak tree trunk; and built a lighthouse that would stand for over 120 years. Eventually it became the standard design for almost all lighthouses around the world.It''s a compelling story of both the tragedy and the triumph of genius.This work is based on an anonymously published book printed in 1876 by T. Nelson and Sons. It is presented here as a Fireship Press Contemporized Classic.T

Now Available in One Volume! Three great Napoleonic Era Novels by one of the Greatest Story-tellers of all time. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.Uncle Bernac: A mysterious message summons a man back to his ancestral home in France. There he finds service with Napoleon-and an uncle who is not only a vicious undercover operative, but has swindled his family out of their estates. It''s difficult to take action, however, when Napoleon desperately needs his uncle''s skills.The Exploits of Etienne Gerard: Move over Harry Flashman! You''ve met your match in the form of Etienne Gerard-the most outrageous Frenchman ever to don a Napoleonic uniform. The (self-described) greatest swordsman, greatest horseman, and greatest lover in the French army is turned loose in a series of improbable adventures that will have you on the edge of your seat-when you''re not falling off it with laughter.The Great Shadow: Two men fall in love with the same women, who is, in turn, swept away by a mysterious renegade Frenchman. It is an affair that can only be settled by the death of either the Frenchman or one of his English rivals. No one suspected, however, that it would require the killing fields of a place called Waterloo to resolve it.

"Short. Quick. Entertaining. A marvelously fun read!" Raymond Oliver, then the Curator for the McClellan Aviation Museum (now the Aerospace Museum of California), was once asked by a colonel why her title was pronounced "kernal" and where her eagle insignia originated? That simple question began a quest to trace the development of various categories of rank. What began as a paper, however, soon developed into a booklet, which eventually wound up as this book. Have you ever asked yourself questions like: Why is Colonel pronounced "kernal"? Why does a Lieutenant General outrank a Major General? Why is Navy Captain a higher rank than Army-Air Force-Marine Captain? Why do Sergeants wear chevrons? If you are in the military, this book will give you a deeper appreciation for your rank and insignia-and you might find yourself wearing it with even more pride. If you have not been in the service, or are a family member of one who is, this book might help to put an historical perspective on the often confusing layers of rank. Either way: military, ex-military, soon-to-be military, friend or family... it's a delight!