Steam-ships

“This is a book that can be read with both pleasure and profit by any one who takes an interest in ships and the sea, which means every English man, woman, and child ... its author has set down all that is and ever has been known concerning those vessels which have navigated the ocean under sail. The text is helped out by a series of really beautiful illustrations.... From the Seaman’s point of view the book is above all praise, as no man can write lovingly of ships and not deal in the technicalities of the craft of the mariner. This has been done here with a certainty and sureness of touch which is the outcome of an absolutely perfect knowledge of the subject, and at the same time with such clearness and simplicity of style that the land-lubber can read and understand.... There is no unnecessary wealth of detail in this book, but at the same time no important facts are slurred over, no important change in build or rig is ever missed. It is this that makes of it such eminently satisfactory reading.... A work of such special and remarkable value that it is certain to survive as a classic on this particular subject.”—Pall Mall Gazette.

“It is the full and complete history of the Sailing Ship from early Egyptian times to the present, written, not by a “dry-as-dust” or a book-worm, but by a man who is passionately devoted to the sea.... The volume, as might only be expected of the publishers, is beautifully printed, and is filled with excellent illustrations showing every shape of the development of sailing ships. It is impossible to do justice to Mr. Chatterton’s book within a small space.... There is nothing left to be desired in the matter of plans, pictures, or index, and we can only offer our hearty congratulations to the author on a very fine piece of work.”—The World.

“It is not only a book that the average British boy will gloat over and revel in to his heart’s content, but it is even one that his elders will find abundant interest in—sufficient to chain their attention once they essay to dip into its pages. The book itself is made beautiful with a hundred and thirty illustrations, while it is not often that one comes across a work got up in such excellent style, or that does such real credit to its publishers.”—United Service Gazette.

“Mr. Chatterton has the right temper and inclinations for writing a book of this sort.... He has a practical knowledge of sailing, and an evident passion for what Stevenson called “the richest kind of idling”—hanging about harbours and docks and picking up sea-lore from communicative “shellbacks.” Besides this, he is a scholar in naval learning.... The illustrations in the book are excellent ... this book should be in every naval library.”—Spectator.

“We need only say that the whole book is as interesting as a romance, and as informing as an encyclopædia, while not a single page can be called dull or dry. The numerous illustrations are excellent and appropriate, and the whole book deserves the highest praise and commendation.”—Bookseller.

“A monument of research.”—Daily Mail.

“Interesting and instructive ... both timely and welcome.”—Times.

“Admirable ... his criticisms are always those of the seaman as well as of the expert.”—Westminster Gazette.

“Beautifully printed and copiously illustrated. ‘Sailing Ships and their Story’ will be found most interesting and instructive to every lover of the sea.... The work is one that should be found in the library of every yachtsman.”—Yachting World.

“Must be considered ... a standard work.”—Yachting Monthly.

“Mr. Keble Chatterton’s final chapter on the development of the fore and aft rig will be of special interest to yachtsmen.”—Daily News.

“This is a heartfelt book ... it will long hold first place as an authoritative work.”—Nation (New York).

“A work full of fascination, and abounding with accurate information.”—The Field.

“It is just the sort of book to have for handy reference on board the yacht when one sits on deck in the gloaming of the second dog-watch smoking a pipe and arguing with a nautical friend. It is a book, too, for the marine artist, its one hundred and thirty illustrations being technically correct.”—The Dial (Chicago).

“Mr. Chatterton has produced a valuable book.”—Daily Chronicle.

“Altogether it is the most absorbing historical work of its kind I have ever read.”—Collier’s Weekly.

“... Likely to be recognised as a standard work on the subject....”—Court Journal.

“There isn’t one ‘dry’ or uninteresting page in the whole treatise.”—Maritime Review.

“A work that will prove a veritable classic of the sea, and make of him the standard historian of the sailing ship.”—Nautical Magazine.

“To compress the history of the development of the sailing vessel from the rude dug-out of prehistoric Nile explorers to the iron clippers of to-day into some three hundred pages is a feat of which Mr. Chatterton may well be proud.”—Naval and Military Record.