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Nautical Fiction Index

Authors Am - Ar

Amado, Jorge (1912-2001)

Home is the Sailor: the whole truth concerning the Redoubtful Adventures of Captain Vasco Moscoso de Aragão, Master Mariner. Knopf, 1964. 298 pages

Translation of 1961 novel: Os velhos marinheiros : ou ; A completa verdade sobre as discutidas aventuras do Comandante Vasco Moscoso de Aragão, capitão de longo curso. Old fart masquerading as a sea captain finds himself in command of a Brazilian passenger ship.



 

 

 

Amberg, Jay

Deep Gold. Warner Books, 1991. 245 pages

WW II U-boat torpedoes cruiser containing 13 tons of Russian gold. 50 years later, UK, USA and USSR try to salvage it jointly, but there seems to be a killer curse.



 

 

 

Ambler, Eric (1909-1988)

Journey into Fear. Knopf, 1940. 275 pages

A British engineer returning home from a business trip to Istanbul aboard an Italian freighter is comfortably aware of his own security in a chaotic world and believes that some things could not possibly happen to him. Then he discovers that death is at his elbow, sudden horrible death.


 

 

 

The Levanter. Atheneum, 1972. 307 pages

Michael Howell is "the Levanter," an English businessman trying to keep his family firm intact in Syria, a country undergoing a revolution. He and his secretary-mistress are captured by a splinter group who want him to manufacture bombs.



 

 

 

Ames, N. (Nathaniel) (1796-1835)

A Mariner's Sketches. Cory, Marshall and Hammond, 1830. 312 pages

Originally published in the Manufacturers and farmers journal, Providence.


Nautical reminiscences. W. Marshall, 1832. 216 pages


An Old Sailor's Yarns. George Dearborn, 1835. 338 pages

A combination of story and memoir.



Ames, Nathan (1826-1865)

Pirate's Glen and Dungeon Rock. Redding, 1853. 64 pages

Verse-fiction based the local pirate legend of Dungeon Rock.



 

 

 

 

Andersen, Knud (1890-1980)

In the Grip of the Gale. George G. Harrap, 1939. 254 pages

Translation of: Vejret i vold. Set in New Zealand and the Auckland Islands.



 

 

 

 

Andersen, Uell Stanley (1917-1986)

The Smoldering Sea. A.A. Wynn, 1953. 314 pages

A realistic and quite often brutal depiction of merchant marine life during the early days after America’s entry into World War 2.



 

 

 

Anderson, Alison

Hidden Latitudes. Scribner, 1996. 223 pages

The story of the aviatrix Amelia Earhart, some 40 years after her disappearance on her round-the-world flight. It is told as she spies on a young couple, repairing their boat on her island while sailing in the Pacific. She never reveals herself.



 

 

 

Anderson, Florence Bennett (1883-1968)

The Black Sail. Crown, 1948. 318 pages

Pirate adventure.


 

 

 

 

An Off-Islander : a story of Wesquo by the sea. Stratford Company, 1921. 311 pages

Originally published under the name Florence Mary Bennett.



 

 

 

 

Anderson, G. Reid (George)

Boy 1st Class, and other naval yarns. F. Muller, 1945. 141 pages

The Royal Navy in WW II.



 

 

 

 

Anderson, J. R. L. (John Richard Lane)

Reckoning in Ice. Gollancz, 1971. 224 pages

Mystery novel. Includes a section where the hero voyages to Greenland via Scotland in a folkboat.

 

 

 

 

Death on the Rocks. Stein and Day, 1975. 208 pages

Inspector Peter Blair, out yachting, discovers a woman's body on a rocky shore.



 

 

 

 

Anderson, Poul (1926-2001)

Murder Bound. Macmillan, 1962. 198 pages

Norwegian/Hawaiian detective Trygve Yamamura solves a murder on a San Francisco bound tramp steamer.


 

 

 

 

The Last Viking.

Historical novel based on the life of Harald Hadraada. Written in the 1950s

 

  1. The Golden Horn. Zebra, 1980. 284 pages

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  3. The Road of the Sea Horse. Zebra, 1980. 284 pages

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  5. The Sign of the Raven. Zebra, 1980. 282 pages



 

 

 

 

 

Andom, R [pseud. Alfred Walter Barrett] (1903-1976)

The Cruise of the Mock Turtle. Jarrolds, 1904. 251 pages

Sailing on the Thames Estuary.

 

 

 

 

 

Out and About with Troddles. Holden & Hardingham, 1920. 208 pages

Humorous sketches about boating and other outdoor adventures.



 

 

 

 

Andrews, Robert Hardy (1903-1976)

Buring Gold. Doubleday, Doran, 1945. 217 pages

Novel of eighteenth century England, in which three historical figures appear, Daniel Defoe, the explorer Captain William Dampier, and Dr. Thomas Dover.



 

 

 

Andrews, William Keith [pseud. William H. Keith, Jr. (1950- ) and J. Andrew Keith (1958-1999)]

Freedom's Rangers #5: Sink the Armada! Berkeley, 1990. 217 pages

Russia has taken over the USA and the Freedom Rangers have moved back in time to change the future. In this installment they return to 1588 to help the Spanish Armada beat the Engilsh.



 

 

 

Anhar, Nazam

Milad : the Voyage to Ophir. Scholastic, 2008. 288 pages

Milad has always dreamed of the exciting life of a sailor, but his first voyage as a ship's boy brings more than Milad ever imagined: pirates, treasure, spies, a mysterious stowaway, a dangerous journey from the wilds of Africa to the pyramids of Memphis, and a meeting with the great King Solomon. Milad joins a fleet of Phoenician mariners on an expedition to Ophir, deep in Africa. But before they reach their destination, the fleet is attacked by the notorious pirate Kallabos.


 

 

Scrimshaw. Scholastic, 2009. 313 pages

The in 1700s, Nathan has joined his father for his first- ever voyage by sea - sailing to explore the wilds of the Amazon. But they have not been at sea for long before they are ambushed by pirates. Nathan is taken hostage by the infamous Captain Graham and given a terrible ultimatum: join the murderous pirate crew or face execution.



 

 

 

Annixter, Jane and Paul Annixter

Vikan the Mighty. Holiday, 1969. 192 pages

The life of a sperm whale parallels the adventures of a young harpooner until their confrontation decides their destinies.



 

 

 

Anstey, Edgar Carnegie

The Vanishing Yacht: a story of adventure. Longmans, 1936. 316 pages



 

 

 

 

 

Apollonius Rhodius (early 3rd century BCE - after 246 BCE)

Argonautica. (R.C. Seaton, trans.) G.P. Putnam, 1930. 431 pages

Epic poem about Jason, the Argonauts, and the quest for the golden fleece.



 

 

 

 

Appleton, Victor, pseud. [Stratemeyer, Edward (1862-1930) and Garis, Howard (1873-1962)]

Tom Swift series.

One of the many series of adventure books for boys published by the Stratemeyer Syndicate, Tom Smith is a teen inventor who shares his adventures with close friend Ned Newton. Only titles with nautical plots are included

  1. Tom Swift and his Motor Boat; or, The Rivals of Lake Carlopa [no.2] Grosset & Dunlap, 1910. 237 pages
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  3. Tom Swift and his Submarine Boat; or, Under the Ocean for Sunken Treasure [no.4] Grosset & Dunlap, 1910. 227 pages
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  5. Tom Swift and his Undersea Search; or, The Treasure on the Floor of the Atlantic [no.23] Grosset & Dunlap, 1920. 238 pages
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  7. Tom Swift and his Flying Boat; or, The Castaways of the Giant Iceberg [no.26] Grosset & Dunlap, 1923. 231 pages
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  9. Tom Swift and his Giant Magnet; or, Bringing up the Lost Submarine [no.35] Grosset & Dunlap, 1932. 241 pages



 

 

 

 

 

Ardagh, W. M. [Winifred Mary]

The Magada. John Lane, 1910. 319 pages

Spanish conquest of the Canary Islands.

 

Ardman, Harvey

The Final Crossing. Windsor, 1990. 447 pages

American agent, escaping Germany with two important Jewish refugees, one of whom is a protege of Einstein, books passage on the NORMANDIE, on its final transatlantic crossing prior to the outbreak of WW II. Once aboard he discovers that the ship is also carrying France's gold reserves to the US, and that the Nazis have a saboteur aboard to sink the ship en route.



 

 

 

Argo, Ellen

Julia Howard Logan Trilogy.

Heroine designs and builds an East Indiaman in the 1840s, sets sail with her captain husband to China, and deals with Chinese pirates, gales, typhoons and childbirth.


  1. Jewel of the Sea. Putnam, 1978. 407 pages
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  3. The Crystal Star. Putnam, 1978. 440 pages
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  5. The Yankee Girl. Putnam, 1980. 356 pages



 

 

 

 

 

Armstrong, Richard (1903-1986)

Cold Hazard. Houghton Mifflin, 1956. 180 pages

U.K. title: Danger Rock. Shipmates in the wintry North Atlantic look to an eighteen-year-old boy for survival after their ship founders.


 

 

 

 

Sailor's Luck. Dent, 1959. 245 pages


 

 

 

 

 

The Lame Duck. Dent, 1959. 186 pages


 

 

 

 

 

Horseshoe Reef. Dent, 1960. 160 pages

A story for boys


 

 

 

 

The Secret Sea. Dent, 1966. 151 pages

Revised in 1976


 

 

 

 

Sea Change. Dent, 1948. 211 pages

Concerned with a journey which is carried out by a cargo ship between Liverpool and the main islands of the West Indies. The central character is a young apprentice, Cam Renton, who has reached a turning point in his life. Instead of being given a chance to train in navigation and to develop the skills needed to be an officer he spends all his time on dull jobs liking chipping rust and cleaning brass. He confronts the First Mate of the Langdale, his new ship, and tries to ensure that this latest voyage will be different. Andy, the Mate, proves to be a remarkable character and the story is about how the officer and the apprentice gradually come to terms with their relationship.


 

The Whinstone Drift. Dent, 1951. 221 pages


 

 

 

 

 

Storm Path. Dent, 1964. 182 pages

A ship receives warning of a hurricane, the path of which may or may not cross her course. Prudence dictates avoiding action; but expediency persuades the Master to stand on. The Mate thinks this decision is wrong (though in the beginning he is not at all sure where he stands in relation to the error. As the storm develops, however, so does his conviction that the Master is needlessly hazarding the ship and the lives of her people for his own selfish ends and personal aggrandizement and must be stopped at any cost.


 

 

Ship Afire! : a story of adventure at sea. Day, 1959. 188 pages

Survivors of a torpedoed ship in the North Atlantic during WW II.


 

 

 

 

Out of the Shallows : a story for boys. Dent, 1961. 184 pages


 

 

 

 

 

The Big Sea. D. McKay Co., 1964. 154 pages

An account of a tense three-day struggle to save a ship (S. S. Kariba) after her crew abandons ship, leaving one seaman abooard to ride it out.


 

 

 

 

The Mutineers. D. McKay Co., 1968. 181 pages

Fifteen boys, headed for rehabilitation and resettlement in Australia learn about social order and responsibility after they hijack their ship and land on a distant island.



 

 

 

 

Anderson, Thomas (1899-1978)

Dover Harbour. Collins, 1942. 576 pages

Set during the Napoleonic Wars, the novel centers around the personal conflict between two men, a shipowner and a banker, as to whether Dover should decay into a commercial backwater or grow into a great port, the Key to the Kingdom.



 

 

 

Arnold, Edwin Lester Linden (1857-1935)

The Constable of St. Nicholas. Chatto & Windus, 1894. 263 pages

The 15th century siege of Rhodes by the Ottoman Empire

 

 

 

 

 

Arnold-Forster, H. O. [Hugh Oakeley] (1855-1909)

In a Conning Tower ; or, How I took H.M.S. "Majestic" into Action. A story of Modern Ironclad Warfare. Cassell, 1891. 54 pages

 

Arthur, Elizabeth (1953- )

Antarctic Navigation. Knopf, 1995. 798 pages

The daughter of a Colorado rancher undertakes an expedition to recreate Scott's doomed 1910 journey to the South Pole. The novel analyzes the woman's motives for undertaking the project, a combination of the heroic culture of the West, fertile imagination and the power of books.



 

 

 

Arundel, Louis [pseud. W. Bert Foster] (1869-1929)

Motor Boat Boys series.

One of the many series of adventure books for boys published by the Stratemeyer Syndicate, featuring six teen-aged boys of the Motor Boat Club, and their adventures on various waterways.


  1. Motor Boat Boys' Mississippi Cruise; or The Dash for Dixie. M.A. Donohue & Co., 1912. 237 pages
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  3. Motor Boat Boys on the Great Lakes; or Exploring the Mystic Isle of Mackinac. M.A. Donohue & Co., 1912. 227 pages
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  5. Motor Boat Boys on the St. Lawrence River; or Adventures Among the Thousand Islands. M.A. Donohue & Co., 1912. 238 pages
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  7. Motor Boat Boys Among the Florida Keys; or The Struggle for the Leadership. M.A. Donohue & Co., 1913. 231 pages
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  9. Motor Boat Boys Down the Coast; or Through Storm and Stress to Florida. M.A. Donohue & Co., 1913. 241 pages
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  11. Motor Boat Boys' River Chase; or Six Chums Afloat and Ashore. M.A. Donohue & Co., 1914. 257 pages
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  13. Motor Boat Boys Down the Danube; or Four Chums Abroad. M.A. Donohue & Co., 1915. 238 pages


 

 

 

 

 

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