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Nelson’s Pathfinders, by Michael Barritt

Nelson’s Pathfinders, by Michael Barritt

Barritt’s research is meticulous and observations are revealing.

Nelson’s Pathfinders is essential reading for Naval Historians. It is prescient that it is being published a year after the Admiralty announced it will be withdrawing paper charts and notices to mariners from 2026. For anyone unfamiliar with an Admiralty Chart it is a...

Michael Barritt

Michael Barritt

The naval historian discusses history, his influences and the books that have inspired him.

Michael Barritt, what first attracted you to naval history? My tutor at Oxford was Piers Mackesy, who was working on seminal books on the period 1793-1815, and this focussed my own interest. My subsequent career as a hydrographic specialist in the Royal Navy broadened...

Michael Barritt

Michael Barritt

Captain Michael Barritt Royal Navy is a first generation Scot who grew up near the banks of the River Clyde and acquired an early love for ships and the sea. At Glasgow Academy he was prepared for study of Modern History at Pembroke College, Oxford. His tutor there was Piers Mackesy who inspired a deep interest in the period of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He is the author of Nelson's Pathfinders.
Michael Barritt

Books Click on any of the books covers below to either buy or get more information on Amazon Articles Click on the links below to read the full article [dpdfg_filtergrid custom_query="advanced" use_taxonomy_terms="on" multiple_taxonomies="name_of_author"...

Bomb Group, by Mike Peters and Paul Bingley

Bomb Group, by Mike Peters and Paul Bingley

A compelling story of one unit’s part in the ferocious air battles of 1943 to 1945.
Andrew Critchell

Bomb Group is a compelling story of one unit’s part in the ferocious air battles of 1943 to 1945 that raged over northern Europe, focusing primarily on the human stories that resulted. Assigned to the Eighth Air Force, and equipped initially with Boeing B-17F Flying...

The Decline of the British Army Between the Wars

The Decline of the British Army Between the Wars

In November 1918 the British Army had achieved victories to rank along any of its predecessors. Just over twenty years later it had been humiliated by the Blitzkrieg of the Wehrmacht.

The British Army was catastrophically unprepared for war in 1939. But it wasn’t just the Army that was unprepared. Despite a last-minute rush to re-arm, so too was the whole country. In Britain a deep-seated passivity had set in following the end the Great War. This...

Kilmartin Glen: Where Scotland Was Born

Kilmartin Glen: Where Scotland Was Born

The author of The Chronicles of Iona looks to one part of the British Isles that was at the forefront of progress in the period.

Kilmartin Glen: Where Scotland was born After an ambitious redevelopment project, the award-winning Kilmartin House Museum is set to reopen this summer, promising exciting new insights into the internationally-important archaeological landscape of Kilmartin Glen....

Jack Bowsher on Forgotten Armour

Jack Bowsher on Forgotten Armour

The historian talks about his new book Forgotten Armour and tank warfare in Burma
Jack Bowsher

Jack Bowsher, many congrats on your new book. As the title suggests, the Far East campaign is not particularly well-known for tanks. Why is that? Thank you! Yes, tanks are definitely not the first thing that comes to mind when you think of the Burma Campaign! There...

Tim Spicer on A Suspicion of Spies

Tim Spicer on A Suspicion of Spies

The historian discusses his new biography of Wilfred 'Biffy' Dunderdale
Tim Spicer

  Tim Spicer, many congratulations on the new book. What sort of man was Wilfred ‘Biffy’ Dunderdale? Suave, sophisticated, multi-lingual, highly intelligent, charming but with a core of steel. You mention he was suave and sophisticated but also ruthless. He...

Captain Edward Columbine and the West Africa Squadron

Captain Edward Columbine and the West Africa Squadron

The West Africa Squadron provided Captain Columbine the opportunity to fight slavery

Captain Edward Columbine and the West Africa Squadron Perhaps as a result of his Caribbean experiences, Captain Edward Columbine became convinced of the need to abolish the slave trade, and in 1809 he accepted an Admiralty nomination to join a commission for the...