Monday 5 November 2018

The Last Galley

Some reading for you. Pleasurable, not a chore...

Arthur Conan Doyle penned a series of stories about the ancient world in 1915. The anthology is entitled 'The Last Galley - Impressions and Tales'. The stories are short but many quite evocative in the way he describes the ancient world they are set in. Some ideas are anachronostic or even quaint but the stories work anyway when penned by a master story-teller.

Conan Doyle was no stranger to life on the ocean wave. He was doctor on an expeditionary ship in the Arctic Sea. He kept a notebook now available from the British Museum.
Conan Doyle 3rd from left.
 'The Last Galley' is about a Carthaginian galley. While it is a short piece it is full of atmosphere and has a lethal twist in the tail. In a few words he brings the Mediterranean to life.
Could be 'The Last/Lost Galley ?   Found this at random. No i.d. Anyone know where this 'ship' is ? Looks like a copy of Olympias but crazily shortened- stern ornament stowed inside.

You can read the book HERE at Project Gutenberg, choose any format.

If you don't know Project Gutenberg, ..shame on you.. . Out of copyright books available for no money. Many classics, a lot of academic works and historical material. Go there and get lost for a few hours. e.g.
Title: Ancient and Modern Ships. 
Part 1. Wooden Sailing Ships
Author: George C. V. Holmes
 
Title: Famous Sea Fights 
From Salamis to Tsu-Shima
Author: John Richard Hale
 
Title: The Certainty of a Future Life in Mars
Author: L.P. Gratacap