From the Maritime Bookshelf
Julia’s book reviews are a personal selection of nautical and maritime literature, chosen for their insight, adventure and ship-shape storytelling. Each review offers a thoughtful exploration of a title’s strengths, context and appeal for sailors and sea-lovers alike.
From classics of seafaring to modern guides and memoirs, these reviews reflect Julia’s deep experience on and off the water.
2026
March
February
January
2025
Coming soon…
Archive
The following is a comprehensive archive of Julia’s older book reviews, dated from 2017 to 2021. (Each link opens in a new tab)
2021
Sailing on the Edge: Alone Across the Atlantic (1 November 2021)
The Boatyard Book (1 November 2021)
Practical Skipper (1 November 2021)
The Life of a Boat (1 November 2021)
The Sea Is Not Made of Water (1 November 2021)
Reeds Eastern Almanac 2022 (1 November 2021)
Reeds VHF Handbook (1 October 2021)
A Pensioner’s Folly (1 October 2021)
Madhouse at the End of the World (1 October 2021)
The Chancellor: George Millar, a Life (1 October 2021)
Treasured Islands (1 October 2021)
Seamanship 2.0 (1 October 2021)
What Ship, Where Bound? (1 September 2021)
Salt in the Blood: Two Philosophers go to Sea (1 September 2021)
Boatbuilding Yesterday and Today (1 September 2021)
Hillyard: The Man, His Boats and Their Sailors (1 September 2021)
North Brittany and Channel Islands: Cruising Companion (3rd edition) (1 August 2021)
Farewell Mr Puffin (1 August 2021)
The World’s my Oyster Trilogy (1 August 2021)
The Paddleboard Bible (1 July 2021)
Blue Star Adventure: A Circumnavigation of Britain (1 July 2021)
Waves and Beaches (3rd edition) (1 July 2021)
West Country Cruising Companion (9th edition) (1 June 2021)
The Secret World of Weather (1 June 2021)
The Ultimate Guide Canal du Midi (1 May 2021)
Capri: Sailing Distant Seas (1 May 2021)
Atlantic Crossing (1 May 2021)
Sketchbook Sailor (1 April 2021)
The Dolphin (1 April 2021)
Arctic and Northern Waters (2nd edition) (1 April 2021)
Rites of Passage (1 March 2021)
Sailing Yacht Design (1 March 2021)
Mr Pilbeam Builds a Boat (1 March 2021)
Around These Islands in 12 Ports (1 February 2021)
The Years Thunder By (1 February 2021)
Skipper Tips for Everyday (1 February 2021)
Sailing the Waterways of Russia’s North (1 January 2021)
High Latitude Sailing (1 January 2021)
To the Caribbean and Back (1 January 2021)
2020
The Nautical Puzzle Book (1 December 2020)
Those Seal Rock Kids (1 December 2020)
Celebrating Traditional Boats: Glorious Brest (1 December 2020)
People of the Sea (1 December 2020)
Draca (1 December 2020)
Waldringfield: A Suffolk Village beside the River Deben (1 December 2020)
The Cruising Almanac 2021 (1 December 2020)
Children at Sea: Lives Shaped by the Waves (1 December 2020)
Britain’s Canals (1 December 2020)
RAF Search and Rescue (1 November 2020)
A Scotsman’s Odyssey (1 November 2020)
Churchill’s Admiral (1 November 2020)
The Figure 8 Voyage (1 November 2020)
Never Leave a Man Behind (1 November 2020)
Ionian (10th edition) (1 November 2020)
An Illustrated Guide to Cruising on the Inland Waterways of France: Canal de la Marne au Rhin (1 October 2020)
The Making of an Immigration Judge (2nd edition) (1 October 2020)
Yachtmaster for Sail and Power (5th edition) (1 October 2020)
Firth of Clyde (3rd edition) (1 October 2020)
Bridging Our Differences (1 August 2020)
Coastal Scotland (1 August 2020)
The Titanic and the City of Widows It Left Behind (2 July 2020)
How to Tie Knots (2 July 2020)
Phantom Islands (2 July 2020)
Sea, Ice and Rock (1 July 2020)
Rivers of Power (1 July 2020)
Adriatic Pilot (8th edition) (1 July 2020)
Dark, Salt, Clear: Life in a Cornish Fishing Town (1 June 2020)
Life on the Deben: The Story of a Suffolk River (1 June 2020)
Navigation: a newcomer’s guide (3rd edition) (1 June 2020)
Chile: Arica Desert to Tierra del Fuego (4th edition) (1 May 2020)
Mingming II & the Impossible Voyage (1 May 2020)
A Cockpit Anthology: Poems to be Read at Sea (1 April 2020)
The Gift of a Sea: A Short History of Yachting in the Mediterranean (1 April 2020)
The Cape Verde Islands (1 April 2020)
Seashaken Houses (1 March 2020)
Foiling (1 March 2020)
Stress‑Free Navigation (1 March 2020)
South China Sea (1 February 2020)
The Boundless Sea: A Human History of the Oceans (1 February 2020)
Travels with My Nan (1 February 2020)
Trim: The Cartographer’s Cat (1 January 2020)
The Man Who Discovered Antarctica (1 January 2020)
Fantastic Female Adventurers (1 January 2020)
2019
Stand Up Paddleboarding: a Beginner’s Guide (1 December 2019)
Ocean Sailing (1 December 2019)
How to Sail with Dogs (1 December 2019)
Tales of Three Ships (1 December 2019)
Mayflower (1 December 2019)
East Coast Pilot (5th edition) (1 December 2019)
Italian Waters Pilot (10th edition) (1 December 2019)
Fernhurst “Practical Companion” series (1 December 2019)
The Pull of the River (1 December 2019)
The Summer Isles: A Voyage of the Imagination (1 November 2019)
Nelson’s Arctic Voyage (1 November 2019)
The Sailor’s Checklist (1 November 2019)
Yachting: Start to Finish (1 October 2019)
Atlantic Spain and Portugal (1 October 2019)
Hard Down! Hard Down! (1 October 2019)
Through the Netherlands via the Standing Mast Routes (1 September 2019)
How to Build a Boat (1 September 2019)
Escape Under Sail (1 August 2019)
Turkish Waters & Cyprus Pilot (10th edition) (1 August 2019)
John Rae Arctic Explorer (1 August 2019)
Oysters and Oilskins (2 July 2019)
Superdocious! (2 July 2019)
Coastal Britain: England and Wales (2 July 2019)
Dive Scapa Flow (1 July 2019)
Short‑Handed Sailing (1 July 2019)
Happy Hooking: The Art of Anchoring (1 July 2019)
Cruising the Inland Waterways of France and Belgium (1 June 2019)
The Way to the Sea (1 June 2019)
Cutty Sark: The Last of the Tea Clippers (1 June 2019)
Nautical Works (1 May 2019)
The History of Navigation (1 May 2019)
Mediterranean Almanac 2019‑2020 (1 May 2019)
Running Free (1 April 2019)
Sail Away (1 April 2019)
The Good Shepherd / Greyhound (1 April 2019)
The Epic Voyages of Maud Berridge (1 March 2019)
Greek Waters Pilot (13th edition) (1 March 2019)
Sailing to the Edge of Time (1 March 2019)
Finding Pax (1 January 2019)
World Voyage Planner (1 January 2019)
Falling (1 January 2019)
2018
In Bed with the Atlantic (1 December 2018)
The Cruising Almanac 2019 (1 December 2018)
Singlehand (1 December 2018)
Reeds Nautical Almanac 2019 (1 November 2018)
South: the Race to the Pole (1 November 2018)
Astronauts of Cape Horn (1 November 2018)
Learn the Nautical Rules of the Road (1 October 2018)
The First and The Fastest (1 October 2018)
Where the World Ends (1 October 2018)
Racundra’s Third Cruise (1 September 2018)
To the Ice and Beyond (1 September 2018)
The Restoration Handbook for Yachts (1 September 2018)
Where the Magic Happens (1 August 2018)
Knox‑Johnston on Seamanship and Seafaring (1 August 2018)
Reeds Splicing Handbook (1 August 2018)
Shakedown Cruise (2 July 2018)
Kintyre to Ardnamurchan – 2nd edition (2 July 2018)
The Seabird’s Cry (2 July 2018)
Over the Top (1 July 2018)
Ocean Nomad (1 July 2018)
Multihull Seamanship (1 June 2018)
The Adlard Coles Book of Mediterranean Cruising – 4th edition (1 June 2018)
The Sea Takes No Prisoners (1 June 2018)
Sail and Rig: the Tuning Guide (1 May 2018)
The Atlantic Crossing Guide – 7th edition (1 April 2018)
The Message of the Clouds: How You Can Forecast the Weather (1 March 2018)
Off the Deep End: A History of Madness at Sea (1 March 2018)
Good Little Ship: Arthur Ransome, Nancy Blackett and the Goblin (1 March 2018)
The Baltic Sea and Approaches – 4th edition (1 March 2018)
Riddle of the Waves (1 February 2018)
Cape Horn and Antarctic Waters (1 January 2018)