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The Ship of the Line (ePub)

A History in Ship Models

Maritime > Seaforth Publishing > Seaforth: Modelling Maritime > Ship Modelling Military > Modelling

By Brian Lavery
Seaforth Publishing
File Size: 33.5 MB (.epub)
Pages: 128
Illustrations: 150 colour photos
ISBN: 9781848323384
Published: 14th January 2015

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The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich houses the largest collection of scale ship models in the world, many of which are official, contemporary artefacts made by the craftsmen of the navy or the shipbuilders themselves, and ranging from the mid seventeenth century to the present day. As such they represent a three-dimensional archive of unique importance and authority. Treated as historical evidence, they offer more detail than even the best plans, and demonstrate exactly what the ships looked like in a way that even the finest marine painter could not achieve.
The Ship of the Line is the second of a new series that takes selections of the best models to tell the story of specific ship types – in this case, the evolution of the ship of the line, the capital ship of its day, and the epitome of British seapower during its heyday from 1650–1850. This period too coincided with the golden age of ship modelling.
Each volume depicts a wide range of models, all shown in full colour, including many close-up and detail views. These are captioned in depth, but many are also annotated to focus attention on interesting or unusual features, and the book weaves the pictures into an authoritative text, producing a unique form of technical history.
The series is of particular interest to ship modellers, but all those with an enthusiasm for the ship design and development in the sailing era will attracted to the in-depth analysis of these beautifully presented books.

As always in these cases, the combination of the editorial quality of Seaforth books with text by authors with great preparation and professionalism has led to the creation of a volume that, among other things, benefits from a good quality / price ratio and that it is really recommendable to those who wish to deepen this fascinating topic.

STORIA militare, May 2019

So this book is not only an exciting journey into the development of these impressive ships, but also a true feast for the eyes of every model builder

ModellWerft, June 2017

This is a fluent description of the development of the ship of the line made all the more lucid by the well chosen illustrations.

Warship 2017, reviewed by W B Davies

The book is a small study on the evolution of ships of the line , included in a specific period between 1650 and 1850. To accompany the explanations of the study , the author has used photographs of a series of scale models of ships belonging to the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich addition to other pieces of various private collections.


When I received the book, I felt a little intimidated by its small size. Accustomed to large volumes within this theme, I expected a much bigger book, a book that seems impressive even in your hands without looking inside.

Big mistake on my part friends, because when I opened it and I started reading and viewing their pictures I was quite impressed ...

A book very interesting no doubt. This is one of those few books that have found the perfect balance and is already a small work of art.

-Jose Manuel Rico Cortes
Translated from Spanish

José Manuél Rico Cortés (Mister JM) - Miniaturas JM

The author is one of the foremost naval historians of his generation with special skill and knowledge of sailing warships of the 18th and 19th Centuries. He has been widely published for many years and his knowledge sought by period film companies. This book therefore needs little introduction. What it does very well is provide full colour illustration of ships that have long since ceased to exist. Traditionally, books covering the history and technology of these wooden warships have required drawings and sketches, with a few colour photographs of rare survivors, such as HMS Victory, USS Constitution, and the Swedish Vasa. What the author has done is use colour photographs of models held in the great maritime museums and originally built...

The author has selected models to illustrate the progressive development of the Ship of the Line and beautifully shot images complement text that demonstrates the breadth and depth of the author's knowledge, built up through a lifetime of study. Ship enthusiasts will want their own copy of this book, but it is also a work of art that will appeal to those with a peripheral interest in the subject but will enjoy the high quality full colour images.

FIRE Reviews

As seen in...

Mariners's Mirror

As seen in...

Warship World

A great inspiration for modern modellers.

Military Modelling

This book utilises photographs of many of the best examples of models to tell the story of the evolution of this ship type, the capital ship of the day, and the epitome of British seapower during its heyday of 1650-1850.

Marine Model Magazine

This is a beautiful book right at the start... Excellently written as one would expect from such an accomplished and experienced maritime history author as Brian Lavery... The text also offers a goldmine of information to anyone interested in the capital ships of the sailing navy of the 17th and 19th Centuries.

Ships in Scale

About Brian Lavery

BRIAN LAVERY is the bestselling author of more than thirty books on maritime history including the highly successful Nelson’s Navy and Empire of the Seas. He was for many years senior curator at the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich, and he served on the advisory committee that dealt with the most famous preserved ship in the world, HMS Victory. His recent title, Anson's Navy, has just been published by Seaforth.

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