The Great Windships tells an epic story that stretches from the fragile vessels of the Age of Exploration to the mighty windjammers of the late nineteenth century.
The great merchant sailing ships were the original apparatus of globalization. They brought the East and West together, carrying goods back and forth to the benefit of both, and turning the world’s oceans into marine highways. Along them would travel all manner of goods in unheard of volumes – gold, silver, gems, spices coffee, tea and all manner of other foodstuffs – as well as ideas, attitudes, religion and disease.
Besides their superior armament, the ships’ masters felt they were racially and religiously superior. Their vessels became instruments of colonial conquest, aiding the rise of the West over the much more populous East. They also enabled the opium and slave trades. For better and for worse, they made the modern world
The Chinese were the first great oceanic explorers, inspired by one; the Ming Dynasty Emperor, Yongle and carried out by his famous admiral Zheng He. When Yongle died China turned its back on the sea.
Unlike China, European explorers were at a distinct disadvantage. Two perilous capes stood between the great oceans of the world, Cape Horn and Cape of Good Hope, separating them from the riches of the East. To navigate these dangerous waters required big, sturdy ships to survive the fierce storms and mountainous seas, and carry enough water and food to sustain them on the long journey.
When they finally arrived, however, they found these very ships were the key to a much-enlarged bounty. They were bigger and more heavily-armed than the local vessels. So much so that, as well as taking enormously valuable cargoes back to Europe, (the ‘return’ trade) they could dominate the intra–Asian, so called ‘country’ trade. Dominating local trade, they came to dominate the countries themselves, turning them into the most lucrative colonies the world has ever known.
“for avid sailors and learned nautical history buffs, this wide-ranging book will be a useful and a deeply pleasurable source of reference” - Blueink Review
“A remarkably thorough but concise history of sailing ships and how they brought the world into modernity” - Kirkys Reviews
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