Books with author Tim Severin

It has been described as the greatest epic voyage in modern Irish history. Tim Severin and his companions built a boat using only techniques and materials available in the sixth-century A.D, when St Brendan was supposed to have sailed to America. The vessel comprised forty-nine ox hides stitched together in a patchwork and stretched over a wooden frame. This leather skin was only a quarter of an inch thick. Yet Severin and his crew sailed Brendan from Brandon Creek in Dingle to Newfoundland, surviving storms and a puncture from pack ice. "The Brendan Voyage" is Tim Severin's dramatic account of their journey. Brilliantly written and impeccably researched, "The Brendan Voyage" is a classic of modern exploration and has been translated into 27 languages. It conveys unforgettably the sensation of being in a small, open boat alone in the vastness of the North Atlantic, visited by inquisitive whales, reaching mist-shrouded landfalls, and receiving a welcome from seafaring folk wherever the crew touched land."Enthralling!" -The Guardian."An extraordinary explorer." - The Independent.Tim Severin is an explorer, film-maker and lecturer, who has made many expeditions, from crossing the Atlantic in a medieval leather boat to going out in search of Moby Dick and Robinson Crusoe. He has written books about all of them. He has won the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award, the Book of the Sea Award, a Christopher Prize, and the literary medal of the Academie de la Marine. He also writes historical fiction.

Legend or fact? Myth or reality? In the thirteenth century BC, the Greek mythological hero Jason set sail in a galley with a band of Heroes in search of the Golden Fleece. The boat was named Argo, after its builder, and the sailors are known as the Argonauts. But did they exist? And what was the Golden Fleece?Their journey took them from present-day Greece, across the Aegean Sea, through the Dardanelles and the Sea of Marmara, through the much feared Bosphorus into the Black Sea, and then along the entire north coast of Turkey, ending up in the state of Georgia. It was there, in ancient Colchis, that Jason found not only the Golden Fleece but also his bride, Medea, after taming the wild bulls, killing the serpent, and planting its teeth in the soil. Or so the legend has it.Tim Severin, having sailed in a leather boat from Ireland to America to test the legend of St Brendan, and having linked the seven journeys of Sindbad the Sailor into a single mammoth trip from Arabia to China, set out to investigate the story of Jason. He had a twenty-oar galley built in the Aegean to the exact specifications of a Bronze Age boat and, with his crew of new Argonauts, made the same perilous 1500-mile journey. The oarsmen were aided by Greek, Turkish and Soviet volunteers as they passed through each country's territorial waters. And they underwent extraordinary hardships on the way.But they did prove that, in spite of the dangers and discomfort, Jason could have made the journey in an oared galley, which many experts had considered impossible. 'The Jason Voyage' is the thrilling story of that journey.It will have an irresistible appeal to scholars as well as lovers of adventure, travel and mystery. Tim Severin's sailing books have been widely praised. "Enthralling!" -The Guardian."An extraordinary explorer." - The Independent.Tim Severin is an explorer, film-maker and lecturer, who has made many expeditions, from crossing the Atlantic in a medieval leather boat to going out in search of Moby Dick and Robinson Crusoe. He has written books about all of them. He has won the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award, the Book of the Sea Award, a Christopher Prize, and the literary medal of the Academie de la Marine. He also writes historical fiction.

Could an Irish monk in the sixth century really have sailed all the way across the Atlantic in a small open boat, thus beating Columbus to the New World by almost a thousand years? Relying on the medieval text of St. Brendan, award-winning adventure writer Tim Severin painstakingly researched and built a boat identical to the leather curragh that carried Brendan on his epic voyage. He found a centuries-old, family-run tannery to prepare the ox hides in the medieval way; he undertook an exhaustive search for skilled harness makers (the only people who would know how to stitch the three-quarter-inch-thick hides together); he located one of the last pieces of Irish-grown timber tall enough to make the mainmast. But his courage and resourcefulness were truly tested on the open seas, including one heart-pounding episode when he and his crew repaired a dangerous tear in the leather hull by hanging over the side--their heads sometimes submerged under the freezing waves--to restitch the leather. A modern classic in the tradition of Kon-Tiki, The Brendan Voyage seamlessly blends high adventure and historical relevance. It has been translated into twenty-seven languages since its original publication in 1978.With a new Introduction by Malachy McCourt, author of A Monk Swimming

Privateer by Tim Severin is the fourth swashbuckling adventure in the Pirate series.Hector Lynch and his companions are in the Caribbean, diving to plunder a wreck on the notorious Vipers reef, when they are spotted by a passing Spanish ship. To prevent news of their activities getting out, they cripple the Spanish vessel by burning her sails - an act of piracy - and then head for their base in Tortuga. There Hector's wife Maria awaits, for she and Hector are planning a better life for themselves - this time on the right side of the law.But a chance encounter at sea means that Hector and his comrades run afoul of Laurens de Graff - renowned swashbuckling mercenary captain - now in command of a royal French frigate. Slipping from de Graff's clutches, Hector and his friends are cast away on the tiny desert island, Salt Tortuga. Hector tries desperately to make his way back to Maria, meanwhile she has decided to undertake the hazardous journey to find him. Hector's adventures and Maria's tenacity lead them towards Port Royal in Jamaica - known as the wickedest city on earth. And Hector, accused of piracy, once more enters a world he had sworn to leave behind.

It has been described as the greatest epic voyage in modern Irish history. Tim Severin and his companions built a boat using only techniques and materials available in the sixth-century A.D., when St Brendan was supposed to have sailed to America. The vessel comprised forty-nine ox hides stitched together in a patchwork and stretched over a wooden frame. This leather skin was only a quarter of an inch thick. Yet Severin and his crew sailed Brendan from Brandon Creek in Dingle to Newfoundland, surviving storms and a puncture from pack ice. The Brendan Voyage is Tim Severin's dramatic account of their journey. This new edition of a book already translated into twenty-seven languages introduces a new generation of readers to an enduring classic. Tim Severin didn't prove St Brendan reached America, only that he could have, that it was possible. Brilliantly written, The Brendan Voyage conveys unforgettably the sensation of being in a small, open boat in the vastness of the North Atlantic, visited by inquisitive whales, reaching mist-shrouded landfalls, and receiving a welcome from seafaring folk wherever the crew touched land.

The China Voyage is the extraordinary story of how Tim Severin and his crew made maritime history by sailing across the Pacific on a bamboo raft. Their purpose: to test the theory that Asian mariners reached America some 2,000 years ago. Their experience provides armchair explorers with one of the most remarkable sea voyages ever, and offers a unique perspective on what happens when historical theories are literally put to the test.

In a chance encounter at sea, Hector and his comrades slip from the clutches of a renowned swashbuckling mercenary captain. Hector and his wife Maria try desperately find one another. Hector's adventures and Maria's tenacity lead them toward Port Royal in Jamaica—known as the wickedest city on earth. Hector, accused of piracy, enters a world he had sworn to leave behind.

"Could an Irish monk in the sixth century really have sailed all the way across the Atlantic in a small open boat, thus beating Columbus to the New World by almost a thousand years? Relying on the medieval text of St. Brendan, award-winning adventure writer Tim Severin painstakingly researched and built a boat identical to the leather curragh that carried Brendan on his epic voyage. He found a centuries-old, family-run tannery to prepare the ox hides in the medieval way; he undertook an exhaustive search for skilled harness makers (the only people who would know how to stitch the three-quarter-inch-thick hides together); he located one of the last pieces of Irish-grown timber tall enough to make the mainmast. But his courage and resourcefulness were truly tested on the open seas, including one heart-pounding episode when he and his crew repaired a dangerous tear in the leather hull by hanging over the side--their heads sometimes submerged under the freezing waves--to restitch the leather. A modern classic in the tradition of Kon-Tiki, The Brendan Voyage seamlessly blends high adventure and historical relevance. It has been translated into twenty-seven languages since its original publication in 1978." from Google