Nautilus Bookshop
Welcome to the Nautilus Bookshop – a collection of great reads to enjoy at sea and ashore. A partnership between Marine Society and Nautilus International, the bookshop stocks recent releases on a range of maritime topics, including ship histories, seafarer memoirs, studies of the Merchant Navy in wartime and even the occasional nautical novel.
The Book of the Month will feature a special discount during its respective month. All the books here have been reviewed in the Nautilus Telegraph, and new titles are added each month.
If you have a recently-published maritime book that you would like the Nautilus Telegraph to consider for review, please email: [email protected]
Featured products
Hello Sailor! The hidden history of gay life at sea
£38.00
When gays had to be closeted, ships were the only places where homosexual men could not only be out but also camp. And on some liners to the sun and the New World, queens and butches had a ball. They sashayed and minced their way across the world's oceans.
Pulling Together: The Making of a Global Maritime Trade Union
£19.99
The Book of the Month January 2024. This in-depth history will be of great interest to anyone with an interest in maritime or trade union history. The history of Nautilus is also of relevance to all unions organising in an increasingly globalised and unstable labour market. Ilustrated with 50b/w and 20 colour photos.
Meteorology for Seafarers, 6th Edition
£70.00
Meteorology for Seafarers is a technical book which aims to explain the complexities of the atmosphere and provide the information needed for professional seafarers aspiring to first class certificates of competency.
Tugs and Towing Around Britain
£15.99
The book features previously unpublished photographs from the author’s collection accompanied by informative captions.
The Rescue Ships and The Convoys
£25.00
Book of the month December 2024. The Rescue Ships and The Convoys : Saving Lives During The Second World War.
Blowing Hot and Cold
£19.99
Thermotank and the Story of Air Conditioning at Sea. The Book of the month November 2024.
Sailing Ships from Plastic Kits
£25.00
Despite their ease of assembly, plastic models of sailing ships, like the ships themselves, are complicated to build. Heavily illustrated in colour throughout, this book is an ideal addition to the purchase of any plastic ship kit. It describes and demonstrates techniques unique to plastic sailing ship models, allowing the construction of authentic and personally satisfying models.
Sea, Sand and, Katrina
£9.99
The novel follows the challenge of getting "Princess Katrina", seaworthy for the cruising season by Ben Sharpe, a former merchant navy officer and his family who live onboard.
Murder on the Holigan Express
£5.95
Murder on the Holigan Express: It's a Ferry Story
Ocean Liners: A New History
£25.00
Nautilus Telegraph's book of the month for January 2025
Operation Title: Sink the Tirpitz
£22.00
This is a readable and at times moving account of Operation Title, the attempt to disable the German battleship Tirpitz in Norway using human torpedoes or “Chariots”.
Reeds Astro Navigation Tables 2025
£27.00 £30.00
10% OFF. This is the established book of annual astro-navigation tables compiled specifically for the needs of boaters.
Ship of Lost Souls: The Tragic Wreck of the Steamship Valencia
£25.00
NOT YET PUBLISHED. EXPECTED IN FEBRUARY 2025. The Book of the Month February 2025.
The Sea Journal : Seafarers' Sketchbooks
£29.95
Nautilus Telegraph's Book of the Month for November 2019 is available at a special discount The Sea Journal contains first-hand records by a great range of travellers of their encounters with strange creatures and new lands, full of dangers and delights, pleasures and perils.
Archie's Lights
£18.99
Remarkable account of one Scottish light keeper's 66 years of service for the Northern Lighthouse Board shines a light not just on light keepers but on their good service to shipping.
Sealink British Ferries
£15.99
With a wealth of previously unpublished images, Ian Collard tells the fascinating story of this unique shipping company.
Viola : The Life and Times of a Hull Steam Trawler
£12.00
Deep in southern latitudes, in a desolate corner of Cumberland Bay on the east coast of the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia, hard by the rotting quays of the abandoned whaling station of Grytviken and almost within a stone’s throw of the grave of Sir Ernest Shackleton, lie three forsaken steam ships: rusting remnants of our industrial past, unique survivals from a vanished age of steam at sea.
Transatlantic Liners 1950-1970
£25.00
An illustrated reference book to gladden the hearts of mid-20th century liner geeks. Reviewed by the Nautilus Telegraph.
The Man Who Discovered Antarctica: Edward Bransfield Explained
£25.00
Aims to make Bransfield's name better known, claiming to tell for the first time 'the full story of this remarkable man and his historic journey.'
Celestial Navigation
£11.99
Master the sextant in simple steps by Tom Cunliffe.
After the Lost Franklin Expedition
£14.99
Lady Franklin and John Rae by Peter Baxter
Britannia's Glory
£25.00
A Maritime Story: Great Britain’s Seafaring History Told in Verse by Maggie Ballinger
Memoirs of a Seafarer
£8.99
Captain Ian Tew, retired Nautilus member, shipmaster and professional salvor. His story, recounted while stranded in Tahiti, provides a fascinating insight into a life of voyage and discovery, of expert seamanship, salvage and courage.
Superyacht Captain
£7.99
A thrilling account of the superyacht business by writer and sailor, William Gilbert.
The Lusitania Sinking
£19.99
Eyewitness Accounts from Survivors