Letters from the Mary Rose - Book Review

Contemporary Review, Oct, 2003

C. S. Knighton and David Loades, editors. Sutton Publishing and The Mary Rose Trust. 20.00 [pounds sterling]. 198 pages. ISBN 0-75092839-5. The raising of the surviving parts of Henry VIII's great ship, in 1982, was a tremendous achievement in maritime archaeology. It was also an event that had a wide popular appeal because the artefacts discovered made Tudor history come to life.

This book carries the story one step further through its collection of twenty-one letters and one other document written aboard the Mary Rose. Another seven letters are 'presumed to have been similarly written' and there are also a few 'related despatches'. The compiler was C. S. Knighton and the author of the commentary was Prof. Loades. The combination of original material (some of it published for the first time), contemporary writings, numerous photographs and explanatory notes makes this a fascinating book which will give anyone interested in naval history or the Tudor period a rich source with which to understand what has been salvaged from the seabed. (T.B.)