{"title":"Books by Ian Johnston","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780349107783","title":"Bad Seed","description":"\u003cp\u003eA widely acclaimed biography of one of rock's most compelling, uncompromising and influential singer-songwriters, Ian Johnston's BAD SEED offers a superb overview of Nick Cave's career to date. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThrough Cave's fronting of the incendiary bands The Birthday Party and The Bad Seeds, producing music of unfettered expression and explosive intensity, to his creative collaborations outside of the rock industry in film and literature, BAD SEED illustrates a life lived in barely controlled chaos: and unravels the motivation and unique appeal of a reluctant icon whose songs, according to the Rolling Stones, possess \"the authority of the most primal kind of myth.\"\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56286331240821,"sku":"9780349107783","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780349107783_94c3c0cb-2f79-4752-a339-6837f3333ee0.jpg?v=1786013734"},{"product_id":"9781036107697","title":"Blowing Hot and Cold","description":"\u003cp\u003eAir-conditioning is one of those universal modern conveniences whose origins are entirely unknown to the general public.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOnline sources credit the first commercial system to the American Willis Carrier in 1902 – but this is not true. The first workable machine was patented four years earlier by Alexander Stewart, a Scottish marine engineer, who called his invention the Thermotank. It offered a massive improvement in comfort for passengers and was rapidly adopted by the shipping industry, eventually equipping many of the greatest liners of their day like \u003ci\u003eLusitania\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eMauretania\u003c\/i\u003e. From these beginnings Alexander and his brothers William and Frederick Stewart built an immensely successful engineering firm with subsidiaries in America, Africa, Australia and Europe.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBased on Clydeside, its fortunes were always closely linked to the shipbuilding industry, but with the slump at the end of the First World War the company was forced to look to other markets.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt this point Alexander came up with a second world-beating invention, which he called the Punkah Louvre – the swivelling nozzle most familiar today as the source of ventilation in airliners. This made it easier to apply the Thermotank system to other forms of transport and even buildings, greatly expanding its sales potential. Still largely a family concern, the business remained innovative and competitive until the 1960s, when the decline in British shipbuilding and the beginnings of globalisation led to amalgamation, restructuring and eventually the demise of the Thermotank name.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the process, most of the company records were dispersed or lost so this book is a particularly valuable testimony to a great British – specifically, Scottish – success story. Although almost unknown today, Thermotank was a business that changed the world.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56296287109493,"sku":"9781036107697","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781036107697_7fba925a-005f-4a59-994e-5f3733ae608b.jpg?v=1786016919"},{"product_id":"9781399024891","title":"Clydebank Battlecruisers","description":"Between 1906 and 1920 the Clydebank shipyard of John Brown \u0026amp; Sons built five battlecruisers, each one bigger than the last, culminating in the mighty \u003ci\u003eHood\u003c\/i\u003e, the largest warship of her day. If \u003ci\u003eTiger\u003c\/i\u003e is regarded as a modification of the \u003ci\u003eLion\u003c\/i\u003e class design, this represents every step in the evolution of these charismatic, and controversial, ships. Like most shipyards of the time, Clydebank employed professional photographers to record the whole process of construction, using large-plate cameras that produced pictures of stunning clarity and detail; but unlike most shipyard photography, Clydebank's collection has survived, although very few of the images have ever been published. For this book some two hundred of the most telling of these were carefully selected, and scanned to the highest standards, depicting in unprecedented detail every aspect of the building and fitting out of \u003ci\u003eInflexible\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eAustralia\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eTiger\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eRepulse\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eHood\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Probably more has been written about battlecruisers than any other warship type, and as modelmaking subjects they have a devoted following, so any new book has to make a real contribution. This pictorial collection, with its lengthy and informative captions, and an authoritative introduction by Ian Johnston, offers ship modelers and enthusiasts a wealth of visual information simply unobtainable elsewhere.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56298229498229,"sku":"9781399024891","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781399024891_7d050a81-849f-42e3-ace8-0a9d6237aff5.jpg?v=1786019906"},{"product_id":"9781399089661","title":"Fairfield","description":"One of the great names in British industrial history, the Fairfield Shipbuilding \u0026amp; Engineering Co Ltd, Govan, Glasgow, was always associated with innovation – particularly the development of the compound steam engine which brought great fuel efficiency to deep sea transportation and led to the ubiquitous triple expansion steam engine. Through the design and construction of record-breaking Atlantic liners and their machinery for the Guion and Cunard companies, by the late nineteenth century Fairfield had become the most important shipyard and marine engine works in the world. Admiralty contracts for all classes of warship followed, notably during the world wars and as a lifeline during the depression of the 1920s and early 1930s. However, the Fairfield yard was probably best known for building magnificently appointed intermediate liners, among them a series of Empress liners for Canadian Pacific.From the late 1950s onwards as shipbuilding in Britain began a steady decline, Fairfield, one of the most modern yards in Europe with a large order book, hit the headlines this time not for the launch or completion of a ship but by declaring insolvency in 1965. The next 35 years, much of it under state ownership, were characterised by various name changes and campaigns to keep the yard open. With its traditional market for 'high class' tonnage gone and no longer designated a warship yard, new commercial markets had to be found. When this struggle for survival seemed to be all but over and the virtual elimination of the commercial shipbuilding industry in Britain now complete, BAE Systems acquired the yard in 2000 bringing with it stability and continuity. A major warship-builder once more, the former Fairfield yard has been heavily involved in the Type 45 destroyer programme, the production of major blocks for the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers, the five River class Offshore Patrol Vessels and currently with the Type 26 frigate programme. With the skyline of Glasgow soon to be transformed once BAE Systems completes its next-generation ship construction hall, capable of building two Type 26 frigates side by side under cover, the future looks bright for the last of the great Clyde shipyards.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56298267541877,"sku":"9781399089661","price":40.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781399089661_8e605ea7-acf8-4839-87d8-b01562d858b9.jpg?v=1786034341"},{"product_id":"9781399092043","title":"The Battleship Builders","description":"The launch in 1906 of HMS Dreadnought, the worlds first all-big-gun battleship, rendered all existing battle fleets obsolete, but at the same time it wiped out the Royal Navy's numerical advantage, so expensively maintained for decades. Already locked in an arms race with Germany, Britain urgently needed to build an entirely new battle fleet of these larger, more complex and more costly vessels. In this she succeeded spectacularly: in little over a decade fifty such ships were completed, almost exactly double what Germany achieved. It was only made possible by the country's vast industrial nexus of shipbuilders, engine manufacturers, armament firms and specialist armor producers, whose contribution to the creation of the Grand Fleet is too often ignored. This heroic achievement, and how it was done, is the central theme of this book.It charts the rise of the large industrial conglomerates that were key to this success, looks at their reaction to fast-moving technical changes, and analyses the politics of funding this vast national effort, both before and during the Great War. It also attempts to assess the true cost and value of the Grand Fleet in terms of the resources consumed. And finally, it describes the effects of the post-war recession, industrial contraction, and the very different conditions that influenced the last generation of British battleships built before and during the Second World War.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56298547708277,"sku":"9781399092043","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781399092043_8df551f1-3d07-4bf9-b7e6-c38deb689db2.jpg?v=1786019920"},{"product_id":"9781405107242","title":"Environmental Physiology of Animals 2e","description":"The new and updated edition of this accessible text provides a comprehensive overview of the comparative physiology of animals within an environmental context.   Includes two brand new chapters on Nerves and Muscles and the Endocrine System.   Discusses both comparative systems physiology and environmental physiology.   Analyses and integrates problems and adaptations for each kind of environment: marine, seashore and estuary, freshwater, terrestrial and parasitic.   Examines mechanisms and responses beyond physiology.   Applies an evolutionary perspective to the analysis of environmental adaptation.   Provides modern molecular biology insights into the mechanistic basis of adaptation, and takes the level of analysis beyond the cell to the membrane, enzyme and gene.   Incorporates more varied material from a wide range of animal types, with less of a focus purely on terrestrial reptiles, birds and mammals and rather more about the spectacularly successful strategies of invertebrates.    A companion site for this book with artwork for downloading is available at: www.blackwellpublishing.com\/willmer\/","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56298695131509,"sku":"9781405107242","price":84.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781405107242_d5971330-ee65-4551-8233-4c98a63fac4f.jpg?v=1786019273"},{"product_id":"9781526777294","title":"Battleship","description":"Unlike the United States, which has preserved a number of battleships as museums or memorials, not a single British dreadnought survives in the country that invented them. This book is an ambitious attempt to achieve the next best thing--a level of documentation in plans, photographs and words that portrays every aspect of the ship, albeit in two dimensions. Although the ship was chosen primarily because of the wealth of source material, Duke of York enjoyed a distinguished wartime career that included sinking the German battleship Scharnhorst in 1943 and serving as the flagship of the British Pacific Fleet in 1945, so is a fitting subject for such in-depth treatment.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The core of the book is the reproduction in full color of a complete set of as-fitted plans of the ship, including many details and close-ups. These are complemented by an unusually thorough set drawn after the ship's major refit in March 1945, showing all the modifications undertaken to prepare the ship for service alongside the US Navy in the Pacific. Photographic coverage begins with the stunning views taken by the builder's professional cameraman during every stage of construction, continues with many shots of the ship during her active service, and concludes with an illustrated chronology of the breaking up. This last is included not just for completeness but because photos of the ship at various stages of demolition demonstrate many aspects of the interior structure, compartments and their fittings that are otherwise invisible.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e While the emphasis may be primarily visual, the accompanying narrative and captions display the expertise and in-depth knowledge of the authors, making the text as enlightening as the illustration. The result is a uniquely comprehensive portrait of a great ship in all its complexity, and a book that no warship enthusiast will want to miss.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56302170931573,"sku":"9781526777294","price":45.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781526777294_33da1a70-2e7e-4957-bdc4-2813d34fe126.jpg?v=1786021853"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-ian-johnston.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}