E C Coleman – författare

In early 1918, it seemed to many that the British people and the Allies were close to defeat. At home, the chief culprit was the German U-boat. Sailing almost unopposed from the North Sea ports of Zeebrugge and Ostend, the submarines were taking a heavy toll on Allied shipping, and no one seemed to be doing anything about it. The job eventually went to Vice Admiral Roger Keyes, ‘The Modern Nelson’, who had a long record of close action with enemies from China to the Heligoland Bight. Equally, he was unafraid of those senior to him whom he considered to be incompetent. Within days of his appointment Keyes had put together an audacious plan to sink blockships in the enemy-held ports. However, his success, along with the eleven VCs won in the battles, led his detractors to play down his achievement, even by using German propaganda against him. This entirely new account, containing groundbreaking research and rare illustrations throughout, at last sets the record straight about these important engagements.

With a plot to grace any comic opera, the 1859-72 'Pig War' broke out when an American living on a quietly disputed small island in the Gulf of Georgia shot a British pig he found rooting up his garden produce. The authorities on nearby Vancouver Island and the military leadership of the adjacent Washington Territory both felt they had good reasons to escalate a trivial incident into a full-blown war between the United States and Great Britain. Soon, American soldiers found themselves looking down the barrels of the Royal Navy cannon.Whilst both the British and the Americans continued to threaten and bluster, Royal Marines and US soldiers settled down on the island to a round of social events, including sports days, combined dinners and even summer balls. Despite the outbreak of the American Civil War, and British intervention on the Confederate side, the hot-heads were restrained and, eventually, it was decided that the problem should become one of the earliest examples of international arbitration. The German Kaiser was brought in and - from the British point of view - came to the wrong decision.Set against the framework of US attempts to gain control of the whole North American continent, The Pig War is a highly readable account of a little-known episode in Anglo-American history.

This is the story of a plain silver chalice from the first century AD that now rests in the heart of England. From its momentous beginnings as the cup used by Christ at the Last Supper, and as the vessel used to catch His blood at the Crucifixion, to its unrecognised discovery in the late nineteenth century, the chalice has passed through the hands of saints, crusaders, kings, queens, Templar knights and ‘Guardians.’ This account revisits the beginnings of the Knights Templar and their rise to incredible wealth and power; it introduces a completely new version of the origins of the Arthurian legends; and it disputes the supposed loss of the Crown Jewels in the Wash and the cause of King John’s subsequent death. It re-examines the murder of Thomas Becket and resurrects the forgotten story of a knight who went from disregarded son and child hostage to Regent of England and Guardian of the Grail. The story reveals the reason behind one of England’s greatest church mysteries: an early thirteenth-century clue that has taken over 700 years to be deciphered. Most importantly of all, however, it establishes where the Holy Grail is now.

Ernest Coleman has led or participated in four expeditions to find out the fate of the Franklin expedition. 129 men were lost from the two ships the Erebus and the Terror, looking for the North-West Passage. Many theories have been put forward – and some of them, in the author’s opinion, have been shaped by political bias. ‘The whole subject has been taken over by academics and politicians, both for questions of Canadian sovereignty and academic advancement – all at the cost of Franklin’s (and the Royal Navy’s) reputation.’In this work, Coleman is determined to set the record straight: ‘ I have provided answers to all their machinations (including the “lead poisoning” tripe, and the “cannibalism” nonsense), cracked the code in the writings of Petty Officer Peglar (bones found and wallet recovered), and given new answers to all the many smaller mysteries that continue to be reproduced by others. I have also revealed the possible site of Franklin’s grave, the biggest mystery of all.’No Earthly Pole is an adventure set within an adventure. Ernest Coleman’s lifetime quest for the truth at the ends of the earth is an extraordinary tale of determination in itself. The story of Franklin’s expedition remains one of the greatest and most tragic events of the age of exploration.

Ernest Coleman has led or participated in four expeditions to find out the fate of the Franklin expedition. 129 men were lost from the two ships the Erebus and the Terror, looking for the North-West Passage. Many theories have been put forward – and some of them, in the author’s opinion, have been shaped by political bias. ‘The whole subject has been taken over by academics and politicians, both for questions of Canadian sovereignty and academic advancement – all at the cost of Franklin’s (and the Royal Navy’s) reputation.’In this work, Coleman is determined to set the record straight: ‘I have provided answers to all their machinations (including the “lead poisoning” tripe, and the “cannibalism” nonsense), cracked the code in the writings of Petty Officer Peglar (bones found and wallet recovered), and given new answers to all the many smaller mysteries that continue to be reproduced by others. I have also revealed the possible site of Franklin’s grave, the biggest mystery of all.’No Earthly Pole is an adventure set within an adventure. Ernest Coleman’s lifetime quest for the truth at the ends of the earth is an extraordinary tale of determination in itself. The story of Franklin’s expedition remains one of the greatest and most tragic events of the age of exploration.

Between 1888 and 1891, eleven women were murdered in Whitechapel. Five of the murders were consecutive and believed by the police to be the work of one person. Without any investigation at all, what can we assume about Jack? The accepted traits of a psychopath, perhaps; a knowledge of Whitechapel. But what can we say about motive? Author Ernest Coleman has an answer. One stumbling block has always been the motive; many have assumed that the killings must have sexually motivated, for which there is absolutely no evidence. What if they were not?For those with an intimate knowledge of the Bible, the year 1888 was a very special one. '1’ could only refer to God himself. ‘888’, via the Greek in which the New Testament was originally written, meant ‘Christ, Resurrection, and the Second Coming.’ Adding 1+8+8+8 equalled 25, the adding of 2+5 created ‘7’ – a number meaning ‘Perfection’. Could we therefore be searching for someone religiously motivated, someone with a hatred of prostitutes? Consider the case of Mary Ann Nichols, her strangulation with a silk handkerchief echoes the practice of the Indian ‘Thugees’ (the source of the English word ‘thug’). Their method of attacking and killing their victims was well-known throughout India Her cut throat and the deep cuts and stabs on her abdomen echo the masonic oaths and signs founded in English Freemason’s ‘Traditional History’, which tells the story of the chief builder of Solomon’s Temple who died bravely rather than expose the secrets of the builders. The Thugees would stab the eyes of their victims, as were the eyes of victim Mary Eddowes. So an Indian connection? The author has found a man who fits all these indications, and more.

New research brings new theories about the creation and destruction of the Knights Templar.

'I have put this boke out of Latyn into Frensch, and translated it agen out of Frensch into Englyssche, that every man of my nacioun may undirstonde it.'Sir John Mandeville, a fourteenth-century English knight about whom very little is known and whose very existence some scholars have doubted, set sail from the land of his birth in 1322. Thirty- four years later, in 1356, he finally returned. During his travels, through Europe, the Near, Middle and Far East and India, he had seen giraffes and crocodiles, fought for the Great Khan and refused an offer of marriage to a sultan's daughter. His account of his adventures was an instant best-seller, second only to the Bible, and, despite that fact that some of it, such as the lambs that grew on trees, is now known to be untrue, it was used as a work of reference: Christopher Columbus had a copy aboard his ship when he first sailed to the Americas.Serious journal or ripping yarn, The Travels of Sir John Mandeville is an enthralling account of a journey into the unknown.

For over a century and a half, since the Uniform Regulations of 1856 were introduced, identification of rank amongst officers in the Royal Navy, its branches and its reserves has not been restricted to a single, or even small number, of insignia. Rank may be seen on jacket cuffs, on shoulder badges, on shoulder boards and on epaulettes. It may be seen on swords and buttons, and in the manner in which buttons are worn. Cap peaks indicate rank, as do collars, cocked hat ornaments and cuff slashes.