James Alexander Williamson was a prominent English writer on maritime history and expert on the John Cabot voyages. He also wrote many other books on explorers, exploration and discovery. James Williamson wrote of James Cook: the greatest explorer of his age and the greatest maritime explorer of his country in any age.
Early life and education
The son of James Ireland Williamson, he was educated at Watford Grammar School and the University of London, where he earned his B.A. in 1906, his M.A. in 1909 and was awarded a Ph.D. in 1924 with a thesis on "The Caribbee Islands under the proprietary patents". He married Ruth Chappele.
The Voyages of the Cabots and the English Discovery of North America under Henry VII and Henry VIII. London: Argonaut Press,1929, reprinted 1971.
The Evolution of England: A Commentary on the Facts, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1931.
A short history of British expansion. New York: Macmillan, 1931–34; 1938; 1941; 1945; 1953, 1967. 856pp
The observations of Sir Richard Hawkins: edited from the text of 1622 with introduction, notes and appendices, by James A. Williamson... Illustrated with four maps. London: Argonaut, 1933.
The voyages of John and Sebastian Cabot . London: Published for the Historical Association by G. Bell, 1937.
A voyage to New Holland by William Dampier; edited, with introduction, notes and illustrative documents, by James A. Williamson. London: The Argonaut Press, 1939.
The Ocean in English History: Being the Ford Lectures. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1941; 1948.
Great Britain and the empire: a discursive history. London : A. & C. Black, 1944.
The British Empire and commonwealth: a history for senior forms. London: Macmillan, 1946; 1952.
Common errors in history by members of the Historical Association. London: Pub. for the Historical Association by P. S. King & Staples limited, 1945.
Hawkins of Plymouth: a new history of Sir John Hawkins and of the other members of his family prominent in Tudor England. London: Black, 1949.
Sir Francis Drake. London: Collins, 1951.
The Tudor age. London and New York: Longmans, Green, 1953, 1964, 1979.
The English Channel: a history. London: Collins, 1959.
A Notebook of Commonwealth history. 1959; London: Macmillan; New York: St. Martin's Press., 1967.
The Cabot voyages and Bristol discovery under Henry VII, with cartography of the voyages by R. A. Skelton. Cambridge: Published for the Hakluyt Society at the Cambridge University Press, 1962.
Great Britain and the Commonwealth. London: Black, 1965.
Westward ho! by Charles Kingsley; introduction by James A. Williamson. London: Dent; New York: Dutton, 1976.
