Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 623.820309033
EAN num: 9780007109456
ISBN number: 0007109458
Label: Collins
Manufacturer: Collins
Page Count: 240
Printing Date: October 01, 2001
Publishing house: Collins
Sale Popularity Level: 2263279
Studio: Collins
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Product Description:
A colorful history of the men, ships, and tactics that made Nelson's navy the most feared fighting force on earth. Covering the classic era of sailing ship warfare from the mid-eighteenth century to the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, Naval Warfare in the Age of Sail reveals how warships were built, sailed, and fought in the era made popular yesterday by the novels of Patrick O'Brian and C. S. Forester. The often-dense technical detail of these works is explained here for the general reader through text and illustrations that bring the period vividly to life. Through his discussions of single-ship actions, fleet operations, famous commanders, and the day-to-day routines of the men who worked the ships, Bernard Ireland investigates how the navy of King George III came to dominate the high seas, ushering in a century of British maritime supremacy. Acclaimed naval artist Tony Gibbons illustrates every type of sailing warship from ships of the line, frigates, and sloops to privateers' schooners, bomb ketches, and xebecs. Colour illustrations throughout.
Amazon.com Review:
The life of an ordinary sailour in the 18th and 19th centuries was no easy matter, as Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin and C. S. Forester's Hornblower novels depict so well. Quite apart from the dangers from howling storms and whistling cannonballs, seamen were paid and fed poorly and subject to all manner of inhumane discipline. Given all that, Bernard Ireland wonders, how could it have been that sailors under English--and French, Spanish, and American--flags could have performed with such heroic distinction at sea?
His answer arrives at many points throughout his encyclopedic study of the 'age when the man counted, and not the technology.' Profiling such figures as John Paul Jones and Lord Nelson, as well as many of those ordinary sailors, and such little-known events as the siege of Acre and the War of Jenkins's Ear, Ireland provides a highly readable survey of the great age of sail-driven combat, when mighty navies traversed the world to secure empires for the great powers of two continents. He turns up dozens of illuminating oddments from the historical record, such as the Duke of Wellington's refusal to command England's forces during the War of 1812 and Napoleon Bonaparte's failure to coordinate his navy with his land forces, which contributed to his ultimate defeat. (A similar failure, Ireland writes, led to England's defeat in the American Revolution.)
Along the way, too, Ireland provides terminology and copious illustrations that will be useful to readers of the aforementioned O'Brian and Forester novels, for which this book makes a fine companion volume. --Gregory McNamee
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Rated by buyers -
Ireland gives detailed verbal descriptions of naval battles that I was actually able to understand, no mean feat. He also posits reasons why some commanders made particular decisions in these battles. I also appreciated his biographical descriptions of figures in naval history.
The wealth of wonderful pictures and his ability to express tactics make this a fine book. If you pair it with Lambert's "War at Sea in the Age of Sail", for its grasp of history and strategy, you will end up with a nice understanding of the early British Navy.
Rated by buyers 
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I found this book appealing for the many colour images presented of period paintings. The diagrams depicting the trim of the yards and sails during certain evolutions (e.g. tacking and boxhauling) also were informative.
Unfortunately, there are several inverted images. Examples include: p. 11 "Plymouth Dockyard" (Pocock); p. 135 "Admiral John Jervis" (John Hoppner); p. 196 "Forcing the Passage of the Sound 1807" (Robert Dodd); and p. 123 "Brunswick v. Vengeur 1794" (John Harvey).
I was also disappointed that the editors chose to split the image of "Howe on deck of Queen Charlotte" on pp. 132-3 across the page - Howe is bisected by the spine!
There were also some surprising technical errors. Unless many other sources are mistaken, Ireland's statement on p. 113 that a Sixth Rate was a commander's billet is problematic; all vessels that were "rated" were post ships and, thus, a post captain's command.
Although Hibernia (p. 185) certainly was enlarged relative to Ville de Paris 110, Hibernia was 'rated' at 110 guns, not 120 (citing Brian Lavery's "The Ship of the Line" and the Naval Chronicle. Of course, the relationship between rating and the actual number of guns was not precise. It is also interesting to compare the bows of Hibernia (p. 185) and Caledonia (p. 193); it appears that Caledonia does not exhibit the round bow, though in her draft (R. Gardiner - "Warships of the Napoleonic Wars," Naval Institute Press) the round bow is clearly indicated.
I found the book appealing from a visual perspective; if one is interested in finding quantitative detail regarding the ships of this period, other sources might be found more useful.
Rated by buyers 
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Ireland's history is excellent. It covers all of the major points, and gives good insight into topics that rarely make a basic history. His commentary on the major battles, tactics, and personalities is excellent. His background chapter on the Royal Navy provides important instruction on sailing and naval vocabulary. However, wonderful art and illustrations really make the book special. All too often, excellent histories are undone because readers can't picture the events. Ireland solves that problem for us. Every page includes relevant illustrations. We see the ships; we see the men; our minds can build an accurate and detailed picture of the events. Given that, the absence of maps in strange and dissappointing. But that's about the only criticism I can level at this otherwise outstanding volume.
Rated by buyers -
This is an extremely well illustrated and beautiful volume, accompanied by interesting text--shedding light on the ships, battles, and men of the "age of sail". Bernald Ireland has written widely on this period. If you enjoy C.S. Forrester, James Nelson, Marryat, Pope, O'Brien, etc. but are basically a landlubber, you need this book. The illustrations are fascinating and the boxed inserts on notable admirals, ships, battles are a nice touch.
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