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Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 359.322094109033
EAN num: 9780393038583
ISBN number: 0393038580
Label: W. W. Norton & Company
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 95
Printing Date: 1995-11
Publishing house: W. W. Norton & Company
Sale Popularity Level: 340760
Studio: W. W. Norton & Company
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
The author of the acclaimed Aubrey/Maturin historical sea novels presents a concise, profusely illustrated description of daily life in Nelson's navy, including anecdotes about the battles and commanders that established Britain's naval supremacy.
Amazon.com Review:
Any Aubrey Maturin reader determined to learn the locations of the orlop and the mizenmast, the etiquette of epaulettes, or the range of a 32-pounder will delight in this invaluable reference companion to O'Brian's epic and series. An exploration of what daily life was like in Nelson's navy, for everyone from the captain on down to the rawest recruit. Line drawings and charts help us understand the construction and rigging of the great ships, the types and dispositions of the guns, and how they operated in battle. Contemporary drawings and cartoons illustrate aspects of naval life from the press gang to the scullery. Finally, a generous selection of full-colour paintings renders the majesty and the excitement of fleet actions in the age of fighting sail.
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Rated by buyers 
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Brief outline of main points of interest in the Royal Navy. Excellent for those who do not wish too much detail.
Rated by buyers 
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After reading Patrick O'Brian's book,my only complaint is I wish it were longer.This is a reference companion to his Aubrey/Maturin Novels and I feel compelled to read them all.I feel this book does exactly what it intends, take someone as purple as I and get them excited about reading his books and doing some further research.Patrick o'Brian's love for the Royal Navy is contagious.
Rated by buyers -
Wow, I wish this book were in print when I was busy devouring the Hornblower series and the whole panoply of books I read that dealt with the sailing war ships of the 18th and 19th centuries. This handy little book written by a well-respected author of such nautical fiction lays it all out here for those who want to be able actually 'see' what the ships he has been reading about were really like. O'Brian does a brilliant job of simply and succinctly describing the conditions and routines of the men who manned these man o' wars. As an added bonus the full colour reproductions of paintings, drawings and diagrams are absolutely SUPER. If I were you, I would not hesitate to purchase this book. You will not be sorry, of that I am quite sure.
Rated by buyers -
Being a known Jane Austen buff, a colleague told me I ought to have a look at Patrick O'Brian's novels which cover the same period. It has often been remarked upon that Jane Austen ignored the wars taking place during her time. In fact, she did not. Key characters such as Captain Wentworth (Persuasion) and Fanny Price's brother William (Mansfield Park), were career shipmen whose merits are well-enunciated in her novels. Two of Miss (how everyone likes to call her "Miss"!) Austen's brothers were also career navymen. The Navy was all around her and she knew it but had no need, despite that famously interpreted reference to "rears and vices," to discuss Navy life or strategy.
Nevertheless, this reader is curious to know how these men lived away from the ordered, civilised life of those "three or four families" in that country village of which Austen writes and to which these men inevitably returned to marry. Here in MEN-OF-WAR: Life in Nelson's Navy, we learn about the ships, the gunnery, the lifestyle and the protocol of the 18th century British Navy which successfully defended England from an invasion led by Napoleon.
The information in this book is concise and easily comprehensible, thanks to an economical and cheerful writing style. Information is brilliantly illustrated by colour photos of paintings, drawings, cartoons and models of sailing vessels.
On a final note, there is now a wave (pun intended) of interest in Patrick O'Brian as a result of the detailed film MASTERS AND COMMANDERS. The Navy lifestyle illustrated in this book is depicted in the film, to the advantage of both.
Rated by buyers 
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This is a book of history-lite. Now that is not necessarily a bad thing in my view; far too many history books (& this comes from a History Major) are written by and for hyper-specialists. This book, however, hands you a lot of information quickly and in a relatively painless manner about the Royal Navy at the time of the Napoleonic Wars.
The book is divided more or less into topics, although some material "sloshes" under from chapter to chapter. The style is neither drily academic nor chatty -- it is not an ABC book, however, with definitions of every term. O'Brien assumes that you already know a little something about nautical terms and the warfare of the era.
If you are a historian, this is not such a good book -- you will not find enough footnotes or bibliographical material to follow through for further research. If you are merely into battles, again this book will be a disappointment; much like the Aubrey-Maturin books, this work is as much concerned (if not moreso) with minor details of daily life and the ins and outs of naval bureaucracy as it is about battle.
If you want to know something about the topic, this is a decent introduction.
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