Product Description

This finely researched book is a portrait of the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic wars; in particular, a portrait of the Navy's people, of the officers and men who formed that formidable fighting force made popular by the novels of C. S. Forester and Patrick O'Brian. Covering parentage and social background, the author follows his subjects from the cradle to the grave, describing how men came to go to sea and explaining the volunteer, the press and quota systems, officer-entry, and the whole complex business of shipboard and naval hierarchy. Pay, prize money, and other inducements are explained along with insight into the unhappier predicament of half-pay. First published in 1960, Lewis's book is a masterful account of how the men of the Nelsonic navy, at sea in "those far-distant storm-beaten ships," organized their insular social world.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1362252 in Books
• Published on: 2006-02-20
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 468 pages

About the Author
Professor of history at the Royal Naval College in Greenwich for many years, Michael Lewis was the author of many distinguished naval histories.