Naval Warfare in the Age of Sail: The Evolution of Fighting Tactics, 1650-1815
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    Naval Warfare in the Age of Sail: The Evolution of Fighting Tactics, 1650-1815
    Brian Tunstall
    Manufacturer: Wellfleet Press
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Hardcover

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    3. Naval Warfare in the Age of Sail Naval Warfare in the Age of Sail
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    ASIN: 0785814264

    Book Description

    Based on a lifetime of research by naval historian Turnstall, this book traces the evolution of fleet tactics from the Dutch Wars of the 17th century to the War of Independence in the late 18th and the defeat of the French Empire in 1815.
    War at Sea in the Age of Sail (Smithsonian History of Warfare) (Smithsonian History of Warfare)
    Average customer rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    • Thinly disguised British naval triumphalism
    • A very well written overview
    • A Misleading Title, But . . .
    • Good work
    • A pedestrian read for a landlubber
    War at Sea in the Age of Sail (Smithsonian History of Warfare) (Smithsonian History of Warfare)
    Andrew Lambert
    Manufacturer: Collins
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

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    4. War in the Air 1914-45 (Smithsonian History of Warfare) (Smithsonian History of Warfare) War in the Air 1914-45 (Smithsonian History of Warfare) (Smithsonian History of Warfare)
    5. War at Sea in the Ironclad Age (Smithsonian History of Warfare) (Smithsonian History of Warfare) War at Sea in the Ironclad Age (Smithsonian History of Warfare) (Smithsonian History of Warfare)

    ASIN: 0060838558
    Release Date: 2005-08-23

    Book Description

    Our fascination with the drama of war at sea is as strong today as it was in the heyday of the sailing ship.This book, written by one of the world's foremost authors on naval warfare, describes the dramatic battles of an age when sail was supreme. Andrew Lambert's comprehensive history examines key naval conflicts from the highest strategic level right down to the experience of the ordinary sailor. Fully illustrated throughout, this book incorporates computer-generated cartography that brings the sea battles to life.

    Customer Reviews:

    1 out of 5 stars Thinly disguised British naval triumphalism.......2006-12-08

    Arguably the best feature of this volume are the illustrations which, as in the other volumes of this series, are outstanding. The text itself is overly narrowly focused on the Royal Navy and its operations in the Age of Sail, and moreover suffers from the author's apparent pining for the long lost glories of the Empire, not to mention a strong dose of Nelson hero worship.

    4 out of 5 stars A very well written overview.......2006-08-08

    Mr. Lambert does a very fine job of outlining the history of maritime conflict between 1650 and 1850. Granted, given the size of the book (both dimensions and pages), Mr. Lambert only has time to provide quick overviews of each of the several eras he breaks his history into; he usually provides an introduction and then gives some specific examples to illustrate his point.

    The book does mainly deal with the history of the Royal Navy but, for most of the period in question, the Royal Navy was the only navy of consequence. The French, Russian, Spanish and Dutch navies are also dealt with in the narrative.

    The book is richly illustrated and the paper is of fine quality. It is a small book (5"x8") but the quality of illustrations and paper make up for the price. Mr. Lambert includes a very good section of further reading; it includes references to every one of the topics that he covers.

    If you are looking for a short introduction of this subject for this time period, I don't think you can do any harm in buying and reading this book. It is well written, finely illustrated. Buy it!

    4 out of 5 stars A Misleading Title, But . . ........2006-02-18

    This is still a very nice history of the British navy up to the age of steam. This is a fairly brief span of time since an actual navy, as opposed to an occasional ad hoc assembly of ships for a particular purpose, did not come into being until Cromwell's time. Of course this narrow scope leaves out the Iberians, hence the misleading title. Yet this book does some things admiralbly.

    It explains the purpose of national naval ambitions and activities and does a fine job of showing us stategic objectives. My grasp of British history is embarassingly thin, and this book helped me to understand a bit about the British Civil War and how this led to conflicts with the Dutch. As a matter of fact it does a fine job of showing us why many of the conflicts the Brits were involved in came about.

    It did not do such a good job of helping me understand tactical aspects of naval history. I'm not sure if this is because of the book's shortcomings or if I'm just a hopeless wooden headed lubber who needs to see a video or have someone take me on a boat and explain things to me. I fear tis the latter.

    4 out of 5 stars Good work.......2004-10-06

    O.K., the author is British, he loves his country, and this is reflected in the text. I, too, felt the urge to sniff about this "England and St. George!" attitude.

    Let's be honest, though, the Brits, after their rivalries with the Dutch had subsided, had the best navy in the world. The record clearly indicates that they were quite comfortable on a ship. No matter how much you want to 'balance' British dominance on the high seas with, say, the effectiveness of French privateering, or the U.S. victory on Lake Erie (a victory of which i am proud, since the lake is 25 miles away from my home), or the triumph of the U.S.S. Constitution over her British rival, the truth is that nobody could touch the British navy. So don't complain that the author merely recounts (with pride, and dare I say, glee) British triumphs while dismissing the successes of other navies because - let's be honest - from 1700-1900, there was the British Navy and then there was the rest of us ... and nobody could touch 'em.

    Moral of the story:'Unbalanced' history is not necessarily incompatible with historical veracity.

    3 out of 5 stars A pedestrian read for a landlubber.......2001-10-01

    This book starts off by defining the scope of the coverage and laying down the general tenets of sea warfare. It covers the period from the Anglo-Dutch Wars up to the emergence of the steamship era as this period involved rather large naval engagements. What is surprising is the lack of coverage on the Tudor and Elizabethan era (the Spanish armada and the numerous engagements between the Portuguese and the Dutch). Weren't the Portuguese the first preeminent seafaring nation in the age of sail?

    Some engagments are presented but tactical details are lacking as this is a broad coverage. If so, why bother to explain basic ship handling in the introductory sections as these are tactical matters? In addition, the text seems to have been written in a hurry and some examples of naval engagements do not tie in with the accompanying maps.
    This series of books is really quite appealing in general scope and presentation but the contents in each volume vary like crazy.
    Broadsides: The Age of Fighting Sail, 1775-1815
    Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    • Reasonable Popular Survey, but Has a Few Holes Below the Waterline
    • Good history, mediocre writing
    • A good book, with some weird flaws
    • I was born 200 years too late
    • This book ROCKS! like the discovery channel in depth times 5
    Broadsides: The Age of Fighting Sail, 1775-1815
    Nathan Miller
    Manufacturer: Wiley
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

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    ASIN: 0471078352

    Amazon.com

    In the late 18th century, it was widely thought that to be a sailor was little better than to be a slave. "No man will be a sailor," wrote Samuel Johnson, "who has contrivance enough to get himself into jail. A man in jail has more room, better food, and commonly better company."

    If that were true, historian Nathan Miller suggests, then the record of sailing in the age of tall ships would likely be distinguished by few heroes and fewer grand narratives. He counters that in the regular navies of England, the fledgling United States, and most other nations, brutal captains and thuggish crewmen were rare, and professionalism was the order of the day. It was their high standard of service that made those naval forces such powerful, even indispensable arms of the land-based military. Miller's great hero throughout this fine history is Horatio Nelson, whose valor was exemplary throughout countless battles around the world. But he writes with equal admiration of lesser-known figures, such as Lambert Wickes, Pierre de Villeneuve, Juan de Cordova, and "Foul Weather Jack" Byron, who served their nations and fellow sailors well, and often heroically.

    Broadsides is an entertaining, illuminating history sure to please fans of Patrick O'Brian and C. S. Forester. --Gregory McNamee

    Book Description

    Praise for BROADSIDES

    "Pace the pitching black deck with a sleepless Admiral Nelson the night before battle bestows eternal rest and peerless immortality upon him; envision with Mahan the storm-tossed and ever-watchful ships-of-the-line that kept England secure from invasion; wonder in awe at Collingwood's dedication in working himself to death after Trafalgar elevated him to primary responsibility for England's imperial safety in the Mediterranean. All of this and more awaits the reader who will sail through these pages, every one of which is etched with the indelible expertise and boundless enthusiasm of Nathan Miller, master of naval history."--Kenneth J. Hagan, Professor of History and Museum Director Emeritus, U.S. Naval Academy, Professor of Strategy, U.S. Naval War College

    "This is not just inspired naval history--the personal lives of the seafarers themselves, from cabin boy to admiral, are given generous treatment."--The Times (London)

    "A wealth of detail...Descriptions of dreadful living conditions aboard cramped wooden vessels give way to bloody decks after close combat....A solid introduction to a turbulent era at sea."--Publishers Weekly

    "[As] a companion to the popular nautical novels of C. S. Forester and Patrick O'Brian--it succeeds brilliantly."--Daily Telegraph (London)

    "The descriptions of the great sea commanders and their battles display all the craft of the gifted writer....Read Broadsides for enjoyment as a well-informed, action-packed naval narrative."--The Christ Church Press

    Customer Reviews:

    3 out of 5 stars Reasonable Popular Survey, but Has a Few Holes Below the Waterline.......2005-07-18

    I'll say from the outset that this is a perfectly reasonable survey of a forty-year period of the fighting exploits of the British and American Navies, and as such I'd recommend it as decent armchair reading. However, I knock a couple of stars off in my rating for what, in my view, is a fatal flaw for a book that focusses dually on ship and fleet actions and the strategic contexts of naval combat: there are utterly no diagrams of ship or fleet manuevers, and the few maps at the end are so utterly general and on such a large scale, and without pinpointing the location of a single action, as to make them useless.

    There's a certain conceit here by author Miller, who has previously written decent naval histories focussing primarily on the US Navy. He starts out in 1775, so as to capture the battles of the nascent American Navy during the revolution and the instrumental Battle of Chesapeake Bay, which enabled the victory at Yorktown which in turn sealed US independence. But that of course ignores the significant naval actions between the French and British in the Seven Years War and the various continental and colonial conflicts leading up to it. The battles of the US Navy in the Pseudo-War with the French from 1798-1800, with the Barbary states in the 1800s, and with Britain in the War of 1812 take up a half dozen rather short chapters. The bulk of the rest of the book, from the framing prologue up through Trafalgar, is more of a history of the British Navy through the filter of the life of Admiral Horatio Nelson than a true survey of the 'age of fighting sail.' I got the feeling after a while that what Miller really wanted to do was write a biography of Nelson, but couldn't sell the idea, so had to expand it out to cover enough American material to make it more appealing to his usual audience.

    To be a true survey, the "starting point" should have gone back to at least the Anglo-Dutch naval wars of the 17th century, or to be an honest assessment of the Napoleonic wars, the American Revolution ought to have been skipped and a little more attention paid to the use of naval support after the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. As it is, Nelson checks in on page 1, checks out on page 300, and the next ten years of warfare are covered in 58 pages. The point of view is squarely in the Anglo and American camps: while some perspectives from the French side and to a much lesser extent that of one of the Dutch fleets are given, that's about it as far as examining the naval actions. This has all the bias of the usual admiring-the-winners history; we expect a little more at this point given the events are 200 years in the past and more scholarship and reflection might've been drawn together in a modern survey.

    This is not a scholarly book, in that it has no detailed footnotes and secondary surverys far outnumber the primary sources. But it's not intended to be one, I don't think, and as a popular survey it's better-researched and put together than most similar volumes. As history, while I quibbled with the choice of details here and there (such as glossing over John Paul Jones' time serving on a slaver), it's decent and not uncritical of the men and governments of the age. Some attention is paid to the mechanics of navies and warfare, without distracting from moving from battle to battle. Miller does quite a good job of spending just enough time explaining the overall political and military context of the major fleet actions and individual ship battles.

    Nevertheless, the focus on Nelson serves to make it somewhat less interesting than, say, Lambert's "War at Sea in the Age of Sail" (which, I hasten to add, is a slimmer volume but which is amply illustrated with diagrams and maps.) I didn't find Miller's prose particularly gripping, but neither was it distracting. Because he feels it necessary to cover the most exciting bits of history from the era, the chapters don't really flow from one the next, but have the feel of isolated episodes occasionally wrapped up by the "strategy" chapters. For instance, the career of Admiral Thomas Cochrane, the swashbuckling model for Jack Aubrey and Horatio Hornblower by varying degrees, is inserted between chapters on the "big picture" battles; it could've appeared at random nearly anywhere in the book and read just the same. It's as if Miller was at the point in writing this out that he said, "well, Nelson's dead now, now I'll go to the next most compelling figure of the age." In fact, I'd go so far as to say that aside from where Nelson appears, the rest of the book reads more like a series of magazine articles than a cohesive book. Not that there's anything wrong with that if that's what you're looking for.

    So in the end I enjoyed reading it simply because it was zippy and got from swash to buckle quickly with a detour to the situation room to explain it all from time to time, but I can't say as I feel likely to bother to re-read it in future years. So take this for what it's worth: a mildly warm recommendation for some armchair reading, but one which will probably leave the enthusiast for naval history in the age of fighting sail wanting more details in other volumes.

    That said: I just can't get over the lack of diagrams and real maps in this book. What on earth were the editors and author thinking?!?

    3 out of 5 stars Good history, mediocre writing.......2003-02-17

    I had to labor through this book, rather than devour it. Still and all, I gained quite a bit of history. It was worth the effort.

    3 out of 5 stars A good book, with some weird flaws.......2002-09-10

    Nathan Miller is one of those authors who is immediately believable as an historian due to the detail and care with which he writes his books. At the same time, his books are emminently readable because he cuts through to the heart of the matter and has a concise, exciting style. This book is a nice addition to my naval library, and I anticipate referring to it often.

    The writing style is definitely the highlight of the book, although there are other items to recommend it. First is the inclusion of a number of lesser-known naval battles that are often omitted. Everyone does Trafalgar and the Nile, but few general histories include the U.S.'s war with Tripoli or pre-Nelsonian battles in the Napoleonic Wars (because most were inconclusive). Because of the short time frame of the book - a mere 40 years - these lesser-known actions are covered. At the same time, this book does not read as a catalogue of battles, but a smooth narrative in which these battles naturally occur. Additionally, there is enough detail about the background story (land battles, politics, etc.) that each battle is firmly placed in context. Finally, the personalities of the men (and even some women) that did the fighting comes through, not just the admirals but occasionally the ordinary crewmembers as well.

    Unfortunately, there are some problems with the book, starting with the time frame. The first few chapters, detailing the Continental Navy and the American Revolution, are not good. They seem tacked on (possibly to sell more books in the U.S.?), and do not have the same flow as subsequent chapters. It should have started later (perhaps the French revolution?), or a lot earlier (although then it would be a different book). Secondly, Miller has a grating habit of rooting for one side - either the U.S. or Britain, as the case may be. Since history is written by the victor, there is a natural pro-British bias in the details of Napoleonic naval battles, for example, but Miller's style gives the appearance that he's rooting for the British at the same time. An example: "The British and French ships had the same number of cannon, but fortunately the British had better training." This is only "fortunate" if you were on the British ship! This kind of insidious cheerleading is especially bad at the beginning of the book, in the aforementioned "tacked-on" chapters, where the pro-U.S. bias is very irritating.

    Therefore, I recommend this book as a detailed and very readable account of the Napoleonic (and conincident) Wars, as long as you can get through the less well-written early chapters.

    5 out of 5 stars I was born 200 years too late.......2002-03-05

    and if I was born in 1759, would I have joined the Royal Navy? Probably, yes. I loved the book. Nathan Miller's excellent research is inspiring. He covers the period from
    the American Revolution to the War of 1812 in a fast, concise, manner. I learned things about John Paul Jones that weren't mentioned in JOHN PAUL JONES, FIGHTING
    SAILOR. Any Hornblower and Aubrey-Maturin fans here?
    Thomas Lord Cochrane was the inspiration for both Hornblower and Jack Aubrey. Sir Edward Pellew, a captain in the Royal Navy during the Wars of the French Revolution, and the Napoleonic Wars, is mentioned in the Hornblower
    books. It mentions the Barbary Pirates too and the George
    Washington Incident.

    4 out of 5 stars This book ROCKS! like the discovery channel in depth times 5.......2002-01-10

    I love this book. Quick read and a bit dry with assumptions that Americans know the relevant names scattered within the book. Many interesting facts and detailed layout of the battles that shaped the caribbean and the americas.
    Naval Warfare in the Age of Sail
    Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    • A Nice Tactical Overview
    • Poor graphic editing
    • Solid...Wonderful Art
    • A great companion for lovers of nautical fiction
    Naval Warfare in the Age of Sail
    Bernard Ireland
    Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Hardcover

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    The life of an ordinary sailor 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

    Book 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 today 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. Color illustrations throughout.

    Customer Reviews:

    4 out of 5 stars A Nice Tactical Overview.......2006-04-01

    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.

    3 out of 5 stars Poor graphic editing.......2002-03-05

    I found this book appealing for the many color 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.

    5 out of 5 stars Solid...Wonderful Art.......2002-02-19

    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.

    4 out of 5 stars A great companion for lovers of nautical fiction.......2001-04-21

    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.
    Rocks & Shoals: Naval Discipline in the Age of Fighting Sail (Bluejacket Books)
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      Rocks & Shoals: Naval Discipline in the Age of Fighting Sail (Bluejacket Books)
      James E. Valle
      Manufacturer: US Naval Institute Press
      ProductGroup: Book
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      Naval Warfare in the Age of Sail (Conway's History of Sail)
      Average customer rating: Not rated
        Naval Warfare in the Age of Sail (Conway's History of Sail)
        B. Tunstall
        Manufacturer: Conway Maritime Press Ltd
        ProductGroup: Book
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        Nelsonªs Battles: The Art of Victory in the Age of Sail
        Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
        • A good book, but not perfect
        • A first-rate look at a first-rate admiral at war
        Nelsonªs Battles: The Art of Victory in the Age of Sail
        Nicholas Tracy
        Manufacturer: Caxton Editions
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        GeneralGeneral | Ships | Transportation | World | History | Subjects | Books
        Military ScienceMilitary Science | History | Subjects | Books
        GeneralGeneral | England | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
        19th Century19th Century | England | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
        GeneralGeneral | Ireland | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
        ASIN: 1840673575

        Customer Reviews:

        3 out of 5 stars A good book, but not perfect.......2001-11-01

        A good book, yes, even if doesn't tell anything I wanted to know. I would say it is a good introduction book. What I was hoping was to find accurate and comprehensive descriptions of Nelson's battles... They are well described, it is a fact, and there are beautiful reproductions of contemporary pictures, but good maps are cruelly lacking. For the least important battles there are a few modern maps, but for the three most important battles (Nile, Copenhague and Trafalgar) there are only reproductions of contemporary maps. Not that they are not good maps but they are too small and it is difficult to read the legends and they are only "static" maps. I would have hoped several maps showing several crucial steps of each battle.

        For a better understanding of naval warfare in the sailing ship time, you should better read Keegan's book "The price of admiralty". The first chapter is devoted to Trafalgar but tells a lot more about this epoch.

        5 out of 5 stars A first-rate look at a first-rate admiral at war.......2000-07-04

        "Nelson's Battles" is not a biography. The subtitle really says it all; "The Art of Victory in the Age of Sail". About half the book is devoted to discussing the navies of the Napoleonic Era and the technical aspects of combat and communications. The rest of the book examines Nelson's fleet battles: Cape St Vincent (where he was not in command, but was principally responsible for the British victory), the NIle, Copenhage, and of course Trafalgar. The writing is clear and interesting and the contemporary illustrations are excellent.
        An American Seafarer in the Age of Sail: The Erotic Diaries of Philip C. Van Buskirk, 1851-1870
        Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
        • A BRIEF INSIGHT INTO HISTORY ON THE HIGH SEAS
        • Interesting source, disappointingly edited
        • Meticulous and engaging
        An American Seafarer in the Age of Sail: The Erotic Diaries of Philip C. Van Buskirk, 1851-1870
        Barry Richard Burg
        Manufacturer: Yale University Press
        ProductGroup: Book
        Binding: Hardcover

        GeneralGeneral | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
        NavalNaval | Military | History | Subjects | Books
        GeneralGeneral | Ships | Transportation | World | History | Subjects | Books
        Social HistorySocial History | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books
        GeneralGeneral | Transportation | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
        All TitlesAll Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
        ASIN: 0300056370

        Book Description

        Philip Van Buskirk enlisted in the U.S. Marines in 1846, when he was twelve years old. Beginning in 1851, he recorded his thoughts and experiences on board ship, providing a firsthand account of the countries he visited, the brawling nation in which he lived, and the everyday life and homoerotic exploits of the sailors and marines who sailed with him. In this intimate portrait, B. R. Burg draws on Van Buskirk`s unconventional and revelatory diaries and on social, religious, and medical writings of the time to create a picture of nineteenth-century America that is rarely seen.

        Customer Reviews:

        5 out of 5 stars A BRIEF INSIGHT INTO HISTORY ON THE HIGH SEAS.......2005-01-21

        (...)From a sociological standpoint, many parents with little means to support their families allowed their young children to leave their homes and seek out the life that may or may not have have been meant for them, many at a very young age. As a result, their sexual and socioligical attitudes were lacking.

        Another issue about Van Buskirk's diary is not what he wrote in his diary but what he failed to include in it. (...)What were the backgrounds of the other young sailors he shared his life with? He gave almost no insights into the other sailors' backgrounds and previous pasts. Was he so intent on his glorious crusade to stop them from their "evil" ways that he had no time to find out something about their "checkered" pasts? Of course, we will never know the answers to these and many other questions.

        All in all, this diary captures a rare view of one man's life as a sailor as well as his self sacrificing, moral crusade for those around him.

        3 out of 5 stars Interesting source, disappointingly edited.......2001-08-21

        Picking up this book, I expected it to contain an edition of Van Buskirk's diaries. Instead, it contains the events within them paraphrased and summarized by the editor. I'm not sure what the purpose was of presenting the texts in this way.

        "Erotic", in the subtitle, is a misnomer. Van Buskirk was a pedophile, though he seems not to have acted much on his desires. He was attracted, according to his diaries, to both young boys and girls. At least based on what we're given by the editor, he gives little description of any sexual encounter.

        This book is fascinating in that it gives us a portrait of a disturbed individual. Despite the author's inexplicable attempts to portray Van Buskirk as normal, the diarist was not simply a product of his time. He was unable to keep a job and, on several occasions, absconded with others' money and possessions; when he joined the Confederate army, he deserted. He was obsessive, emotionally immature, and had sexual problems -- pedophilia, compulsive obsession and nocturnal emissions into his 30's. He was unable to maintain a meaningful relationship with any of the subjects of his quasi-sexual obsessions. Few memoirs give us such a window into the mind of a messed-up person.

        Van Buskirk's diaries also provide information on life aboard US Navy ships in the mid-19th century, which was apparently characterized by frequent homoerotic behavior (which the obsessive Van Buskirk disapproved of but was fascinated with).

        5 out of 5 stars Meticulous and engaging.......1999-02-27

        Book stores are full of works that view history through the eyes of rich, famous people. But many times the unknowns have had front row seats, too, and their insights are fresh, new, and honest. Burg's Van Buskirk is perhaps the most quirky voice from history since Samuel Pepys. And Burg's witty, clean writing and meticulous attention to detail make him real -- and relavent. This book chronicles a fascinating time in history, and exposes an interesting bit-player, warts and all. The price probably means that only those interested in maritime, history, or gay-studies will end up stumbling across this book, but it is worthy of a wider audience. A fascinating read.
        The Age of Sail
        Average customer rating: Not rated
          The Age of Sail

          Manufacturer: Conway Maritime
          ProductGroup: Book
          Binding: Hardcover

          NavalNaval | Military | History | Subjects | Books
          GeneralGeneral | Ships | Transportation | World | History | Subjects | Books
          GeneralGeneral | Ships | Transportation | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
          ASIN: 0851779948

          Book Description

          This second volume of a fascinating and thought-provoking series continues to explore every aspect of international maritime history from 1500 to 1860. Notable contributors cover a variety of topics, including Chris Ware on the Honorable John Byng's controversial rise to flag rank, Lars Einarsson on the wreck of the Swedish ship Kronan, Colin Jones on the White Star Line's Red Jacket, Dan Harris on English shipwrights working in Denmark and Sweden in the eighteenth century, Tom Wareham on John Borlase Warren and the Expedition to Quiberon Bay in 1795, Martin Robson on the British approach to amphibious warfare from 1793 to 1815, and Karl Heinz Marquardt on the ship model known as the Hamburg conveyor Wapen von Hamburg III. A treasure trove of reviews, notes, news, online resources, and a gallery of images completes these not-to-be-missed collector's volumes. 75 line drawings. 73/4 x 103/4 inches.
          The Age of Sails : The Story of Naval Warfare Under Sail
          Average customer rating: Not rated
            The Age of Sails : The Story of Naval Warfare Under Sail
            John V.D. Southworth
            Manufacturer: Hippocrene Books
            ProductGroup: Book
            Binding: Hardcover
            ASIN: B000KF6JYG

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