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The Sea Warriors: The Fighting Captains and Their Ships in the Age of Nelson
The Sea Warriors The Fighting Captains and Their Ships in the Age of Nelson Author:Richard Woodman Their stories today are largely unknown, but in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries the captains and crews of the world's great sailing ships endlessly braved weather, enemies, and disease to gain control of the seas. This volume vibrantly chronicles the true-life exploits of men like Lord Cochrane, Charles Brisbane, and Nisbet Wi... more »lloughby -- naval heroes who for nearly two centuries have stood obscurely in the shadow cast by the famous British admiral Horatio Nelson. Extraordinary seamen pepper the pages throughout this skillfully narrated history, which recounts the British naval battles with the French in the Napoleonic Wars and the daring, resourceful Americans in the War of 1812. In exciting detail it records the deeds of the captains and mates who manned the opposing frigates -- who blockaded ports, who intercepted the enemy's trade, who protected merchant ships from enemy attacks and piracy. If youth, energy, and the opportunities afforded by war thrust courageous seamen to naval glory in the great age of sail, darker forces also haunted their life at sea, as this maritime history poignantly shows. For here, too, are the harsh discipline aboard ship, the months of wearying monotony, the endless sail-trimming, the scourges of malnutrition and disease, and the outbreaks of mutiny. Beyond hardship, though, lay more than survival. Indeed, the daring feats of these captains led them not only to crucial victories at sea but also to spectacular rewards and fame, for a time, at home. This history restores to these sea warriors their moment.« less