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Men Of War: Life in Nelson's Navy (Hardcover)

by Patrick O'Brian (Author) "The vessels that made up the early Navy were of all shapes and sizes, from Henry VIII's Henry Grace a Dieu of 1,000 tons down..." (more)

3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

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Product Details

Hardcover: 96 pages
Publisher: WW Norton (Nov 1 1995)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0393038580
ISBN-13: 978-0393038583
Product Dimensions: 24.5 x 16.5 x 1.6 cm
Shipping Weight: 404 g

Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

Amazon.ca Sales Rank: #418,154 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
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#40 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Authors, A-Z > ( O ) > O'Brian, Patrick

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Product Description

From Amazon.com

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-color paintings renders the majesty and the excitement of fleet actions in the age of fighting sail.

From Library Journal

O'Brian, author of the Aubrey/Maturin sea novels (e.g., The Commodore, Norton, 1995), has compiled this 96-page collection of facts on Lord Nelson's navy. The author describes the ships, guns, crew's life, and songs of the sailors. Most of this information can be found elsewhere and none of it will be new to dedicated naval buffs. Readers of the novels of Dudley Pope, C.S. Forester, and O'Brian who are interested in the difference in armament between frigates and men-of-war or the daily rations of sailors in Nelson's time may find this of value. At $23, it would seem suitable for libraries with strong collections in naval history.?Stanley Itkin, Hillside P.L., New Hyde Park, N.Y.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
The vessels that made up the early Navy were of all shapes and sizes, from Henry VIII's Henry Grace a Dieu of 1,000 tons down to row-barges, passing by cogs, carracks, and ballingers, shallops and pinnaces; but by the seventeenth century the pattern that lasted up until the coming of steam was clear, and by the eighteenth it was firmly established. Read the first page

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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
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Average Customer Review

3.2 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not too bad; could be a lot better, April 9 1998

By A Customer

This book covers some of the ground of Brian Lavery's 'Nelson's Navy'. Lavery's book is much more comprehensive and much larger. O'Brian's book has some color plates, but it was really written to take advantage of his name. I'd buy Lavery's book first, or "The Young Sea Officer's Sheet Anchor, or a Key to the Leading of Rigging and to Practical Seamanship" by Darcy Lever (a contemporary book).

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5.0 out of 5 stars Navy life for armchair voyagers, Mar 19 2004

By	Charles Slovenski (Geneva Switzerland) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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 color 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.

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3.0 out of 5 stars An interesting overview, Jun 1 2000

By	J. Angus Macdonald "bibliovore" (Concord, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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" over 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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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Crutch for us Landlubbers
I cannot claim to any nautical experience, however, I do claim to be one of Patrick O'Brian's all time fans. Read more

Published on Mar 31 2000 by Prauge Traveler

2.0 out of 5 stars Not for landlubbers...
First off, I must say that I am a very big fan of Patrick O'Brians Aubrey/Maturin novels. It is because of them that I searched for this book. Read more

Published on Jan 21 2000 by L. Alper

3.0 out of 5 stars An appendix packaged as a book
While written in Mr. O'Brian's usual lucid style and accompanied by useful line drawings and full-color plates of paintings, the "book" is so thinly written that really... Read more

Published on May 19 1997