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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
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From Publishers Weekly
Veteran historian Miller (The U.S. Navy; Theodore Roosevelt; etc.) examines naval operations in the 40 years from the beginning of the American Revolution to the end of the War of 1812. Writing for the general reader, Miller provides a wealth of detail on wooden ships of warAranging from small sloops to huge ships of the line carrying over a hundred cannonsAand the international crews who sailed them, along with biographies and analyses of the prominent leaders of the period: Horatio Nelson, Richard Lord Howe, John Paul Jones, Comte de Grasses, Oliver Hazard Perry and others. The great battlesATrafalgar, Lake Erie, the Glorious First of June and many moreAreceive their due, as do the many ship-to-ship combats of the era, including the victories of the American frigate Constitution ("Old Ironsides") and other engagements involving England, France, Spain, the Barbary pirates and several other European nations. Descriptions of dreadful living conditions aboard cramped wooden vessels give way to bloody decks after close combat. Miller goes beyond a dry retelling of these famous events to examine the political situations that led to the wars of the period, making this a solid introduction to a turbulent era at sea. Four maps (not seen by PW) and 20 illus. (July)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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