This finely researched book is a portrait of the Royal Navy during the
Napoleonic wars; but it is particularly a portrait of the Navy's
people, of the officers and men who formed that formidable fighting
force made popular by novels of C.S. Forester and Patrick O'Brian.
These men were assembled from all classes in society and came from all
parts of the British Isles and so the social history of the Navy
demonstrates a complete cross-section of contemporary life, and the
divisions aboard ship, between quarter deck and lower deck for
instance, reflected divisions on land. But parentage and social
background form only a small fragment of the story. The author follows
their lives from the cradle to the grave and paints a detailed picture
of both the expectations and the reality of life at sea.

He describes how men came to go to sea and explains the volunteer, the
press and the quota; the story of officer-entry is dealt with, along
with 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.

In the twenty-two years of war the cost in lives was heavy and every
sailor was confronted by the persistent and daily dangers of the sea
itself, the enemy and disease. If he was lucky enough to survive then
an officer retired ashore on half-pay, not rich but proud of his
service; a sailor from the lower deck might find a snug berth in one
of the naval hospitals. He would have little but then he never
expected much.

First published in 1960, Lewis' 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.

Format: Hardbound
Pages: 468
Length: 5.375w x 8.4375h
ISBN-13: 9781861762320
ISBN: 1861762321
Catalog ID: 142784AE

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