Description
"Landsmen, boys, incurables and cripples, such wretches great part of them are" this was how one naval captain described the crew of his battleship. Even in time of peace, the Admiralty had to resort to the press gang to raise sufficient men for the Navy. Yet these "sorry poor creatures that don't earn half the victuals they eat" were the men whose bravery and discipline played a crucial part in the victories at Copenhagen, the Nile and Trafalgar, which established England in Nelson's day as the world's greatest maritime power.
This fascinating book portrays every aspect of life above and below decks, the ordinary seamen, midshipmen and officers; the food and grog, the brutal naval discipline with its floggings and hangings, and the mutinies at the Nore and Spithead which alarmed the Admiralty.
The book also contains a nautical glossary, table of dates, book list and index, and is illustrated throughout with contemporary pictures and clear line drawings.
