Book
Review:
Nelson's Navy: The Ships, Men and Organisation, 1793
to 1815
By
Brian Lavery
Conway Maritime Press
If
you are a fan of naval warfare during the Napoleonic Era and are
looking for a one-volume title to cover the subject then search
no further.
For
Nelson's Navy, by Brian Lavery, is guaranteed to have something
on everything you could possibly think of - and a great deal more
- in its large-format 350+ pages.
It truly is a colossal work and superbly examines all aspects
of the British Royal Navy from its organisation, to ship types,
to officers training, the crew, marines, ship handling, life on
the ocean waves, dockyards, bases, fleets and ship distribution,
tactics, signals, blockading, amphibious operations and much more.
And
if that isn't enough, Lavery adds in some pretty solid information
on the navies that faced off against Britain - those of the French,
Spanish and American - as well as the Danes, Swedes, Turks, Barbary
pirates.
Underscoring
the depth of the information available here, each main chapter
is broken up into at least four sub-chapters that take the reader
into rich new areas of exploration.
Do
you want to know about the different types of vessels, how many
masts they had, the sail configurations, how ropes and knots were
tied and ships rigged? Takes about two minutes…
Or
how about where British fleets were deployed around the globe?
Maybe you want to know the heirachy above and below decks on a
British warship, the types of punishment (in detail), why the
mutinies of 1797 occurred and how Britain used Press Gangs to
keep its wooden walls well crewed with men.
It is all here in an easy to get at way.
Now
the textual information is backed by a huge collection of images
- photographs, line drawings, maps, graphics and cartoons. They
include historical pictures of sailors and their lives, depictions
of battles and the gundecks of ships, as well as photos of the
interior of the HMS Victory.
For
mine some of the most interesting are the technical drawings that
show the various parts of masts, deck configurations, crew allocation
and positioning, weapons, ship hulls and more.
Brian
Lavery has done sailing ship devotees proud with this stunning
volume of work and I can heartily recommend it as being the first
book to buy if you are interested in Nelson's Navy.
95./10
