Sons of the Waves
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€18.50
A01=Stephen Taylor
admiral nelson
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Author_Stephen Taylor
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british empire
british history
Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=BG
Category=DNB
Category=HBJD1
Category=HBLL
Category=HBTM
Category=NHD
Category=NHTM
Category=RGR
COP=United States
court martial
Delivery_Delivery within 10-20 working days
eq_bestseller
eq_biography-true-stories
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
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explorers
high seas
Language_English
letters
life at sea
maritime history
memoirs
merchant
mutiny
officers
PA=Available
press gang
Price_€10 to €20
PS=Active
royal navy
sailors
seamen
ships logs
softlaunch
Product details
- ISBN 9780300257519
- Dimensions: 127 x 197mm
- Publication Date: 08 Jun 2021
- Publisher: Yale University Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
- Language: English
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A brilliant telling of the history of the common seaman in the age of sail, and his role in Britain’s trade, exploration, and warfare
“No other book resurrects the wooden world of Jack Tar in such captivating and voluminous detail.”—A. Roger Ekirch, Wall Street Journal
“[A] rollicking narrative. . . . Superb.”—Ben Wilson, Times (UK)
British maritime history in the age of sail is full of the deeds of officers like Nelson but has given little voice to plain, “illiterate” seamen. Now Stephen Taylor draws on published and unpublished memoirs, letters, and naval records, including court-martials and petitions, to present these men in their own words.
In this exhilarating account, ordinary seamen are far from the hapless sufferers of the press gangs. Proud and spirited, learned in their own fashion, with robust opinions and the courage to challenge overweening authority, they stand out from their less adventurous compatriots.
Taylor demonstrates how the sailor was the engine of British prosperity and expansion up to the Industrial Revolution. From exploring the South Seas with Cook to establishing the East India Company as a global corporation, from the sea battles that made Britain a superpower to the crisis of the 1797 mutinies, these “sons of the waves” held the nation’s destiny in their calloused hands.
“No other book resurrects the wooden world of Jack Tar in such captivating and voluminous detail.”—A. Roger Ekirch, Wall Street Journal
“[A] rollicking narrative. . . . Superb.”—Ben Wilson, Times (UK)
British maritime history in the age of sail is full of the deeds of officers like Nelson but has given little voice to plain, “illiterate” seamen. Now Stephen Taylor draws on published and unpublished memoirs, letters, and naval records, including court-martials and petitions, to present these men in their own words.
In this exhilarating account, ordinary seamen are far from the hapless sufferers of the press gangs. Proud and spirited, learned in their own fashion, with robust opinions and the courage to challenge overweening authority, they stand out from their less adventurous compatriots.
Taylor demonstrates how the sailor was the engine of British prosperity and expansion up to the Industrial Revolution. From exploring the South Seas with Cook to establishing the East India Company as a global corporation, from the sea battles that made Britain a superpower to the crisis of the 1797 mutinies, these “sons of the waves” held the nation’s destiny in their calloused hands.
Stephen Taylor is a writer of maritime history, biography, and travel. He has worked as a foreign correspondent for The Times, The Observer and The Economist, and is the author of The Caliban Shore, Storm and Conquest, and Commander.
