The Eyes of the Fleet: A Popular History of Frigates and Frigate Captains 1793-1815 [Hardcover]

Anthony Price (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In his first nonfiction effort, novelist Price (Here Be Monsters, LJ 5/15/86) offers us a wonderful popular history of the British Navy in its golden years. In format, the text details six naval encounters of famous captains (five actual captains and C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower). By the end of the book, the reader is given a fine summary of the evolution of a frigate (a fast, powerful, single-deck warship), naval officer background and advancement, life aboard ship, mutiny, actual battle, and political intrigue. The volume contains portraits and paintings of famous frigate battles. Readers seeking more information on the subject should consult Michael Lewis's A Social History of the Navy, 1793-1815 (1954) and Byron Lavery's The Line of Battle: The Sailing Warship, 1650-1840 (Naval Inst., 1992). This small, well-written volume would make a fine addition to public library collections.?Richard S. Nowicki, Emerson Vocational H.S., Buffalo, N.Y.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 298 pages
• Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc (January 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393038467
• ISBN-13: 978-0393038460
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,593,858 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great insights for Patrick O'Brian readers., October 30, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: The Eyes of the Fleet: A Popular History of Frigates and Frigate Captains 1793-1815 (Hardcover)

For avid readers of Patrick O'Brian's "Aubrey - Maturin" series, this book provides intruiging insights into the real-life frigate captains whose exploits are the source material for O'Brian, and the other imitators: Kent, Pope, Parkinson, Forester, et al. While the material is fascinating, the writing style takes a bit of work: Mr. Price is a master of the convoluted, parenthesized, run-on sentence. But once you get a handle on his writing style, the tales of the almost larger-than-life frigate captains like the rash but incomparable Cochrane, and the incredible Hoste, will put Jack Aubrey in a different light. His adventures and achievements -which sometimes seem so heroic as to be farfetched - are simply re-told tales from the adventures of these real-life fighting captains. In summary: terrific background for understanding the naval aspects of England's Napoleonic Wars, and the American action in the War of 1812

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not well written and hard to read., November 16, 2006

By 

Ned Middleton (British professional underwater photo-journalist & author) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Eyes of the Fleet: A Popular History of Frigates and Frigate Captains 1793-1815 (Hardcover)

The very least I would expect from the author of this, his twentieth book (the previous 19 being all fiction) is an understanding of grammar and punctuation - something which is sadly lacking in this work.

As a general rule, we do not start sentences with "And" or "But" and, although occasionally acceptable, there are too many instances here. Just as a capital letter commences any new sentence, so a capital letter is the first to appear after a colon - but not in this work. Furthermore, I found too many instances of digression when try to make a simple point.

All of which is off-putting for the serious reader.

In short, this book is hard to review because it is most difficult to read and if it can't be read - then there really is no point in it being reviewed in the first place.

Poor showing - especially after all that research.

NM

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Explains what a frigate "Man-of-War" is really like., May 30, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Oak Park, Michigan U.S.A.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Eyes of the Fleet: A Popular History of Frigates and Frigate Captains 1793-1815 (Hardcover)

After reading a few of the books by any of the great Naval fiction/historical authors, this is the book that explains some of the terms you may not quite understand. After reading this book, keep it on hand while you read all the others. That way you can refer to chapters herein that can lend a bearing. Good Stuff !!!