The Sea Warriors: The Fighting Captains and Their Ships in the Age of Nelson [Hardcover]

Richard Woodman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 9, 2001

Their stories today are largely unknown, but in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries the captains and crews of the world's great sailing ships endlessly braved weather, enemies, and disease to gain control of the seas. This volume vibrantly chronicles the true-life exploits of men like Lord Cochrane, Charles Brisbane, and Nisbet Willoughby -- naval heroes who for nearly two centuries have stood obscurely in the shadow cast by the famous British admiral Horatio Nelson. Extraordinary seamen pepper the pages throughout this skillfully narrated history, which recounts the British naval battles with the French in the Napoleonic Wars and the daring, resourceful Americans in the War of 1812. In exciting detail it records the deeds of the captains and mates who manned the opposing frigates -- who blockaded ports, who intercepted the enemy's trade, who protected merchant ships from enemy attacks and piracy. If youth, energy, and the opportunities afforded by war thrust courageous seamen to naval glory in the great age of sail, darker forces also haunted their life at sea, as this maritime history poignantly shows. For here, too, are the harsh discipline aboard ship, the months of wearying monotony, the endless sail-trimming, the scourges of malnutrition and disease, and the outbreaks of mutiny. Beyond hardship, though, lay more than survival. Indeed, the daring feats of these captains led them not only to crucial victories at sea but also to spectacular rewards and fame, for a time, at home. This history restores to these sea warriors their moment.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

From the first British involvement in the French Revolution in 1793 to the end of the War of 1812, England's wooden walls fought off French, Danish, Dutch, Spanish, Turkish and American ships to maintain control of the seas and Britain's essential maritime trade. Rather than concentrate on all the big battles of the period, veteran British writer Richard Woodman, with both history and fictional sea tales to his credit, resuscitates now-forgotten ship captains and their quotidian gun duels with enemy ships in The Sea Warriors: The Fighting Captains and Their Ships in the Age of Nelson. Men like Edward Pellew, Thomas Cochrane and Josiah Willoughby contended with defective ships, bad crews, lack of good hygiene and food, and lack of support from their Royal Navy superiors. Press gangs and oftentimes harsh corporal punishment upped the stakes, and mutinies were fairly common. From Woodman's vivid account, it's not hard to see why.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

"- 'A superb Napoleonic War study, admirably written. It puts Patrick O 'Brian and Homblower in the shade. One of John Bayley's Books of the Year.' - Daily Telegraph - 'An enthralling story of the fighting captains and frigate warfare in the age of Nelson.' - Robert Harvey, author of Cochrane. - 'A marvellous book....shows where Patrick O' Brian and C. S Forster got all their stuff from, but is more exciting than either.' - Times Literary Supplement - 'Here the surging thrill of broadside battles under billowing sail is captured with narration that also presents a considerd assessment of the times, of the social, military and political factors that came so powerfully into play; would that all history books could be as arresting' - This England --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf Publishers; 1st Ed. (U.S.) edition (June 9, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786708557
• ISBN-13: 978-0786708550
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,891,060 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Could have been a winner., August 12, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Sea Warriors: The Fighting Captains and Their Ships in the Age of Nelson (Hardcover)

With this work Woodman is trying to fill the gap in history on the various British naval officers whose courage and ingenuity and seamanship were all that held revolutionary France at bay for years until the British army got its act together. It's not only a valiant effort, it is -- as Woodman points out -- long overdue.

I'm not sure if the chronological aspect of the telling doesn't do the stories an injustice. It lends a hit-skip atmosphere to the book, as we read about the heroics of one captain, only to find more about him several chapters down the line. After finishing the book I went to the index and collected all the pages on various captains and went back and read them together and I truly think most of the information about their battles would have been better grouped together.

Two HUGE problems with this book from my point of view though. One, the index needs some work. I hate being referred to pages where there is absolutely no mention of the topic/ship/person I am seeking. And two -- who the devil proofed this book? Because I don't think it was anyone accustomed to reading English! The typos and grammatical errors are overwhelming in number. I found this a serious distraction, and frankly, it is inexcusable. Woodman's work deserves better, because even though I would never count this book as one of the great histories of the Age of Sail, it is rather a one-of-a-kind book.

As for the detail content of the book, I've long wanted to read more details of some of the famous sea battles, detail such as how the ships were maneuvered in some of those one-on-one battles, and Woodman does supply this. I still want more, but I confess to some greed on my part there.

Oh, one other thing, the author does need to provide a bit more argument on some of the characterizations he draws of these captains. For example, he repeatedly refers to Edward Pellew's cupidity, but except for one incident committed by Pellew's son, Woodman never gives any examples where Pellew allowed this attribute to interfere with his duty. Sir Sidney Smith is drawn as boastful and vainglorious -- which he WAS -- but no real argument is made as to how Woodman arrived at this conclusion; a couple of brief examples would have helped make some of his statements look more fact than opinion.

I'll keep this book on my shelf, and will hope Woodman may someday consider a revised edition.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Stand by to Repel Boarders, September 14, 2002

By 

David Stapleton (California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Sea Warriors: The Fighting Captains and Their Ships in the Age of Nelson (Hardcover)

The book is more or less a recounting of the successes of British naval captains of the late 1700s and early 1800s. A period when Britain and France polarized Europe in war. While the ultimate outcome of the conflict bears out the fact that Britain's naval forces were superior, it is hard to believe that there were as few French naval successes as Woodman relates.

But that's a small complaint when taken in context with the overall quality of the content in the book. Woodman's descriptive talent focuses on the telling of the smaller battles. There are ample books relating the events of Trefalgar, this is not one of them, Woodman's narratives are of the frigate battles and smaller ship of the line battles, the cutting outs and ship to ship running fights. The tales of Captains Pellew, Cochrane, Willoughby and such. Stories no less entertaining than those of Forester's Horatio Hornblower. His terminology is accurate, and his research is excellent.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, and Should Have Been Great, August 20, 2001

By 

david milne (northeast, usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sea Warriors: The Fighting Captains and Their Ships in the Age of Nelson (Hardcover)

I purchased this book with the appetite of a shark after a seal. It is a very good book, but it has a couple of things that could have improved it beyound measure. 1. There are so many remarkable men in all navies and battles that the reader needs something to distinquish them after the years of war. 2. I wanted more details on the battles, perhaps some diagrams. 3. I would have liked to have known more about what happened to these men after the wars. Cochrane, as an example, died the year the american civil war started. But not to quibble, this is a good book that puts it all together. You just stay hungry.