Under False Colours: A Nathaniel Drinkwater Novel (Mariner's Library Fiction Classics) [Paperback]

Richard Woodman (Author)

Book Description

Series: Mariners Library Fiction Classic | Publication Date: October 25, 1999

In 1809, operating under the orders of the Admiralty's Secret Department, Capt. Nathaniel Drinkwater goes ashore with the dregs of London's dockland. Disguised as a Merchant Marine shipmaster of low character, he has an encounter with a known French agent in a brothel, deliberately advertising the fact that he will shortly be carrying a cargo of military stores to Russia. The scheme is intended to flout Napoleon's Continental System and drive a wedge between the French Emperor and his new ally, Czar Alexander. But the mission is disrupted by tempestuous weather and the loss of the escort, a gun-brig commanded by Drinkwater's friend and protŽgŽ. And when Drinkwater reaches the British-occupied island of Helgoland, he resolves on an exceptionally bold course of action-one not advised by the Admiralty.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Packed with exciting incident worthy of wide appeal to those who love thrilling nautical encounters and the sea. - Nautical Magazine. --Nautical Magazine

Much of the enjoyment of Under False Colours is the fact that Woodman writes with such authority. His mariner s lingo is flawless, and at times, the reader is befuddled with his sheer virtuosity in the area. But the action fills in the terms that the reader may be unaware of, and there is no doubt that Nathaniel Drinkwater rates up there with the best of the nautical world. --Excerpted from Midwest Book Review

From the Back Cover

"The Elbe Estuary is a bleak place... Richard Woodman's latest Drinkwater is set around the estuary. It is not a bleak book, it is full of hot action, but the scene setting brings alive the Elbe in a way that will make any seaman shiver." --Fairplay, London

"As always, Richard Woodman's story is closely based on actual historical events... All this we have come to expect... and he adds that special ambience of colourful credibility which makes his nautical novels such rattling good reads." --Lloyd's List

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Sheridan House (October 25, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1574090798
• ISBN-13: 978-1574090796
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #154,027 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #47 in Books > History > Military > Napoleonic Wars

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A naval adventure mainly on land, January 25, 2000

By 

Fred Camfield (Vicksburg, MS USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Under False Colours: A Nathaniel Drinkwater Novel (Mariner's Library Fiction Classics) (Paperback)

Drinkwater plays a different role for the Royal Navy, acting on a special mission which involves unusual hazards, with great risks and little chance for personal gain. This mission takes him to Helgoland and the Elbe River during the winter of 1809-1810. This book covers an interesting facet of the war with Napolean's France. The book is well researched and well written. My main complaint is that I cannot obtain the Drinkwater books in chronological order.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars .., May 24, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Under False Colours: A Nathaniel Drinkwater Novel (Mariner's Library Fiction Classics) (Paperback)

This is the replay from Sheridan regarding the publishing orders:

=== It was a question of US Rights becoming available - a slow and difficult process. Next spring we will do the first three and the rest will follow in chronological order.

Sheridan House ====

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Drinkwater re-dons cloak, unsheathes dagger, December 31, 2001

By 

Bill Mac "hmcs_kenogami" (windsor, ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Under False Colours: A Nathaniel Drinkwater Novel (Mariner's Library Fiction Classics) (Paperback)

Richard Woodman's Nathaniel Drinkwater series has always had a dark Gothic air about it. The darkest entry was undoubtedly Under False Colours' predecessor A Private Revenge. Series readers will be happy to know that this entry is nowhere near as dark and tragic as A Private Revenge. It is perhaps more similar and related to the earlier Baltic Mission. It's like Baltic Mission in that it is more cloak and dagger than sea story.

However, Under False Colours is not a rewrite of Baltic Mission in a different location. Much has happened to Nathaniel Drinkwater since Baltic Mission and Under False Colours is the conclusion of events that were initiated in Baltic Mission and which propelled the action through In Distant Waters and A Private Revenge. A Private Revenge left Drinkwater a deeply psychologically scarred man. In Under False Colours Drinkwater begins to heal the deep wounds left from the horrors of the earlier novel.

This entry begins with an attempt to deceive the French by getting them to believe that Britain is supplying military aid to the Czar in defiance of Napoleon's Continental System and his treaty with the Czar. Things go awry and Drinkwater leads a trading mission into Hamburg and as is typical of this series, twists and turns fall more twists and turns. The climax occurs at sea following a tense build up and chase.

Under False Colours does not have the same level of blood letting that some of the earlier entries in the series had and all Bolitho novels have. Instead it gradually builds up tension while exploring the conditions in Napoleonic Europe. What I found particularly interesting was the role of Jewish merchants in Hamburg and London. The Jews of Drinkwater's Europe have an underground communication system that acts as a conduit to and from the continent. Woodman nicely underplays Drinkwater's surprise at being treated so well by Jewish merchants. The kindness of the Jews would have come as a very pleasant surprise to a Christian of Drinkwater's era, not because we wouldn't expect them to be kind but because the Christians of that era wouldn't. One can see barriers beginning to fall, as paradigms are broken.

Under False Colours is an entertaining novel with some nice surprises in contrast to the nasty ones of A Private Revenge. It's a worthy entry in the series but not one of the best. I suspect that it is a bit of a respite from desperate action to follow in the last three years of the war as Woodman brings it home for the reader.