This concise yet detailed handbook provides the nautically inquisitive or historically minded reader with, arguably, everything he or she needs to know about the Royal Navy or Commander Jack Aubrey—protagonist of Patrick O' Brian's best selling series set during the era of the Napoleonic wars—and of Admiral Horatio Nelson, the greatest of all Britain's naval commanders. Decorated with line illustrations, many of them contemporary, and packed with detail, A Nelson Companion is an essential guide to the Royal Navy of Jack Aubrey's time, and its unrivalled history.
An interesting little book with a good deal of trivia information about the British Navy at the turn of the 18th century and before. Not transcendent, but a nice reference to go along with several others written on a similar subject.
It says on the tin that it's a miscellany, and it's a delightful and informative miscellany indeed. Compact and concise and just the sort of facts I wanted to read about for my own story research.
Very short book, but a good overview of nautical terms. A lot of the other book dealing with this subject tend to be massive encyclopedia type books that are only useful as a reference. This one you can skim through and get some general background that will help with reading the books of this period.