Roy & Lesley Adkins, Little Brown, ISBN 978 1 408 7005 49

Authors of the highly acclaimed The War for all the Oceans and Trafalgar, husband-and-wife writing team Roy and Lesley Adkins have come up with another fascinating age of sail compilation.

With their backgrounds in archaeology they dig deep into the historical archives to find personal letters, diaries and other manuscripts of the times that shed light on their chosen subject matter. This time it is the ordinary sailors who manned the ships of the Georgian navy who have attracted their attention. We see Jack Tar at work and play - through his own words.

The chapter on the sailor at leisure goes a long way to negate the widely-held image of unremitting backbreaking physical labour. Of course, to our modern eyes, it was a very hard life, but this engrossing book shows that in many ways life at sea for the common sailor was better than that to be endured by most ashore.

Peter Goodwin, Conway Maritime, ISBN 1 84486 015 9

The nearly three years that Goodwin spent researching and writing this book is certainly reflected in its superb attention to detail. Many books have been written about Trafalgar, but this is the first to provide an in-depth history of each of the 73 British, French and Spanish vessels that were present at the engagement. Interspersed throughout the narrative are fascinating excerpts from the actual ship's logs, together with original plans drawn by the author (who is, of course, the Keeper & Curator of HMS Victory). A well-chosen colour section with paintings by Geoff Hunt, Derek Gardner and others complements this important work. "The Ships of Trafalgar" is a must for serious students of Nelson and one which will set the standard for years to come.

Peter Goodwin, NMM, ISBN 1 844 42 965 2
 

Published in association with the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, Peter Goodwin's book Men o' War is a fascinating and surprising account of life in the Georgian Navy, with detailed information on ships and weaponry, daily routines, discipline and punishment and the nature of battles.

Goodwin has been interested in wooden sailing ships for over 35 years. After serving in the Royal Navy, he completed a MPhil at the Institute of Maritime Studies. He was then appointed Keeper and Curator of HMS Victory, a position he still holds, and was recently a consultant to Peter Weir in the making of Master and Commander.

David & Stephen Howarth, Conway Maritime, ISBN 0 85177 993 X

Written by two of the UK's finest naval biographers, this is an immensely human portrait of Nelson - and a penetrating biography of one of our most revered heroes. The Howarths have captured not only the man but his time, evoking a true sense of life in Nelson's day during peace and war.

First published in 1988, it was fittingly reprinted for 2005.

Peter Padfield John Murray ISBN 0 7195 5665 1
 

One of the reasons Julian chose to write about the Great Age of Sail  is that of all naval actions in history, none are so glorious as those  of the Nelson era. Padfield's fascinating and illuminating book charts the epic struggle between Great Britain and revolutionary and  Napoleonic France, revealing both the hidden forces beneath the  surface of events and the strategies and battle tactics which ensured  Britain's final victory.

Tim Clayton and Phil Craig. Hodder & Stoughton, ISBN 0 340 83026 3

Clayton and Craig have written a moving account of Trafalgar and the aftermath - from the claustrophobic turmoil of the gun-decks to men pumping water from sinking hulks in hurricane force winds - told through the voices of the men and women who were there.

The well-chosen illustrations at the beginning of each chapter are from "Liber Nauticus" by Dominic and John Thomas Serres.

Brian Lavery, National Maritime Museum, ISBN 0948065494

By one of the acknowledged experts in the field, this book not only deals with the battle and Nelson and his officers, it also provides a fascinating picture of the daily routines of the British seaman.

Superb colour images from the archives of the National Maritime Museum illustrate the book.

John Harbron, Conway Maritime, ISBN 0-85177-477-6
 

The Spanish Navy has had a bad press ‑ defeat of the Armada did not signify its end as a major maritime power. Indeed, at the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars, the Spanish Navy was the third largest navy in the world; its ships were superbly built and were commanded by an officer corps who have often been unfairly maligned.

Harbron's fascinating book, illustrated with contemporary plans, paintings and ship models, provides an important contribution to the study of European sea power.

Nelson's Ships  

Peter Goodwin, Conway Maritime Press   ISBN 0 85177 742 2

Written by Peter Goodwin, Keeper and Curator of HMS Victory this is a superb history of ALL the vessels in which Nelson served from 1771 to 1805, including his favourite Agamemnon, with Vanguard, Elephant - and of course Victory, all with rich and satisfying detail.

Referring the Ships' logs, Goodwin also gives us a fascinating insight into the reality of life at sea in the Georgian Navy, the words (and spelling!) speaking to us down the ages.

The book also includes artwork by Geoff Hunt RSMA and Derek Gardner RSMA, and plans and draughts specially drawn by the author.

Roy Adkins, Little Brown, ISBN 0-316-72511-0

Adkins makes excellent use of eyewitness material, and presents a vivid history of Trafalgar from both sides of the conflict, including the Spanish who came to the aid of the victors, offering food and wine on the beaches to the English sailors wrecked there.

His treatment of the visions of hell on the gun decks during the battle is particularly gripping.

Brian Southam, Hambledon Press ISBN 1852852917

Two of Jane Austen's brothers served in the Royal Navy, and later became Admirals. Her novels, especially  'Mansfield Park ' and  'Persuasion ' reflect her interest in, and admiration for, the Navy. 

Based on family papers and naval records, Southam's book shows the novelist as a historian of Nelson's Navy - not the Navy of great victories at sea but the Navy at home and of sailors amongst their family and friends.

Brian Lavery Conway Maritime ISBN 0 85177 521 7

Lavery is a leading authority on the sailing fighting ship and this work, written over ten years ago (and reprinted many times), deservedly remains a classic. 

Beginning with a background on the wars with France and naval administration, Lavery covers the design and construction of ships, training and organisation of officers and men and life at sea. It is in the latter that Lavery excels in his description of a world far removed from the hardships and cruelty that is often attributed to life on the lower deck.