Sustaining the Fleet

RM Ancestors

Sailing into the Past

Seafaring Dictionary

Nelson's Navy in Fiction & Film

History of Seafaring

Falconer’s Dictionary

Poxed and Scurvied

Sea Charts of British Isles

Age of Sail

Medicine Under Sail

Oxford Companion to Sea

Sea Chart Illustrated

Royal Dockyards

Kevin Brown, Seaforth. ISBN 978 1 84832 063 5

The author is curator of the Alexander Fleming Museum and an expert in the history of medicine. This fascinating book traces the problems of malnourishment, disease and injury faced by the seafarer from fifteenth century right up to the modern period.

The Royal Navy's role was very significant in improving the fate of the seafarer. Brown goes into some detail about Lord Nelson's real concern for Jack Tar's welfare - and the specific actions he took in such areas as shipboard diet, hygiene, morale and naval hospitals ashore.

Brown also shows how in many ways attempts to address the specific needs of the seafarer developed wider implications for society as a whole; a number of scientific breakthroughs were in fact of universal benefit.

Roger Knight and Martin Wilcox, Boydell Press. ISBN 9781843835646

The title of this handy little volume Provisioning the fleet and the army overseas during the wars between 1793 and 1815 was a major undertaking for Britannia. This book examines how the Victualling Board in London handled this enormous task, focusing in particular on the contractors who provided huge quantities of a vast range of commodities. Of special interest to readers of Julian's books may be chapter 9, dealing with Zephaniah Job, who has a role in THE ADMIRAL'S DAUGHTER. As Julian alluded in the book, Job was not just a smuggler based in Polperro, but a merchant, banker and contractor; in fact his activities were typical of many small merchants in ports around the British Isles.

Interesting case studies of Basil Cochrane and the victualling of the fleet in the East Indies 1792-1806 and Samuel Paget and the Sea Provisions Contract at Great Yarmouth 1796-1802 are also presented.

The book concludes that it was "upon the success of the contractors that the war at sea was won."

Richard Brooks and Matthew Little, Pen & Sword. ISBN 184415869 1

The title of this handy little volume is somewhat misleading as the book's first three chapters are devoted to describing the organization, function and operations of the Royal Marines from the seventeenth century to the present day.

As well as an excellent historical overview, the authors include such topics as the Blue Marines (artillerymen, so-called because they wore dark blue coats, a more practical colour for working with black powder) and corps mythology.

The rest of the book explains how to trace marine ancestors with information on all he major relevant archives, websites and museums. There is also an extensive bibliography of books about the Royal Marines.

Jenny Bennett (ed), Seaforth. ISBN 978 1 848 320 130

Over the past generation the building of accurate replicas of ships from the distant past has radically changed perceptions of our ancestors’ sailing and voyaging. This beautifully illustrated book looks at individual replicas and discusses what they have taught us, providing a very accessible view as to how the ships of our seafaring forebears affected the manner in which they traded, fought, and explored.

I particularly enjoyed the extensive treatment of objective measures of performance of these time capsules which provide priceless insights into their handling which can never be achieved in any other way.

David Blackmore, McFarland. ISBN 978 0 7864 4266 9

This author is a veteran of the Merchant and Royal Navies, and as such brings a depth of maritime savvy to this fascinating tome.

This book is an alphabetical compendium of more than 9000 nautical terms, some quite short, some more lengthy, covering the earliest days of seafaring right up to the twenty-first century. A useful appendix includes tables that cover such items as wind and wave measurement, date and time notation, phonetic alphabets, maritime signals, navigation rules and the process of boxing the compass. There are a number of nautical dictionaries available, and this one is not inexpensive, but “The Seafaring Dictionary” gets the thumbs-up from Julian for its overall treatment and accuracy.

Sue Parrill, McFarland, ISBN 978 0 7864 3855 6

Sue Parrill, a retired head of the English department at Southeastern Louisiana University in the States has written an extremely comprehensive guide to depictions of British sea power in the Napoleonic era. The book provides summaries and analyses of more than 250 novels and nearly 30 films and also examines the extent to which they accurately reflect the history, mores and manners of the period, as well as the technical seamanship details. As well as a home reference the book will be a valuable addition to any public library

Donald Johnson and Juha Nurminen, Conway Maritime ISBN 978 1844 860401

Conway Maritime is renowned for publication of books of the highest quality in terms of scholarship and visual presentation. “The History of Seafaring”, however, sets a new standard. This magnificent book, five years in the making, celebrates two and a half millennia of man’s seaborne voyages from the Phoenicians and Chinese up to modern times, and features over 270 colour illustrations - manuscripts and rutters, portolans and sea charts, ship's instruments and artefacts, many never seen in print before. The book was launched in splendid style at the Royal Geographical Society.

William Falconer, Cadell 1815 (Reprint Chatham Publishing) ISBN 1861 762 046

One of the enduring classics that have come down to us from Nelson's time, wonderfully recreated from the original in its full detail. This is Burney's 1815 edition, the most comprehensive and informative, tapping resources unavailable to Falconer in 1769 to make this the definitive picture of Nelson's Navy at its apogee. It contains marine technology, data on technical aspects of shipbuilding, fitting and armaments, and the Navy's administrative and operational practices. The work should without doubt be in the possession of every serious student of the Royal Navy of the time.

Sea Charts of the British Isles

John Blake, Conway Maritime, ISBN 1 84486 024 8

Splendidly evocative of Britain's sea inheritance, with details trawled from a thousand years of colourful nautical history, this is a book to open the eyes. Using the device of a circumnavigation, Blake shows how a mariner's perception of these shores has varied over the centuries, and includes fascinating detail of the charts and instruments that have contributed.

This wonderfully illustrated book features rare and detailed charts from the ages which will handsomely repay the armchair sailor poring over it with a magnifier.

The Age of Sail : The International Annual of the Historic Sailing Ship - Vol 1 & 2

Nicholas Tracy, Conway Maritime, ISBN 0851 779 255

Edited by an eminent naval historian, the annuals aim to cover all aspects of maritime warfare from the sixteenth to the mid-nineteenth century. With reviews, notes and original documents, the volumes are a valuable resource for the enthusiast as well as the more general reader.

Medicine Under Sail
By Zachary Friedenberg. Chatham. ISBN 1861 762 127

A fascinating account of the grim medical conditions - including diseases such as scurvy, beriberi, typhus, tropical fevers - that prevailed at sea - and how they were resolved. 

The book also examines the influence of Nelson in bringing the medical revolution in controlling disease to the attention of the Admiralty. Nelson, of course, had a long history of ill health and from an early age built a reputation for maintaining the health of his crew, even after having been at sea for periods of up to twenty months.

The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea
Edited by Peter Kemp, Oxford University Press ISBN 0 19 282084

An absorbing reference work of the sea and the men who sail on it. As well as biographies, descriptions of major naval events and famous ships, there are articles on navigation, shipbuilding - and many other aspects of the sea world. There are also a large number of drawings and line diagrams that amplify the text.

It is the sort of book you open to look something up, and then are drawn into many other interesting entries.

The Sea Chart : The Illustrated History of Nautical Maps and Navigational Charts

John Blake, Conway Maritime, ISBN 0851 779 45X  

This superbly presented book will appeal to serious students of navigation as well as those interested in the documentation of man's expansion across the globe. Part of its fascination for the reader lies in the knowledge that these were the very charts pored over by anxious mariners and learned geographers both, and professional seafarers will certainly appreciate the great advances in navigation set out here.

Philip MacDougall, Shire Books, ISBN 0 7478 0033 2  

Britain's royal dockyards have a tradition of shipbuilding stretching back five hundred years. At one time they were the largest industrial employer in the world. This inexpensive publication gives an absorbing account of how the yards once performed their nationally vital tasks.