Julian Stockwin
Hard back
Book Reviews
270907
The author has developed a series of books around two principle characters, Kydd and Renzi, using an original basic theme of two men who come from different social backgrounds but meet as seamen in the harsh life of Nelson's Navy. Renzi comes from a background of wealth but volunteers to be a seaman for unusual personal reasons. Kydd is from a poor background and is press ganged. Against the odds, they both become officers on merit. Over seven novels, Stockwin has developed the characters and their stories through a series of highs and lows as they struggle forward. With each book we have seen a little more of the two characters and been introduced to a wealth of new characters in tales that combine joy and sorrow, success and failure. Each year the author has travelled to a different location to research for the next book in the series. Thus far we have seen Kydd travel around the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, North America and the South Seas. Each tale has the feel of being contemporary with the period in which it has been set and authentic in its location. Each book has entertained and educated. Now we have reached book number eight and it fully lives up to the readers' expectations developed by the previous stories. This time, Kydd has returned to England, seas with which he is not familiar. He gains command once more in a vessel he knows well. His social adventures paint a picture of society of the times and his fortunes rise and fall in an absorbing adventure amongst privateers, smugglers and violent storms. From visiting Stockwins website it can be seen how well his following has grown over the books and this story should add to that following. Those looking forward to story number nine will have grown yet again.
R1462
http://www.JulianStockwin.com Kydd
Artemis
Seaflower
Mutiny
Quarterdeck
Tenacious
Command
Fiction
978-0-340-89859-8
http://tinyurl.com/
The Admiral's daughter
361
GB£17.99
Hodder and Stoughton
Napoleonic Wars
Royal Navy
RN
social history
technology
tactics
storms
smugglers
intrigue
privateers
pirates
Devon
Cornwall