Wooden World: An Anatomy of the Georgian Navy Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)The writer of this book is an academic historian of some importance and he appears to be in the midst of writing a three volume history of the British navy. This book is a little more specalised and tells what it was like to serve on a British ship in the 18th Century.
The main theme of the book is to rebut academic theories which suggest that the British Navy of the period was run like a concentration camp. The author in some detail goes through the relations on ships and shows how the navy took a lot of care to preserve one of its key assets the sailors who manned the ships. Food was plentiful and of high quality or the time, British sailors worked out the cause of scurvey before medical science did. Care was taken to ensure that ships were clean and that sailors washed. The most interesting discussion is however on discipline. It would seem clear that in trials carried out to deterime the guilt of individual sailors, senior officers were very careful to establish the truth of charges and they were willing to aquit or to accept the sailors point of view. The book establishes that with a number of mutinies the Admirality removed incompetant officers from command and took no action against the men who mutinied, accpeting that the actions of the sailors was justified.
The author goes a long way to establishing that the reality of sea born life was one more or partnership rather than that of an oppresive regime.
The book however does more than this and describes in detail the tremendous organisational feat that was the Royal navy. It looks at all aspects of the navy from recruiting sailors, to feeding them and the reality of training and manning ships.
One finishes the book and relises what an achievment it was for England to be able to run such an effecient arm as the navy and how the way it was run led to the success it had in battle.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Wooden World: An Anatomy of the Georgian Navy


From the award-winning naval scholar N. A. M. Rodger comes the most revealing account yet of the mighty Georgian navy and British naval society of the eighteenth century.
Meticulouslyresearched, Rodger's portrait draws the readerinto this fascinatingly complex world withvivid, entertaining characters and full detailsof life below the decks. The Wooden Worldprovides the most complete history of a navy atany age, and is sure to be an indispensablevolume for all fans of Patrick O'Brian, English history, and naval history.--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Click here for more information about Wooden World: An Anatomy of the Georgian Navy