Sons Of The Waves: The Common Seaman In The Heroic Age Of Sail

by Stephen Taylor

2020-12-28 18:31:28

A brilliant telling of the history of the common seaman in the age of sail, and his role in Britain’s trade, exploration, and warfare“No other book resurrects the wooden world of Jack Tar in such captivating and voluminous detail.”&... Read more
A brilliant telling of the history of the common seaman in the age of sail, and his role in Britain’s trade, exploration, and warfare

“No other book resurrects the wooden world of Jack Tar in such captivating and voluminous detail.”—Roger Ekirch, Wall Street Journal

“[A] rollicking narrative . . . Superb”—Ben Wilson, Times
  
British maritime history in the age of sail is full of the deeds of officers like Nelson but has given little voice to plain, "illiterate" seamen. Now Stephen Taylor draws on published and unpublished memoirs, letters, and naval records, including court-martials and petitions, to present these men in their own words.

In this exhilarating account, ordinary seamen are far from the hapless sufferers of the press gangs. Proud and spirited, learned in their own fashion, with robust opinions and the courage to challenge overweening authority, they stand out from their less adventurous compatriots.

Taylor demonstrates how the sailor was the engine of British prosperity and expansion up to the Industrial Revolution. From exploring the South Seas with Cook to establishing the East India Company as a global corporation, from the sea battles that made Britain a superpower to the crisis of the 1797 mutinies, these "sons of the waves" held the nation’s destiny in their calloused hands.
Less

Book Details

File size9.25 X 6.12 X 0.98 in
Print pages416
PublisherYale University Press
Publication date May 19, 2020
LanguageEnglish
ISBN9780300245714
Stephen Taylor, Chartered CCIPD, is a Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management at the University of Exeter Business School, UK and also a Chief Examiner for the CIPD. He previously taught at Man...

Compare Prices

Store Availability Book Format Condition Price
Indigo Books & Music In Stock Hard Cover Hard Cover Buy CAD 39.00
Indigo Books & MusicIn Stock
Format
Hard Cover
Condition
Hard Cover
Buy CAD 39.00
Available Discount
No Discount available

Join us and get access to all
your favourite books

Sign up for free and start exploring thousands of eBooks today.

Sign up for free