Gratuitous Royal Navy Geekery Posting (TM) - Book List Division

A reader recently dropped this note in the Tasty Bits (TM) Mail Sack (I swear I am not making this up):

Tom, I don't know Jack Squat about old school naval history and would like to read about it, especially after watching the Horatio Hornblower A&E movies. That said, I do not like muddling through dense boring text. My model of perfectly written history (in terms of education/enjoyability) is Stephen Ambrose. I'm also willing to read fiction.

These requirements in mind, please recommend some appropriate books for
me to pick up at my local Barnes & Noble regarding British (and
American) naval history. Thank you.

Which it's an invitation, ain't it? Dutiously, I scurried home to jot down the volumes I have in my own (admittedly) limited collection on the subject. I will say this at the outset - there is an enormous amount of information available on the period, including a great many works that were either hard to find or out of print but have been resurrected owing to the Patrick O'Brian craze. And of all the non-fiction books I've read, I can't think of a single one that I would describe as dense or boring.

If you're willing to go for fiction, I would say that O'Brian himself is an excellent place to start. Reading his books, it's frightening how much detailed knowledge you will pick up of life in the Royal Navy - much more than from C.S. Forrester. (It helps that the character of Stephen Maturin knows nothing of the sea and has to have everything explained to him.) If you want a boiled down version, O'Brian also wrote a short non-fiction book called Men-of-War, an overview of life in Nelson's Navy. (And if you want to branch out, he also wrote an excellent biography of Sir Joseph Banks, the great naturalist.)

A number of companion volumes have appeared in recent years, put together by various O'Brian enthusiasts. Among these are A Sea of Words, a lexicon of naval terminology of the time, Harbors & High Seas, a survey of the geography of the Aubrey/Maturin adventures, and Lobscouse and Spotted Dog: Which It's A Gastronomic Companion to the Aubrey/Maturin Novels, a compendium of recipes referenced or mentioned in the books (including Drowned Baby and Soused Hog's Face, neither of which I have tried.) I see from Amazon that another book has come out, Patrick O'Brian's Navy: The Illustrated Companion to Jack Aubrey's World, by Chris Chant. I'll have to pick that one up.

As to actual histories, I have relied on a number of authors. Dudley Pope has written many works, including The Black Ship (about the 1797 mutiny aboard HMS Hermione and her subsequent recapture from the Spanish by none other than HMS Surprise), Life In Nelson's Navy, and Decision at Trafalgar. He has also written his own Naval adventure series centered around Lord Ramage, which I am just starting to get into.

Other historians I rely on include C. Northcotte Parkinson (The Life and Times of Horation Hornblower and Britannia Rules: The Classic Age of Naval History 1793-1815), N.A.M. Rogers (The Wooden World: An Anatomy of the Georgian Navy), James Henderson (The Frigates: An Account of the Lesser Warships of the Wars from 1793 to 1815), Anthony Price (The Eyes of the Fleet: A Popular History of Frigates and Frigate Captains, 1793-1815), Alan Schom (Trafalgar: Countdown to Battle 1803-1805), David Davies (Nelson's Navy: English Fighting Ships 1793-1815) and Nicholas Tracy (Nelson's Battles: The Art of Victory in the Age of Sail).

Of course, if you do want hard-core, there is always the great A. T. Mahan's The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660-1783. It speaks to an earlier age than Nelson's, but describes the factors setting up the conflicts of his period. You could also check out Teddy Roosevelt's effort to emulate Mahan, The Naval War of 1812, although it is frankly reyther dry and tedious.

There are probably a gazillion biographies to chose from, but two that I would recommend are Christopher Hibbert's Nelson: A Personal History and Richard Hough's Captain James Cook, about the great explorer and navigator. Cook's own account of his voyages also makes interesting reading.

There is also a good bit of primary source material readily available. The Naval Chronicles provide a contemporary day-to-day account of life in the Royal Navy, with many articles, news items and anecdotes. There are a couple of modern compendiums of first-hand accounts available as well, including Life Before the Mast, compiled by Jon Lewis, and Every Man Will Do His Duty, edited by John Hattendorf.

For longer autobiographical texts, you must read Admiral Lord Cochrane's The Autobiography of a Seaman. (Cochrane was O'Brian's first model for Jack Aubrey.) For an account of a less flamboyant naval experience of the time, I've read A Sailor of King George: The Journals of Captain Frederick Hoffman, RN.

So there you have it. Those of you who can recommend any other books on the subject, feel free to leave a comment. I'm always open to new suggestions.

And now I'm going to go lie down.

UPDATE: If you're into what one might call the planks and sailcloth aspect of it all, I can also recommend Nelson's Favourite: HMS Agamemnon at War 1781-1809 by Anthony Deane and The Anatomy of Nelson's Ships by C. Nepean Longridge. I also bought a copy of the Annapolis Book of Seamanship a few years back in an attempt to better understand the physics of sailing.

Okay, now I'm really done.

UPDATE TWO BELLS: Kathy attempts to make me jump back into the water. Here is the O-ficial list of the Patrick O'Brian books. I have no idea what the "Master & Commander Movie Tie-In Edition" is supposed to be. The movie has absolutely nothing to do with the novel. Perhaps it's just an excuse to put a photo of the incredibly-miscast Russell Crowe on the cover in order to boost sales.

Some day, I'll critique the entire series. (Perhaps while guest-blogging at Kathy's place?) I've always felt that The Wine Dark Sea was the last of the truly enjoyable books. After that, they tail off considerably. By that time, I think O'Brian was simply getting too old and worn out to much enjoy writing them anymore.