Patrick O'Brian

Master and Commander establishes the friendship between Captain Jack Aubrey RN and Stephen Maturin, who becomes his secretive ship?s surgeon and an intelligence agent. It displays the qualities which have put O?Brian far ahead of any of his competitors: his depiction of the detail of life aboard an early 19th-century man-of-war, of weapons, food, conversation and ambience, of the landscape and of the sea. O?Brian?s portrayal of each of these is faultless,...

Out of print for many years, this is a brand new edition of the definitive companion to the acclaimed Aubrey-Maturin series of novels, written by the author himself. What was daily life in Nelson's navy really like, for everyone from the captain down to the rawest recruit? What did they eat? What songs did they sing? What was the schedule of watches? How were the officers and crew paid, and what was the division of prize-money? These questions and...