Beschrijving
For two centuries there has been a never dwindling interest and fascination in the Nelsonian era, that most magical and inspiring period of British history. The Nation’s tenuous naval supremacy over its powerful enemies was epitomized by the increasingly battered figure of Horatio Nelson. His extraordinary talents and achievements made him a cult figure and his tragic death at the moment of his greatest victory was the supreme irony.
One hundred years after Trafalgar, John Masefield, later to become Poet Laureate, first published Sea Life in Nelson’s Time. Not only was Masefield a superb researcher and writer but, by virtue of his training and experience, he thoroughly understood the naval ethos.
His book strips away the glamorous veneer that popular perception had bestowed upon the Royal Navy of the time. Instead it reveals a harsh and often brutal regime deemed necessary to preserve discipline under the most testing conditions.
