When I was a boy, some years before I obtained my appointment in the navy, I spent many of those happy hours that only childhood knows poring over the back numbers of a British service periodical, which began its career in 1828, with the title Colburn's United Service Magazine; under which name, save and except the Colburn, it still survives. Besides weightier matters, its early issues abounded in reminiscences by naval officers, then yet in the prime of life, who had served through the great Napoleonic wars. More delightful still, it had numerous nautical stories, based probably on facts, serials under such entrancing titles as "Leaves from my Log Book," by Flexible Grommet, Passed Midshipman; a pen-name, the nautical felicity of which will be best appreciated by one who has had the misfortune to handle a grommet which was not flexible. Then there was "The Order Book," by Jonathan Oldjunk; an epithet so suggestive of the waste-heap, even to a landsman's ears, that one marvels a man ever took it unto himself, especially in that decline of life when we are more sensitive on the subject of bodily disabilities than once we were. Old junk, however, can yet be "worked up," as the sea expression goes, into other uses, and that perhaps was what Mr. Oldjunk meant; his early adventures as a young "luff" were, for economical reasons, worked up into their present literary shape, with the addition of a certain amount of extraneous matter--love-making, and the like. Indeed, so far from uselessness, that veteran seaman and rigid economist, the Earl of St. Vincent, when First Lord of the Admiralty, had given to a specific form of old junk--viz., "shakings"--the honors of a special order, for the preservation thereof, the which forms the staple of a comical anecdote in Basil Hall's Fragments of Voyages and Travels; itself a superior example of the instructive "recollections," of less literary merit, which but for Colburn's would have perished.

The Careers of Six Famous Royal Navy officers
The age of sail-particularly as it related to the Royal Navy-has, perhaps been justifiably, dominated by the great Nelson. His victory at Trafalgar meant that Britannia effectively did rule the waves and the threat of British sea power meant that the Royal Navy did not have to fight a major battle for a hundred years whilst the British Empire prospered. The often quoted and lauded 'Nelson Tradition, ' all but implies he originated it. In fact Nelson was part of an established tradition of great British seamanship that began before him, accompanied and supported him and survived his immediate passing. This book outlines the lives of some of the finest and most successful of those men-all famous in their own right and all remarkable despite their eclipse by the master, Nelson himself. The sea battles of Hawke, Jervis, Howe, Saumarez, Rodney and Pellew are expertly described here by Mahan-one of the finest historians of this subject-making it an essential read for all those interested in the exploits of the Royal Navy during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

The second volume about the sea war between the old and new world
The focus of most of the Western world was upon the great wars between Revolutionary France and latterly the First Empire of the Emperor Napoleon and the hereditary imperial powers of the Continent. Years of warfare had ravaged Europe from the scorching lands of southern Spain to the frozen wastes of the Russian winter. On the high seas great captains had made their reputations, won famous battles from the Nile to Trafalgar and its most renowned celebrity Nelson had fallen, becoming its most enduring symbol and hero, lending his name to this memorable period of the age of sail. Across the Atlantic Ocean all was not still. In 1812 not half a century had passed since the American nation had forged its independence in blood. Old enemies and old alliances remained strong in the minds of all concerned. Canada still flying the Union flag remained omnipresent as the nearest neighbour of the emergent nation. The War of 1812 is most often remembered for the burning of Washington and Andrew Jackson's crushing defeat of British forces at New Orleans. The war was, however, pursued just as actively at sea, upon and across the great oceans and within the seaways and lakes of the New World itself. Here Britannia did not always rule the waves. This magnificent in-depth two volume history of the Naval War of 1812 is a classic in both its depth and detail; it is essential reading for all those interested in war at sea."

A great sea war between Britain and the United States of America
The focus of most of the Western world was upon the great wars between Revolutionary France and latterly the First Empire of the Emperor Napoleon and the hereditary imperial powers of the Continent. Years of warfare had ravaged Europe from the scorching lands of southern Spain to the frozen wastes of the Russian winter. On the high seas great captains had made their reputations, won famous battles from the Nile to Trafalgar and its most renowned celebrity Nelson had fallen, becoming its most enduring symbol and hero, lending his name to this memorable period of the age of sail. Across the Atlantic Ocean all was not still. In 1812 not half a century had passed since the American nation had forged its independence in blood. Old enemies and old alliances remained strong in the minds of all concerned. Canada still flying the Union flag remained omnipresent as the nearest neighbour of the emergent nation. The War of 1812 is most often remembered for the burning of Washington and Andrew Jackson's crushing defeat of British forces at New Orleans. The war was, however, pursued just as actively at sea, upon and across the great oceans and within the seaways and lakes of the New World itself. Here Britannia did not always rule the waves. This magnificent in-depth two volume history of the Naval War of 1812 is a classic in both its depth and detail; it is essential reading for all those interested in war at sea."

Alfred Thayer Mahan (1840 1914) was an American naval officer, considered one of the most important naval strategists of the nineteenth century. In 1885 he was appointed Lecturer in Naval History and Tactics at the US Naval War College, and became President of the institution between 1886 1889. These volumes, first published in 1893, contain Mahan's detailed analysis of British and French naval strategy during the French Revolution, defined as lasting between 1793 1812. Mahan recounts chronologically the major naval battles and campaigns between Britain and France and their allies, analysing the different naval strategies used and discussing Britain's successful naval tactics. Mahan was the first naval strategist to explore the importance of controlling and protecting commercial shipping and preventing blockades of ports during warfare, tactics which he fully explores using historical examples from the French Revolution in these volumes. Volume 1 covers the period 1793 1801.

Alfred Thayer Mahan (1840 1914) was an American naval officer, considered one of the most important naval strategists of the nineteenth century. In 1885 he was appointed Lecturer in Naval History and Tactics at the US Naval War College, and became President of the institution between 1886 1889. These volumes, first published in 1893, contain Mahan's detailed analysis of British and French naval strategy during the French Revolution, defined as lasting between 1793 1812. Mahan recounts chronologically the major naval battles and campaigns between Britain and France and their allies, analysing the different naval strategies used and discussing Britain's successful naval tactics. Mahan was the first naval strategist to explore the importance of controlling and protecting commercial shipping and preventing blockades of ports during warfare, tactics which he fully explores using historical examples from the French Revolution in these volumes. Volume 2 covers the period 1801 1812.

Alfred Thayer Mahan (1840 1914) was an American naval officer, considered one of the most important naval strategists of the nineteenth century. In 1885 he was appointed Lecturer in Naval History and Tactics at the US Naval War College, and became President of the institution between 1886 1889. This highly influential volume, first published in 1890, contains Mahan's analysis of naval warfare and tactics between 1660 1783. Mahan discusses and analyses the factors which led to Britain's naval domination during the eighteenth century, and recommends various naval strategies based on these factors. His work was closely studied by contemporary military powers, with his tactics adopted by many major navies in the years preceding the First World War. This volume is considered one of the most influential published works on naval strategy, and is invaluable for the study of naval warfare both before and during the First World War.

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