"Every Man Will Do His Duty: An Anthology of Firsthand Accounts from the Age of Nelson 1793-1815" (used book)

Every Man Will Do His Duty

by Dean King

About the book

Used book. Hardcover. Dust jacket included. Good condition.

There is perhaps no greater expression of the glory and grandeur of the British Royal Navy during its heyday than Admiral Lord Nelson’s exhortation to the fleet moments before the Battle of Trafalgar: “England expects that every man will do his duty.” The best and perhaps only way for the modern reader to truly grasp the impact of this brilliant rallying cry on those present is to read their own words, to feel what they felt, on that momentous occasion. The stories in this fine anthology dramatically chronicle this and other significant events from the period.

Every Man Will Do His Duty presents the voices of the officers and seamen who fought and lived at sea during the French Revolutionary War (1793-1802), the Napoleonic War (1803-1815), and the War of 1812 (1812-1815). Here are the true-life stories that inspired the work of such great historical novelists and writers as Patrick O’Brian, C.S. Forester, Alexander Kent, C. Northcote Parkinson, and others. Dean King and John B. Hattendorf, authors of the acclaimed volumes A Sea of Words and Harbors and High Seas, have combed the historical archives, including memoirs, diaries, and letters, to serve up this distinguished collection of firsthand pieces from the great Age of Nelson.

The remarkable narratives in this meticulously researched reader are by turns thrilling and touching, hilarious and terrifying, poignant and majestic. In addition to eyewitness accounts of most of the critical events of the period – the Glorious First of June, the Battle of Cape St. Vincent, the Battle of Trafalgar, and the death of Nelson – you will also find revealing insights into the nature of life and war at sea aboard a man-of-war: not just the heroic moments, but the deprivations, the monotony, the pleasures, the pain, the justices, and the injustices. There are fleet battles, frigate duels, fire-ship mission, cutting-out missions, shipwrecks, pursuits by the press gang, and deadly encounters with gales and cannibals, all told in the words of the men who actually lived through them.

For all readers captivated by this singular period in maritime history, Every Man will Do His Duty brings the people and events of the times vividly to life.