Sail & Cannon - The World of Sailing Warships - 1745-1815

revised and expanded edition

The ambition of this richly illustrated work is to guide the reader through an in-depth exploration of the fascinating world of the sailing warship, which reached its peak between 1745 and 1815, from the War of Independence to the end of the Napoleonic Wars, by way of the French Revolution. This book paints a vivid, precise and detailed picture of the handling of the ship…

The ambition of this richly illustrated work is to guide the reader through an in-depth exploration of the fascinating world of the sailing warship, which reached its peak between 1745 and 1815, from the War of Independence to the end of the Napoleonic Wars, by way of the French Revolution. This book paints a vivid, precise and detailed picture of the handling of the ship, its armament, navigational instruments, and the daily life of sailors and officers, from the admiral to the surgeon, from the cook to the gunner. Provisioning, the administrative organisation of ports and naval arsenals are also described with the same vividness and colour as the great naval battles of the century.

The world of the great sailing warship is indeed fascinating, particularly at its peak between the mid-18th century and the first decades of the 19th. One cannot but admire the perfection of its impressive ships of the line, its elegant frigates and corvettes, as well as the power of the gigantic fleets of the first great modern navies.

This singular world has inspired many filmmakers and produced a host of best-sellers in the form of historical novels whose heroes have left their mark on many a memory. The book opens with a panorama of the political and economic environment of international rivalries that would give rise to a century of great naval confrontations between the Royal Navy and the French Navy. Ismael Bélisle writes as a historian throughout these pages, yet does not conceal that the desire to write this book came to him upon reading the delightful adventures of Jack Aubrey and Captain Hornblower, which have accompanied him since adolescence.

This new expanded edition of Sail & Cannon stands as an essential reference work for any library where the wind of the open sea and of History holds sway.