A troubled peace with France means that in the harbours and estuaries around England, the royal fleet has been left to rot. Even a frigate captain as famous as Richard Bolitho is forced to swallow his pride and visit the Admiralty daily to plead for a ship. As the clouds of war begin to rise once more over the Channel, he has no choice but to accept an appointment to the Nore. With his small flotilla of three topsail cutters Bolitho sets out to search...

Jeremy Black considers how the ocean affected British exploration, defence, trade, commerce & the role of the navy, as well as the attitudes & perceptions of the British people themselves.

John Sugden interweaves graphic accounts of Nelson's famous victories at the battles of the Nile, Copenhagen and Trafalgar with his lesser-known yet equally gripping campaigns to liberate the Italian states from French domination and his role in the blockade of Malta, often snatching remarkable triumphs from crippling reverses. But behind his military prowess was a man riven with paradoxes and schisms at the very heart of his personal life. Nelson...

Written by the world's leading Nelson scholars, this publication covers areas of Nelson studies not dealt with in any other single text. It complements the existing Nelson biographies by taking up the story where they leave off.

Collingwood went to sea as a 13-year-old and died at sea aged 62 - he literally gave his life to the Navy. Based on original log books and diaries, this biography details his life story, from the American War of Independence to the victory over Napoleon's navy.

From the Battle of the River Plate and Dunkirk to D-Day and the Pacific War, the memories of the men who took part in each campaign are vividly clear. Both the surviving naval VC holders tell their amazing stories.

This text provides a comprehensive overview of the history of British seafarers of African descent from the Tudor period to the present day.

J.M.W Turner's 'The Fighting Temeraire Tugged to her Last Berth to be Broken Up' (1838) was his masterpiece. This title tells the extraordinary tale behind the warship that inspired the painting.

This biography charts Nelson's career from childhood to his debut as a public hero after the breathtaking victory against the French at Cape St Vincent, when he became an admiral and stood on the verge of international fame.

On the eve of Waterloo, a sense of finality and cautious hope pervade a nation wearied by decades of war. But peace will present its own challenge to Adam Bolitho, captain of His Majesty's Ship Unrivalled, as many of his contemporaries face the prospect of discharge.