While still waiting for my game to get shipped here, I've been really enamored with learning more about the age of sail. Can you recommend some good historical documentaries and/or books for a person that is just getting into the subject matter?
Printable View
While still waiting for my game to get shipped here, I've been really enamored with learning more about the age of sail. Can you recommend some good historical documentaries and/or books for a person that is just getting into the subject matter?
This is a good resource for starters reviewed by Paul in our Book review page. But any of the books featured there are worth a scrutiny.
Rob.
Book Title:Naval Warfare In The Age Of Sail. The Evolution Of Fighting Tactics 1650 - 1815Author:Brian TunstallISBN:0-7858-1426-4Category:HistoryFormat:HardbackSummary:Brian Tunstall manages to pack this volume with so much information, descriptions, illustrations and paintings of important developments in naval battles and tactics it's a great and informative read. This book is a treasured resource in my library that I keep referring back to it again and again. It is a solid read that goes into minute detail on many important naval engagements and how the outcomes transformed tactics over nearly a 200 year period at the height of age of sail warfare. I highly recommend this book if you enjoy reading about naval warfare by an authority on the subject where every facet is explained and expounded upon with precise detail.
This looks fantastic! Thank you!
It's not a documentary, obviously, but the film , Master and Commander, is great for getting a feel for naval combat in the Napoleonic Era. I'd also recommend browsing through the "Reference Library" portion of this site. There's lots of great stuff there and in the stickies in this section.
Thank you Jason!Quote:
Originally Posted by jasonb
If you wanna get into the books we use to develop the game, start with the various "British/French Warships in the Age of Sail" volumes by Rif Winfield. We haven't used the Dutch or Russian volumes yet other than noting Russian potential reprints of British designs and the Dutch volume is too far in the "game past." Not cheap reads but if you want to follow along and maybe get into "custom cards" someday these are our core sources.
I just started reading a biography of Saumarez, title escapes me ATM, and I really wish the Swedish, Norwegian and later Dutch navies could be covered in that detail so we could start looking at candidate sculpts for Copenhagen and the Baltic campaigns.
In the meantime you can find a lot of the info in Winfield's books on the British Navy embodied in my work in progress on this Forum. I have collected a lot of info from several books ane the Web and am in progress of working through all the British ships of our period.
Look for my posts on First and Second Rates.
80 gun ships.
Third Rates of 74 guns.
And the current work in progress on Third Rates from 1793 t0 1815.
Rob.
Thanks Rob! I will check this out!Quote:
Originally Posted by Bligh
Source material for the game sounds great! Thanks for the info!Quote:
Originally Posted by Diamondback
Book I couldn't remember was Tim Voelcker's Admiral Saumarez vs Napoleon: the Baltic, 1807-12.
I have bought Nelson’s Navy Brian Lavery for reference and Mr. Midshipman Hornblower. I think next is Naval Warfare In The Age Of Sail like was suggested.
If you have a kindle you can get all manner of good naval novels for next to nothing. All the Hornblower, Bolitho, and others. i can tell you about dozens I read over the past few years.
Rob.
I use the kindle app for samples to get a feel of the books. But when it comes to reading I just prefer paper. eBay usually has some great deals on books. I got the first Hornblower for around $4 shipped. It has some wear but it serves its purpose.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bligh
I find ebooks ok for reading fiction, but for more "technical" subjects I find nothing works better than good old hard copy :happy:
That is exactly what I have been doing ever since I got my first E Book Dave. I like to be able to flip back and forthin technical books to check on things like charts or diagrams.
Rob.
I agree with the paper vs e-book ideas, but I have to say that I really like audio books of fiction as you can listen to them when you are driving or some such. I have the Aubrey-Maturin series on audio books as well as paper now. My re-read became a listen instead. I do recommend Patrick O'Brian by the way.
I also enjoy a good audio book. I found a podcast i'm enjoying right now called: The Age of Napoleon - https://recordedhistory.net/the-age-of-napoleon/
As for ereaders, I do like how the Kindle app has a dictionary and way to reference Wikipedia. It really helps when learning the terminology.
In addition to all the above excellent resources, I recommend "Fighting at Sea in the Eighteenth Century: The Art of Sailing Warfare" by Sam Willis. Good overview of a lot of aspects of the conduct of naval warfare in the time period. Dr. Willis' "In the Hour of Victory: The Royal Navy at War in the Age of Nelson" is also a good overview of the major fleet engagements during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars using the original dispatches from the fleet.
Regards,
James
Additionally, Roy Adkins' "Nelson's Trafalgar: The Battle That Changed the World" is an insightful book and good introduction to the battle and the time period writ large.
Hi Bryan.
When I suggested the book as an easy starter, I did not want to overburden you with choices, but now that kitty is out of the bag so to speak, you might like to take a look at the Book Reviews thread which your shipmates have painstakingly put together over the last few years.
https://sailsofglory.org/forumdispla...4-Book-Reviews
Rob.
This is great! Thank you.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bligh
Pretty much for the technicals, anything by Brian Lavery, David Lyon, Rif Winfield or Robert Gardiner are going to be heavy-hitters. If you can wade through sometimes confusing and contradictory material Jean Boudriot is a good source on the French (our Bonhomme Richard was based on his forensic reconstruction combined with my best-guess extrapolation of Jones's intended but unavailable-in-sufficient-quantity armament plan), and the various Osprey tomes by Angus Konstam and Mark Lardas are usually very good primers for helping find your "sea legs" before you sail off into the depths of Winfield.
This is great info! Thank you.Quote:
Originally Posted by Diamondback