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A guide to the British Royal Navy in the Napoleonic Age for fans of the Aubrey-Maturin series: "A gem of a book" (Minneapolis Star Tribune). What is a sand-grouse, and where does it live? What are the medical properties of lignum vitae, and how did Stephen Maturin use it to repair his viola? Who is Admiral Lord Keith, and why is his wife so friendly with Captain Jack Aubrey? More than any other contemporary author, Patrick O'Brian knew the past. His twenty Aubrey-Maturin novels, beginning with 1969's Master and Commander, are distinguished by deep characterization, heart-stopping naval combat, and an attention to detail that enriches and enlivens his stories. In this revised edition of A Sea of Words, Dean King and his collaborators dive into Jack Aubrey's world. In addition to their invaluable glossary, the authors provide essays on the age's politics, naval medicine, and the many ships that Jack Aubrey sailed, sighted, and fought against. For both the curious fan and the O'Brian aficionado, A Sea of Words is an invaluable tome on the British Royal Navy.… (more)
User reviews
King's extensive lexicon naturally fills the vast majority of the book and serves as both a dictionary and an encyclopedia for O'Brian's novels. Though a reader could keep this book at hand while reading the Aubrey-Maturin series, constantly turning to it would interrupt a reader's enjoyment of O'Brian's work. It is better to follow King's own advice from his introduction and page through this at one's leisure, moving around between associated terms and so teaching oneself about sailing in the early nineteenth century.
Though it is possible to read the Aubrey-Maturin series and guess at definitions from context, A Sea of Words will answer any and all questions that should occur to the curious reader. A must-have for any fan of Patrick O'Brian.
Many of the words here are not to be found in online dictionaries (or at least, not with the naval definition) or else you spend ages looking though
This book doesn't have everything, but it does surprisingly well. Latin phrases, terms for all kinds of shipboard items including sails, pulleys, food, etc.
I keep this book beside me while reading and it adds a lot to my enjoyment of the novels and is also good to browse at random.
The book is arranged like a dictionary, offering
It starts off with a couple of articles. One is on medicine during the time of the Napoleonic Wars. I found that quite interesting, and mildly horrifying. Once again, I am deeply grateful to live in the 21st century, where medicine is mostly not based on made-up craziness. The other article is about the British Navy of the time: its structure and functioning and the role it played in the war. This was pretty dry, but did contain some useful information.
Most of the book, though, is taken up by a dictionary. Entries include various nautical terms, of course, but also medical terms, contemporary vocabulary and slang, medical terms, historical terms, and names of various birds and other animals. There are also entries, some of them rather long, on specific ships, historical figures, and events. It seems fairly comprehensive, and was reasonably interesting to browse through -- enough so that I kept it around for months to occasionally pick it up and read or skim through it a few pages at a time. Whether I've actually retained anything useful from it in my memory, though, remains an open question. I suspect it hasn't actually done all that much for my understanding, but I'm hoping that keeping it handy when I finally get back to the series and using it to look up specific terms as I encounter them may be helpful.