Nelson's Navy

Description

Despite the many celebrated victories of the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars, the role of the Royal Navy should never be overlooked. The 'wooden walls' formed the country's first and most important line of defence, and ranged throughout the world to protect Britain's trade-routes and in support of the land forces and overseas possessions. This book covers the huge variations in uniforms not just in the Navy but the Royal Marines and Infantry regiments which served alongside naval crews. It also looks at the organisation, training and recruitment of the force and corrects a number of misconceptions regarding impressment and training.

Dr Boris Rankov was born in 1954 and studied Classics and Ancient History at Oxford, where he also wrote his doctoral thesis on Roman military staff officers. He has held a Research Fellowship at Oxford and lectureships in the United States and Western Australia. While at Oxford, he rowed in six winning Boat Race crews and has, since 1988, been one of the rowing masters on the reconstructed Greek trireme Olympias. He is joint author of a forthcoming study on Roman military intelliegence, and is currently Lecturer in Ancient History at Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, University of London. Richard Hook is one of the world's greatest military illustrators and has contributed to more than 30 Osprey titles. He is also an authority on the native peoples of North America, a subject for which he has had a life-long passion.