ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

THIS book had its genesis in a conversation I had more than ten years ago with Julian Loose. He had been the editor of my first two works with maritime themes and, over a celebratory lunch, planted the seed for a third. Although it took a decade to evolve, in form, scope and direction, he indulged me when I needed time to stand back and engage with other subjects, published those too, and all the time sustained the loyalty which finally carried the finished product to Yale University Press. Our fifth book together is a tribute to his vision and perseverance.

Few areas of Britain’s history have been subjected to such rigorous examination as its maritime past, and it follows that as a relative latecomer to these waters I have been a beneficiary of the hard research carried out over many years by academics and amateurs alike. Above all, however, for his help in finding my way, his guidance towards original sources and for saving me from errors of fact and judgement, I owe a special debt to Roger Knight.

Throughout the preparation of this work it has been my intention to have the men who were at the centre of British maritime endeavour speak in their own voices. In some cases this required copyright permissions, and for granting theirs I must express particular gratitude to two leading naval historians. N. A. M. Rodger generously approved usage of his edited version of William Spavens’s narrative and extensive quotation from his own seminal work, The Command of the Ocean. With similar generosity, John C. Dann allowed free usage from Jacob Nagle’s treasure of a journal which, as readers will have observed, forms a central strand of my own narrative.

Others to whom I am pleased to extend my thanks for their open-handedness in granting relevant permissions are Ben Jones of the Navy Record Society, for the five naval journals edited by H. G. Thursfield; Tom Walker at the Folio Society, for the Spavens journal; and Michael Leventhal and Chatham Publishing, for Samuel Leech’s memoir. Joan and Adrian Bridge conducted extensive research into the life of Tom Allen, which they have made freely available online.

Another copyright holder from whom relevant permission was obtained was the Estate of C. S. Forester, who edited The Adventures of John Wetherell. I was unable to find a holder associated with Landsman Hay, the memoir of Robert Hay; the publisher, Rupert Hart-Davis, was dissolved in 1993.

Seamen’s letters were a rich resource. Margaret Newman guided me to the correspondence of Richard Greenhalgh at the National Museum of the Royal Navy at Portsmouth. I am also happy to acknowledge my use of Letters of Seamen in the Wars with France, edited by Helen Watt and Anne Hawkins.

The National Archives in Kew is the repository for Admiralty records. These were essential, both for testing the reliability of seamen’s memoirs and for finding the stories of other long-forgotten individuals within court-martial records, ships’ musters, logbooks and wills. As anyone who has conducted research there knows, the National Archives, run by the staff with efficiency and courtesy, is a national treasure. Other libraries where I had the pleasures of discovery and the help of staff were the Caird at the National Maritime Museum and the British Library.

One resource proved especially elusive. George Watson’s Adventures of a Greenwich Pensioner, published in 1827, is so rare even the British Library does not have a copy. Possibly the last in a public collection was traced to Newcastle Library where Fiona Hill was kind enough to send it for study at my own local library.

Illustrating the seaman’s life has posed a challenge. The contemporary artists so prolific in turning out canvasses of gold-braided officers and their magnificent ships did little to portray the men who sustained both. In searching for images of Jack Tar other than hackneyed caricatures, I sought the advice of Pieter van der Merwe of the National Maritime Museum, and acknowledge his help.

I wish to express my gratitude to Caroline Dawnay, who has been my agent for almost twenty years – a happy and fruitful time for the writing of non-fiction. Those who read early texts and offered illuminating comments included my daughter Juliette and my friend Tom Fort.

Two anonymous specialist reviewers of the final product observed some factual errors and gave this author reason to be thankful for the rigorous procedures followed by Yale. Clarissa Sutherland steered the production meticulously; my thanks too to Marika Lysandrou for her editorial advice, to Percie Edgeler for the handsome design, to Katie Urquhart for arranging use of the pictures, to Richard Mason for copy-editing and to Lucy Buchan for work on the proofs.

Throughout my writing life, one person has been a constant inspiration – an insightful reader, a forthright critic, a warm supporter, an indomitable fellow traveller. From our first steps together, over many years of adventures and storms, my wife Caroline has helped to shape what I wrote and how I did it as only a true and loving soulmate can.