Seamanship in the Age of Sail: An Account of the Shiphandling of the Sailing Man-of-War 1600-1860, Based on Contemporary Sources Hardcover – January 15, 2016

I just got my copy today and have spent the last two hours in joyful surprise leafing through Seamanship in the Age of Sail. I keep seeing Captain Jack Aubrey making careful marginal notes of his thoughts on raking masts, stowing cargo to bring ships of a certain design more 'by the stern by about a strake', and of course he would have provided many useful practical annotations on the illustrations for traveling backstays and martingales.Of course my inner Dr. Stephen Maturin can occasionally be heard protesting "Let us not be pedantic, for all love!"But I press on; and, oh joy, by page 268 I come upon a chapter that would have given the good doctor the greatest of pleasure. Here the etymological mysteries of catting and fishing the anchor are illuminated with international linguistic derivations that would astonish even Stephen's learned colleague, the Reverend Graham.But seriously, if you have enjoyed a few cruises with Captain Lucky Jack or any of his contemporaries, you will find great delight in this amazing and erudite volume. If you never quite understood catharpins, all is revealed. If you sort of guessed you knew how a damaged mast might be fished, here is the answer. If (like me) you understand the weather gage, but were rather embarrassed to admit you couldn't quite envision club-hauling a ship on a lee shore, this book is for you."I wish you joy, sir -- the bottle stands by you!"

I purchased this book with the hope of gaining a more in-depth knowledge of sailing square-rigged ships. I was overwhelmed with how exhaustive this amazing book turned out to be, and was excited to see that it included many detailed drawings that allows one to see how everything connects. I am the author of the Captain Alonzo Johnson novels, and this book is proving incredibly useful. A must have for every sailor, nautical historian, and novelist who writes swashbuckling tales at sea! I cannot speak enough about Seamanship in the Age of Sail. Rigging, sails, handling ships at sea; its all in there, and so much more.

Wow! I ordered this after reading all the other reviews but was still surprised at the extent and amount of detail. Order this and you don't need to order all the manuals on seamanship and rigging. It's all here. Warning: information overload. This is not a book to be read cover to cover. If you have a question look it up and read the chapter under that deals with each part of ship handling is illustrated and explained down to the smallest detail. Most importantly the author explains WHY and HOW things worked. Fantastic. There is not enough superlatives to use to praise this book.

This book will extend everyone's knowledge, not only to its intended readership of seagoing crews and commanders of present day square-riggers (too few of them) but to anyone interested in the age of sail.Even as an ex-RN, ex sailor, and now model builder, the book contributed solid research on hitherto unknown aspects of hulls, sails, rigging, principles of design, crew and operations in all weather conditions beyond anything to be learnt from model plans, instructions, manuals and actual construction.Although sometimes couched in authentic and historical terms, glossaries and dozens of illustrations make everything clear (no mentions of sea battles or admirals) while "knowing the ropes" means what it says, and the unbelievably physical demands on crew and officers is made apparent, (but caused despair to the reviewer in finding it impossible to reproduce in a model the hundreds of 'sheets, buntlines, tacks, staysails, etc').A book for aficionados, priced appropriately, this book is the ultimate reference.

I'm the author of the historical fictions series The Strongbow Saga. A large part of the novel in the series that I'm currently working on takes place during the course of a sea voyage. I'm not a sailor, and needed to find a detailed source of information covering the nitty-gritty details of how square-sailed ships were sailed, how the sails were controlled, how they reacted in various types and directions of wind, etc. Although this book is primarily about 19th century sailing vessels, and I'm writing about the Viking period, nevertheless I found it very helpful. Many of the principles are the same--with Viking ships, they just apply to a single mast and sail, rather than multiple ones--and the book even makes several references and comparisons to Viking-era vessels.

The author meticulously describes the procedures used to operate sailing ships. To help readers understand the terminology and configurations, these are exhaustively described as well. The book includes lots of drawings, which are also of outstanding quality.

Immensely detailed book. 've been reading "wooden walls" fiction for 15+ years and always get bogged down in the technical details that some of the better authors use. I love it, but it's difficult to follow. This book, if one has the patience, will make it all understandable.

I ordered this book for a novel I am writing on sailing in the 15-16th century; this is so well-illustrated and the text is very readable and easy to understand. This is a great reference book about parts of a ship and their functions and touches on the evolution of seagoing vessels - very helpful if you are building one or just want to learn how to sail. Unfortunately it deals with latter-day ships, very little on the 15th and 16th centuries...so I had to return it.

Everything you want to know about handling a ship is clearly explained in this well-illustrated insight into the craft of seamanship, where unlike most land-based crafts, the very survival of ship and crew could very well depend on getting it right first time. And there is also a comprehensive bibliography.

If you have a collection of the many books now available on sailing ships, their construction, history and rigging etc then your collection isn't complete until you have this superb addition. I cannot praise it highly enough, it contains a treasure trove of information not available in any other book that I have. How they sailed and handled these ships is fascinating

I bought this book for my bro' who's a nut about the Napoleonic era navies. He absolutely loves it. The book is so detailed you could probably command an old naval vessel if you learnt it from cover to cover. The illustrations are marvellously detailed. It is pricey but it is the definitive work on the subject.

This was a gift for my father. He spent his life on high seas and loves the book.

Awesome book, accessible for non-experts - it's a classic