Persons, animals, ships, and cannon in the Aubrey-Maturin sea novels of Patrick O'Brian

the long version

"Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin novels are awash with names, and even the most accomplished readers often find their heads swimming in a sea of characters and allusions."--BOOK JACKET. "Just to keep track of the fictional characters is quite a job. To catch the hundreds of literary and historical allusions is an even more daunting challenge. Yet readers who miss these allusions deprive themselves of part of the pleasure of reading O'Brian: the chance to see both a lively imagination and an encyclopedic knowledge at work."--BOOK JACKET. "From Master and Commander to The Hundred Days, this dictionary identifies every name, fictional and factual, in the 19 Aubrey-Maturin novels published through 1998. The roles and relationships of fictional characters are concisely described and their appearances noted by novel and chapter. Historical figures are identified both by their mention in the novels and their biographical details. Literary allusions are located and explained."--BOOK JACKET.