Every man will do his duty

Every Man Will Do His Duty presents the voices of the officers and seamen who fought and lived at sea during the French Revolutionary War (1793-1802), the Napoleonic War (1803-1815), and the War of 1812 (1812-1815). Here are the true-life stories that inspired the work of such great historical novelists and writers as Patrick O'Brian, C. S. Forester, Alexander Kent, C. Northcote Parkinson, and others. Dean King and John B. Hattendorf, authors of the acclaimed volumes A Sea of Words and Harbors and High Seas, have combed the historical archives, including memoirs, diaries, and letters, to serve up this distinguished collection of firsthand pieces from the great Age of Nelson. The remarkable narratives in this meticulously researched reader are by turns thrilling and touching, hilarious and terrifying, poignant and majestic. In addition to eyewitness accounts of most of the critical events of the period - the Glorious First of June, the Battle of Cape St. Vincent, the Battle of Trafalgar, and the death of Nelson - you will also find revealing insights into the nature of life and war at sea aboard a man-of-war: not just the heroic moments, but the deprivations, the monotony, the pleasures, the pain, the justices, and the injustices. There are fleet battles, frigate duels, fire-ship missions, cutting-out missions, shipwrecks, pursuits by the press gang, and deadly encounters with gales and cannibals, all told in the words of the men who actually lived through them.