Men of War: The Changing Face of Heroism in the 19th Century Navy - Hardcover

Crane, David

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0007254059 ISBN 13: 9780007254057

Publisher: HarperPress, 2009

Synopsis

Through the lives of three outstanding naval officers – each considered the most brilliant commander of his generation – David Crane offers a unique portrait of the Royal Navy at a time when it held unchallenged dominion over the world's oceans.

Although all three died young, their careers covered virtually every war of significance in which the navy was involved during the nineteenth century. They fought against French and Americans, Russians, Turks, Egyptians, Indians and Chinese, in fleet engagements and naval bombardments, on the walls of Canton and the banks of the Mississippi, against Malay pirates and sepoy mutineers.

As an eleven-year-old volunteer, Frank Hastings saw action at Trafalgar, and he went on to be revered as a hero of the Greek War of Independence. Yet, as the architect and captain of the first successful steam warship and the champion of gunnery and total war, he unwittingly prepared the way for much that would be bloodiest in the century ahead.

Nobody who saw him in the trenches of the Crimea would ever forget William Peel's air of inviolable self-mastery under fire, and it was the same in India, where he could ride through a landscape of decomposing corpses as if it were some mythological world conjured up to try his knightly resolve. What was it that enabled a man of his intelligence, temperament, piety and background – the son of the Prime Minister Robert Peel – to fight with such brilliance in defence of an Ottoman Empire that was repugnant to every tenet he held most strongly?

If James Goodenough chased Glory as assiduously as Hastings and Peel had done, it was the Glory of the next world, and not this. Throughout his career he strove to reconcile the demands of his faith and his profession, but when he finally met his martyrdom at the hands of the 'savages' of the Pacific islands, a shocked nation was left to face up to the inconsistencies, hypocrisies and self-deceptions on which floated its vision of divine election.

Combining thrilling scenes of battle with acute psychological insight, Men of War provides a remarkable picture of the nature of courage, command and warfare.

About this title

Review:

Praise for ‘Scott of the Antarctic’

‘Moving ... a balanced and gripping account ... David Crane has written a fine biography of Scott, the flawed but timeless hero, and I read it all with pleasure.’ Guardian

‘He [Crane] has freed himself from the tyranny of the card index to let Scott live again as a man.’ Daily Telegraph

‘Compelling ... impressive ... moving’. Sunday Telegraph

‘Crane’s exhilarating biography avoids the excesses of either approach, humanising the man without diminishing his epic endeavour. As the end nears, Crane turns to the men’s dignified accounts of their ordeal. It is as Scott prophesied: no heart could remain unstirred.’ Observer

‘The most balanced biography yet. Like Scott’s own writings, Crane’s stylish prose is a sheer pleasure.’ New York Times

Synopsis:

A captivating history of the lives and careers of three heroic men of the Royal Navy, set in a bygone age. Frank Abney Hastings, Sir William Peel, and James Goodenough. All natural-born fighters and brilliantly gifted men who made their mark on history, and died young in the pursuit of glory. In this ground-breaking study of three of the nineteenth century's most talented and influential officers, David Crane explores the Royal Navy during a crucial period of its development from the Napoleonic Wars and the Age of Sail through to the height of British imperial greatness and the dominance of steam. From Trafalgar to Navarino, from New Orleans to the Crimea, from the Baltic to the China Seas, Men of War brings to life an age of changing warfare and spectacular adventure in a compelling combination of serious history and captivating biography.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperPress
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0007254059
• ISBN 13: 9780007254057
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 496