A few book recs and a poem

[sarlania]

A few people on my flist have been talking about AOS non-fiction books and I thought I might join in the discussion and recommend a few that I have read, give the reasons why I think they should be read and maybe provide some excerpts from them. Hopefully this will encourage people in the AOS fandoms who don't know much about the historical context

Comments

[anteros_lmc]

Thanks for the reviews. Always good to have non-fiction recommendations. I shall add these to be exponentially growing reading list!

And I still haven't got round to writing that post about Casabianca....

[sarlania]

I know I definitely have been repeating myself with the recommendations, but I love some of these books too much to not recommend it to everyone who shows even the slightest bit of interest. =)

And I still haven't got round to writing that post about Casabianca....
Encourages you to go ahead and just do it!

[anteros_lmc]

I love some of these books too much to not recommend it to everyone who shows even the slightest bit of interest
Well, that's a fine reason to recommend them at every available opportunity :)

Regarding that post about Cassabianca, my copy is from a book called Parlour Poetry, 101 Improving Gems and the introduction is one of the funniest pieces of lit crit I have ever read. I've been meaning to copy and post the introduction but I haven't had time to type it out yet. There is also a rather fetchingly wonky line drawing of the boy on the burning deck. I will get round to posting it one of these days but don't hold your breath!

[sarlania]

Heh sounds amusing. I do understand though, there are a couple of LJ fannish things that I've been telling myself that I have to do, but I just never get around to it. Still, I'm looking forward to reading it whenever you get the opportunity to post it!

Actually what I would like to see is the full version of that parody brewsternorth mentioned. It sounds hilarious!

[esteven]

Thanks again for these reviews.
:D

Btw, would you mind editing your entry at the comm? You gave the title of NAM Rodger's book as "Storm and Conquest" too.

[sarlania]

=)

Thanks for pointing out the mistake! I was typing this up rather late in the evening while doing homework and my mind wasn't functioning very well. XD

Patrick O'Brian took so many plots and characters from historical events/people, so it certainly won't be hard to recommend Aubreyad related books to rec. I myself would be hard pressed to think of many Hornblower-linked nonfiction books. =)

[esteven]

:D

I heard that Hornblower was based on Lord Cochrane too, so mayb this would help a bit? There are loads of bios out there.

[canadian_jay]

Some very nice reviews! I see some stuff going on the 'to buy' list!

[sarlania]

:) Great!

[_likimeya]

Thanks for the recs! The Command of the Ocean sounds especially interesting. British naval history isn’t exactly a frequently taught subject in our schools, so I have much still to learn in that department… I’ve been looking for a good book to read, but couldn’t find any. This has just been added to my amazon wish list. :)

The poem, though…
It is about the son of the captain of the L'Orient, the French ship of the line that blew up during the culmination of the Battle of the Nile. He foolishly stayed on deck at his post while the ship was burning around him.
OMG, that is horrible! :( As admirable as it is to be willing to sacrifice oneself for a good cause, this is clearly taking things a little too far. The poor boy!

There came a burst of thunder sound-
The boy-oh! where was he?
Ask of the winds that far around
With fragments strewed the sea!

Feeling sick now.

[sarlania]

British naval history isn’t exactly a frequently taught subject in our schools, so I have much still to learn in that department…
It's definitely a most interesting area of history, and is often overlooked in favour of landwar -especially the American Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. Rodgers is one of the best authorities on the subject. =)

Feeling sick now.
Sorry!!!!!!!!! The poem is rather macabre and dark, certainly not a suitable poem to teach schoolchildren! (Although I believe it was taught in schoolrooms in the late 19th century)

[_likimeya]

It's definitely a most interesting area of history, and is often overlooked in favour of landwar -especially the American Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars.
Actually we don't talk about landwar in school, either. About battles and military history in general, I mean. The focus here is more on the causes of wars and the settlements afterwards, which, to be honest, I prefer to accounts of bloody battles anyway. Everything I know about battles in the modern age I've learned by accident, so to speak - by reading novels and visiting the historical sites on vacations.

[sarlania]

Oh generally I definitely prefer the social and political side of history rather than the wars and battles, but the Age of Sail is a little different. I have two fixations: 1) The Royal Navy (during that period) and 2) Wellington so I'm only interested in the battles that involve them. Napoleon's victory at Austerlitz? Pfft! =)

[mzcalypso]

The kid on the deck makes a good poem, but I have to think his father would rather he abandoned ship when the damned thing was burning to bits. Darwin award?

[sarlania]

I'll vote for it! If only they had it back then, I could certainly think of many people who deserved it. XD