AOS Naval Non-Fiction - Biographical
Non-Fiction books which are biographies of specific officers or men, discussion of a particular officers tactics or battles, etc. during the Age of Sail.
- Details
- By: Samuel Eliot Morison
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- Title: "Old Bruin": Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry, 1796–1858
- First Published by: Little, Brown and Company
- First Published Place: Boston
- First Published Format: HC
- First Published Date: 1967
- Details
- By: Samuel Eliot Morison
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- Title: John Paul Jones: A Sailor's Biography
- First Published by: Little, Brown and Company
- First Published Place: Boston
- First Published Format: HC
- First Published Date: 1959
- Details
- By: Andrew Bond, Frank Cowin & Andrew Lambert
- Title: Favourite of Fortune: Captain John Quilliam, Trafalgar Hero
- First Published by: Seaforth Publishing
- First Published Format: HC
- First Published Date: 30 May 2021
- ISBN-10: 1399012703
- ISBN-13: 978-1399012706
- Details
- By: Sean M. Heuvel & John A. Rodgaard (Editors)
From Across the Sea: North Americans in Nelson’s Navy explores the varied contributions of North Americans to the Royal Navy during Great Britain’s wars against Revolutionary and Napoleonic France. It is the first book that explores this topic in depth. As an edited compilation, top specialists in the field have contributed thematic essays (on topics ranging from impressment to the Anglo-American maritime relationship) as well as biographical essays on a range of North Americans from both the officer ranks and the lower deck. For the biographical portraits, special attention has been paid to individuals who have not already been the subject of extensive research and writing. Accompanying these essays are several never-before-published illustrations depicting some of the key North Americans as well as the ships and naval battles in which they were a part.
The book’s central focus is to challenge the common assumption that the Nelsonic-era Royal Navy was manned exclusively by British sailors and officers. Instead, Royal Navy personnel from this era often hailed from different parts of the world, with North Americans comprising a particularly significant contingent. For instance, Nelson’s fleet at Trafalgar had hundreds of Americans as well as Canadians, not to mention individuals from the Caribbean. Thus, From Across the Sea sheds new light on these sailors and officers, showcasing years of original, primary source research on the subject.
The book also challenges the misconception that all North American-born sailors who served in the Royal Navy were pressed into service. Instead, a significant number volunteered for service of their own free will, lured into the Royal Navy by visions of adventure and prize money. Others volunteered more reluctantly, figuring that joining the Royal Navy on their own terms was preferable to being forced in by a press gang. Thus, From Across the Sea reveals that impressment was a more complicated topic than most generally assume.
Over all, From Across the Sea concludes that North Americans played an integral role in the Royal Navy during the Wars with France, from the lower deck all the way to the highest levels of command. While some of these North Americans operated in relative obscurity, others achieved high rank and formed lasting friendships with some of Great Britain’s foremost naval leaders of the age, including Lord Nelson and King William IV. Theirs is a story that needs to be told, and now it has been told for the first time through From Across the Sea.
- Title: From Across the Sea: North Americans in Nelson’s Navy (From Reason to Revolution 1721-1815)
- First Published by: Helion and Company
- First Published Format: HC
- First Published Date: 9 June 2020
- ISBN-10: 1913118924
- ISBN-13: 978-1913118921
- Details
- By: Paul Martinovich
What was it like to serve as an officer in the Royal Navy during the great age of sailing warfare? The varied careers of four closely-related men illustrate the challenges encountered by many officers as they rose in the naval hierarchy. The Schombergs had an unusual family background (they were descended from an immigrant German-Jewish doctor), but they survived storms, battle and even their own mistakes, as they found important roles in the competitive world of the Royal Navy.
This work follows the fortunes of these four sailors over 90 years, as they served afloat in locations from Quebec to Mauritius, in vessels ranging from a royal yacht to a ship of the line. Ashore they enjoyed the pleasures of eighteenth-century Dublin, wrote books and befriended artists, while navigating the changing world of Georgian Britain. The events described in this book are based on unpublished documents, lavishly illustrated with more than fifty colour and black and white images (including original artwork) and ten maps. The result is a panorama of war at sea and life on land, seen through the lens of a single talented family.
- Title: Sailors of Varied Fortune: The Schombergs afloat and ashore
- First Published by: Foresail Press
- First Published Format: PB
- First Published Date: 13 October 2025
- ISBN-10: 1069713406
- ISBN-13: 978-1069713407
- Details
- By: Paul Martinovich
The life of Pulteney Malcolm, a Royal Navy officer active during and after the Napoleonic Wars, is now all but forgotten, except perhaps for his role in guarding Napoleon on St Helena. However in his time he was famous, celebrated for his daring and seamanship. For six years Malcolm commanded the ship of the line Donegal, fighting in the Battle of San Domingo and blockading French warships in their ports. He was involved in the aftermath of Trafalgar and the events surrounding Waterloo, and came to know many of the great men of his time, including Nelson, Wellington and Napoleon. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he spent his entire active career afloat, justifying his proud claim that the sea was his element. His achievements in over 40 years of war and peace were all the greater, given his modest origins in the Scottish Borders.
This biography is based in large part on Malcolm’s personal letters to members of his family, particularly to his wife Clementina. The several hundred letters reveal a man who was at once a humane commander, a brilliant seaman, a convivial friend, and a loving husband. While the book offers a portrait of a man devoted to his service, the letters range over far more than naval activity, illuminating an eventful life in a turbulent age. Thus Malcolm’s story demonstrates not only the growing professionalism of the Royal Navy, but also the social and economic pressures changing British society.
- Title: The Sea Is My Element: The eventful life of Admiral Sir Pulteney Malcolm, 1766-1838
- First Published by: Helion and Company
- First Published Format: HC
- First Published Date: 15 May 2021
- ISBN-10: 1913336573
- ISBN-13: 978-1913336578
- Details
- By: Simon Francis Brown
- Title: Bonaparte & Brimstone: A life of mixed fortunes in the Royal Navy and merchant service
- First Published by: The Conrad Press
- First Published Format: PB
- First Published Date: 9 March 2023
- ISBN-10: 1915494354
- ISBN-13: 978-1915494351
- Details
- By: Nicholas Courtney
- Title: Gale Force 10: The Life and Legacy of Admiral Beaufort
- First Published Format: HC
- First Published Date: 1 January 2002
- ISBN-10: 0747272107
- ISBN-13: 978-0747272106
- Details
- By: Mary Lacy
- Title: The Female Shipwright
- First Published Format: HC
- First Published Date: 1773
- Details
- By: Hannah Snell
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- Title: The Female Soldier; or, the surprising life and adventures of Hannah Snell, ... who took upon herself the name of James Gray; and, being deserted by her husband, put on mens apparel, and ... enlisted in Col. Guise's Regiment of Foot, ... Also a full and true account of her enlisting afterwards into Fraser's Regiment of Marines
- First Published by: Robert Walker
- First Published Place: London
- First Published Format: HC
- First Published Date: 1750