REVIEWS

SEAFARERS

SONS OF THE WAVES

THE COMMON SEAMAN IN THE HEROIC AGE OF SAIL

STEPHEN TAYLOR

Yale University Press, 416 pages, £20

This book tells the story of seamen employed mainly by the Royal Navy between 1740 and 1840. Each of the 26 chapters focuses on the experience of ‘Jack tars’ in their own words, using unpublished memoirs and letters, and augmented by contemporary Admiralty records such as courts-martial and ships’ logs.

Some men enlisted voluntarily, some were