Captain Marryat was a midshipman under Lord Cochrane during the Napoleonic Wars -- and Lord Cochrane is the real life inspiration for many fictional naval heroes from Horatio Hornblower to Jack Aubrey. Marryat's first novel was widely believed to be autobiographic, and is an exquisitely detailed por

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I recommend this to any fan of Hornblower or Aubrey. Marryat is regarded as the father of naval fiction and wrote from his own expertise. He was a successful British officer in the Napoleonic era and even invented a signal system used by merchant fleets worldwide. As a junior officer, he served unde

This was Marryat's first novel and it shows, I feel.

It is a first-person narration of a young British naval recruit's adventures (both maritime and amorous) in the early 19th century. It was thought and acknowledged to be highly autobiographical. It seems it was successful enough that Marryat soon b

Painfully preachy, but a decent story.

It's a fun read, if a little meandering and long - it's a bit like The Count of Monte Cristo, in that much of it is inconsequential but entertaining, a common occurrence in old and/or serialised novels from that time, I find. The real attraction for me is that this book was written by an actual seam