'James Seay Dean is the noted authority on these voyages ... he
provides a sympathetic treatment of life aboard ship in some of the most
challenging circumstances these redoubtable sailors faced "beyond the
line".' - Professor Barry Gough, maritime historian
'A fascinating and informative account of the development of Tudor and
Stuart sailing ships. Its examination of their architecture, sailing,
and tactics, especially as it is set within the international political
context, makes a most interesting story.' - Bryan Barrett, Commander
RN, ret.
From jacktar to captain, what was life like aboard an Elizabethan
ship? How did the men survive tropical heat, storms, bad water, rotten
food, disease, poor navigation, shifting cargoes and enemy fire? Would a
sailor return alive?
*
Sea Dogs* follows in the footsteps of the average sailor, drawing from
the accounts of sixteenth-century and early seventeenth-century ocean
voyages to convey the realities of everyday life aboard the galleons
sailing between England and the West Indies and beyond. Celebrating the
extraordinary drive and courage of those early sailors who left the
familiarity of their English estuaries for the dangers of the Cabo Verde
and the Caribbean, the Rivers Amazonas and Orinoco, and the Strait of
Magellan, and their remarkable achievements, Sea Dogs is essential
reading for anyone with an interest in English maritime heritage.
