• Under Enemy Colors (2007) Afterword: History and Fiction
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The War of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic
Wars have been fodder for novelists from the outset, and novels set in the
British Navy of that era have long been a species of their own. If anyone can
lay claim to having invented the type it would likely be Frederick Marryat
(whose books appeared between 1829 and 1847).
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• Historical Timeline
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This timeline gives the dates and events from the beginning of the French Revolution (1789) until the Battle of Trafalgar (1805).
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| Suggested Reading |
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I don't know how many books I read in the name of research for Under Enemy Colours but a figure in
the hundreds would not be an exaggeration. My personal library contains over 500 volumes on nautical
subjects, though many of these are yachting related. Some books are so esoteric that it is a wonder they
were ever printed (Georgian neckcloths and how to tie them), and some bore fruit in only a single
paragraph in the UEC (a book on nineteenth century wine making and grape growing methods). Some
books turn up too late and one wishes desperately they had been discovered
earlier (Revolution and Political Conflict in the French Navy 1789-1794 by William S.
Cormack being such a book). It is surprising which books prove useful; I had never sailed around
the harbour of Brest but the great English yachtsman, Claud Worth, had done so extensively early
in the 20th century and written about it in his wonderful book Yacht Cruising (of all
the old yachting books with which I am familiar, this is my favourite). Some books are purchased
from distant sources (ahh, the internet) with great hopes but turn out to be of no use
whatsoever. Others are purchased cheaply on a whim and are used almost daily. What follows
is a list of books readers of Napoleonic Wars fiction might find interesting. It is by no means complete.
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| Books on the British Navy and Sailing |
| Nelson's Navy | Brian Lavery | Naval Institute Press |
| Seamanship in the Age of Sail | John Harland | Naval Institute Press |
| The Sailor's Word-Book | Admiral W.H. Smyth | Algrove Publishing |
| A Young Sea Officer's Sheet Anchor | D. Lever | Lee Valley Tools |
| Frigates of the Napoleonic Wars | Robert Gardiner | Naval Institute Press |
| Fleet Battle and Blockade | Robert Gardiner | Mercury Books/Naval Institute Press |
| Heart of Oak | James P. McGuane | Norton |
| British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793-1817 | Riff Winfield | Chatham Publishing |
| The Naval History of Great Britain (six volumes) | W.M.James | Stackpole Books |
| The Naval Chronicle (five volumes) | edited by Nicholas Tracy | Stackpole Books |
| Trincomalee | Andrew Lambert | Naval Institute Press |
| Nelson's Ships | Peter Goodwin | Stackpole Books |
| Billy Ruffian | David Cordingly | Bloomsbury |
| Command of the Ocean | N.A.M. Rodger | Norton (UK Penguin) |
| Most Secret and Confidential | Steven E. Maffeo | Naval Institute Press |
| Society and Culture |
| High Society | Venetia Murray | Penguin Books |
| English Society in the 18th Century | Roy Porter | Penguin Books |
| The 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue | Francis Grose | Senate/Studio Editions |
| Cassell's Companion to 18th Century Britain | W.A. Speck and Stephen Brumwell | Cassell and Company |
| Who was Who in the Napoleonic Wars | Philip J. Haythornthwaite | Arms and Armour/Cassell |
| Regency Etiquette (the Mirror of Graces) | A Lady of Distinction | R.L. Shep |
| Late Georgian Costume | James Wyatt | R.L. Shep |
| Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire | Amanda Foreman | Harper Perennial |
| The French Revolution | Christopher Hibbert | Penguin Books |
| Nelson | Andrew Lambert | Faber |
| Revolution and Political Conflict in the French Navy 1789-1794 | William S. Cormack | Cambridge University Press |
| Related |
| Inshore Craft; Traditional Working Vessels of the British Isles | Julian Mannering and Basil Greenhill, ed. | Chatham |
