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Broadsides: The Age of Fighting Sail, 1775-1815
- Narrated by: David Rapkin
- Length: 15 hrs and 30 mins
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Publisher's summary
In the late 18th century, it was widely thought that to be a sailor was little better than to be a slave. "No man will be a sailor," wrote Samuel Johnson, "who has contrivance enough to get himself into jail. A man in jail has more room, better food, and commonly better company."
If that were true, historian Nathan Miller suggests, then the record of sailing in the age of tall ships would likely be distinguished by few heroes and fewer grand narratives. He counters that in the regular navies of England, the fledgling United States, and most other nations, brutal captains and thuggish crewmen were rare, and professionalism was the order of the day. It was their high standard of service that made those naval forces such powerful, even indispensable arms of the land-based military. Miller's great hero throughout this fine history is Horatio Nelson, whose valor was exemplary throughout countless battles around the world. But he writes with equal admiration of lesser-known figures, such as Lambert Wickes, Pierre de Villeneuve, Juan de Cordova, and "Foul Weather Jack" Byron, who served their nations and fellow sailors well, and often heroically.
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Two centuries ago, without congressional or public debate, a president who is thought of today as peaceable, Thomas Jefferson, launched America's first war on foreign soil, a war against terror. The enemy was Muslim; the war was waged unconventionally, with commandos, native troops, and encrypted intelligence, and launched from foreign bases.
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A Great Read
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The War of 1812, Conflict and Deception
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- Narrated by: Todd Curless
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Perhaps no conflict in American history is more important yet more overlooked and misunderstood than the War of 1812. At the climax of the war, inspired by the defeat of Napoleon in early 1814 and the perceived illegality of the Louisiana Purchase, the British devised a plan to launch a three-pronged attack against the Northern, Eastern, and Southern US borders.
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Predetermined Outcome
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Cochrane
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- Narrated by: John Lee
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Nicknamed le loup des mers ("the sea wolf") by Napoleon, Thomas Cochrane was one of the most daring and successful naval heroes of all time. In this fascinating account of Cochrane's life, historian David Cordingly unearths startling new details about the real-life "Master and Commander", from his daring exploits against the French navy to his role in the liberation of Chile, Peru, and Brazil, and the shock exchange scandal that forced him out of England and almost ended his naval career.
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There is a better book on Lord Cochrane
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By: David Cordingly
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To the Uttermost Ends of the Earth
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On June 19, 1864, just off the coast of France, one of the most dramatic naval battles in history took place. On a clear day with windswept skies, the dreaded Confederate raider Alabama faced the Union warship Kearsarge in an all-or-nothing fight to the finish, the outcome of which would effectively end the threat of the Confederacy on the high seas.
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description of battle
- By Amazon Customer on 10-26-24
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Bunker Hill
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In the opening volume of his acclaimed American Revolution series, Nathaniel Philbrick turns his keen eye to pre-Revolutionary Boston and the spark that ignited the American Revolution. In the aftermath of the Boston Tea Party and the violence at Lexington and Concord, the conflict escalated and skirmishes gave way to outright war in the Battle of Bunker Hill. It was the bloodiest conflict of the revolutionary war, and the point of no return for the rebellious colonists.
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Another Fantastic Story by Philbrick
- By Rick on 09-30-13
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Castles of Steel
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The predominant image of this first world war is of mud and trenches, barbed wire, machine guns, poison gas, and slaughter. A generation of European manhood was massacred, and a wound was inflicted on European civilization that required the remainder of the twentieth century to heal.
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Stick With It!
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The First Salute
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This compellingly written history presents a fresh, new view of the events that led from the first foreign salute to American nationhood in 1776 to the last campaign of the Revolution five years later. It paints a magnificent portrait of General George Washington and recounts in riveting detail the events responsible for the birth of our nation.
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A brilliant classic
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Rebels at Sea
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Overall
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The heroic story of the founding of the US Navy during the Revolution has been told many times, yet largely missing from maritime histories of America's first war is the ragtag fleet of private vessels that truly revealed the new nation's character. In Rebels at Sea, Eric Jay Dolin corrects that significant omission, and contends that privateers, as they were called, were in fact critical to the American victory. Privateers were privately owned vessels that were granted permission by the new government to seize British merchantmen and men of war.
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If you can get over the narrator...
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John Paul Jones
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John Paul Jones is more than a great sea story. Jones is a character for the ages. John Adams called him the "most ambitious and intriguing officer in the American Navy." The renewed interest in the Founding Fathers reminds us of the great men who made this country, but John Paul Jones teaches us that it took fighters as well as thinkers, men driven by dreams of personal glory as well as high-minded principle to break free of the past and start a new world. Jones' spirit was classically American.
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Swashbuckler or Saviour
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Valcour
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During the summer of 1776, a British incursion from Canada loomed. In response, citizen soldiers of the newly independent nation mounted a heroic defense. Patriots constructed a small fleet of gunboats on Lake Champlain in northern New York and confronted the Royal Navy in a desperate three-day battle near Valcour Island. Their effort surprised the arrogant British and forced the enemy to call off their invasion.
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well written, well read story
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A Rage for Glory
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Acclaimed author James Tertius de Kay recounts the lifeof Commodore Stephen Decatur in the first new biography of the great naval hero in almost 70 years. De Kay draws on material unavailable to previous biographers to explore Decatur’s extraordinary life. From his burning of the Philadelphia to his capture of the HMS Macedonian, Decatur demonstrated his legendary bravery at every turn.
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Excellent writing and exciting story
- By mikey on 08-02-19
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a great companion to his other works
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What listeners say about Broadsides: The Age of Fighting Sail, 1775-1815
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Neil
- 12-24-14
Some Big Battles were too short
It is a great book and it does tell the battles from 1775 until 1815, but I felt he could have talked about Trafalgar and The Battle of the Nile in more details. Those were very bill battles and they impacted the Napoleonic Wars Considerably. The lesser known battles in the America's could have been less because in my view they were.
All in all there are very few books like this that you can read that address the peak of the age of the sail. All in all I liked it and would recommend it.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Beast41R
- 10-01-16
Well written book, not so well read
I found the book to be more than just a rehash of all of the other naval references I have read. It was certainly worth listening to. However, the reader failed to make an appropriate effort with foreign names. Most people have never heard of the Balearic Islands, but the person who would listen to this book almost certainly has, so it's worth checking the pronunciation. He did a creditable job with most names that were obviously French, but I found that his screwing up some critical place names was really annoying. Having said that, it has to be tough on a reader of audiobooks to always know what languages and unique colloquial pronunciations are going to appear. So, four stars for effort.
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- Dennis
- 02-08-15
Full details lacking in other stories
Would you consider the audio edition of Broadsides: The Age of Fighting Sail, 1775-1815 to be better than the print version?
This book puts all the other stories into order and it helps you realize the other naval books of the time have a degree of truth.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Broadsides: The Age of Fighting Sail, 1775-1815?
I enjoyed many, I have read so many books that it all feel into place.
Which scene was your favorite?
Not just one, I have alot of scenes that happened in different parts of history
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
Both, I could cry when the foolish govenments would treat the poor sailors very poorly, and be happier when they rewarded those who deserved it.
Any additional comments?
In history this wasnl't really that long, but the changes made to the world are still felt today. Steam ended these mens skilled talents and the world got alittle smaller.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Eric
- 02-21-16
Surprisingly gripping
The battles are vivid, and the politics are interesting. Its worth your time. My only problem is that it seems more narrow in focus then the subtitle would suggest. It is a history of the American and Royal Navy, no more, no less.
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- M J Mills
- 08-10-14
Misleading description, solid historical summary
The Audible description focuses on the supposed overturning of the stereotype of brutal treatment of sailors, and I bought it on that basis expecting to get a different perspective. But that is a miniscule part of the book, covered almost just in passing, as the author concentrates on delivering a summary of the history of war at sea in the period encompassing the War of Independence and the Napoleonic wars. Since much of this is ground I'm already familiar with in greater detail than provided here, I was disappointed.
I'll also note I'm constantly surprised at the lack of quality control on these works; this one at least has none of the frequent changes in mixing levels that appear in many others, but the narrator introduces many inappropriately long pauses in the middle of sentences.
That said the book is a solid history, and worth getting on those grounds as long as one isn't expecting something different.
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9 people found this helpful
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- Damian
- 10-04-20
Not an easy task for a historian to dwell...
...on such a narrow subject - with all the details attendant to the task - and not become tedious. Nonetheless, Nathan Miller does a more than commendable job in telling his tale. Crisp writing and compelling narrative, Miller informs and entertains. Almost like a Patriick O’Brian Novel, Miller admirably captures the mystic and reality of the iron men and wooden ships who sailed and fought in a remarkably tumultuous and history changing three decades
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- John B Hall
- 10-14-15
well researched...
excellent research, fascinating detailed, and definitive narrative on a age of maritime history. Brings to light what was a formative time period for those island nations dependent upon sea power. JB Hall. USCG, usmma 95
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- Grits
- 06-05-15
Absolute Best Naval History I Ever Read
This book should be a primer for anyone interested in the age of fighting sail. Well written and well performed.
1. This book explains how ships of the line, in that period functioned.
2. It explained the politics of those men who sailed the ships, in the time that they lived - which is just not done.
3. It is a new approach to world history, seeing things through the naval force rather than land force.
The author gives his interpretation of Napoleon Bonapart's relation with his navy, as opposed to his army, as well as a fledging country - America - trying to defend itself against a naval superpower. The autor is right on on the mark and so wonderfully understandable.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Gabriel Ortega
- 06-16-17
Great book
There are some slight differences with Britain's version of how accounts transpired so if your after how a specific event really happened further research may be required, but its still a great book and well worth the purchase.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Mike in NC
- 04-03-22
a definitive history of sail and combat
this book appears to be extremely well researched and the story writing is first rate. there is a lot of detail in the many descriptions outlined in this very compelling piece of literature. the narration which can ruin a great book or make a bad book come alive is first rate. I put this narrator on the level of Grover Gardner. if 18th & 19thb century sail and sea combat is your jam, you will love this book
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1 person found this helpful