Elara Montrose

Oceanic empires depended on crews whose bodies could fail long before their ships did. Scurvy swollen gums, weakness, pain, and sudden death turned long voyages into contests between ambition and nutrition. This history follows sailors, surgeons, naval administrators, merchants, and experimenters as they struggled to understand a disease whose prevention was repeatedly observed yet unevenly applied.
From early remedies to controlled trials and naval provisioning, it shows how institutional habits could delay practical knowledge. Readers see maritime expansion from below deck, where food storage, discipline, evidence, and bureaucracy determined whether fleets reached their destinations.