The Wooden World. An Anatomy of the Georgian Navy

Until the publication of The Wooden World the British Navy in the eighteenth century was one of the great puzzles of history. The traditional picture is of a floating hell, manned by miserably paid wretches, cowed by the lash and almost permanently drunk. l low then did it achieve a righting record of brilliant success and a reputation for formidable efficiency ? The Wooden Work/brilliantly dissects eighteenth-century naval society, lays out clearly how the Navy worked, and what life was really like below decks.
The picture Nicholas Rodger paints not only completely overturns the traditional view, hut is probably one of the most complete portraits we have of a navy of any age.