Eyes of the Admiralty

The exploits of the British Fleet during the close blockade of France in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars have generated a rich seam of historical and fictional writing. This book makes available for the first time an astonishingly untapped source of visual material commissioned by the powerful civilian members of the Admiralty Board to increase their grasp of a critical theatre of operations in which the government were being pressed to conduct amphibious diversions to assist their continental allies. The marine artist J. T. Serres embarked in the ships of the inshore frigate blockade of Brest at the very time when it was being remorselessly tightened by the new Commander in Chief, Lord St Vincent. Espionage, shipwreck, mutiny and hydrographic controversy all enter into an account which will interest both students of naval history, aficionados of naval fiction, and cruising yachtsmen. HB 144 pages.