FIGHTING SHIPS 1750 - 1850

This stunning collection of over 170 large-format colour illustrationsincludes paintings of ships at sea, in action, in convoy, and in siege;architectural drawings; battle diagrams; sea charts and signals; portraitsof leading figures in naval history; and details of guns, sails, and lifebelow deck. Taken from contemporary sources, they range from the SevenYears' War to the American Civil War. The book focuses on the navies ofall the major Atlantic sea powers of the time, including Britain, America,France, Holland, Sweden and Russia. Arranged in chronological order, eachillustration is accompanied by an extended caption that adds to thisvisual feast a compelling history of naval warfare in the last great ageof sail. This volume is divided into eight chapters: The Seven Years' War1755-62; The Napoleonic Wars 1803-15; The War of American Independence1775-1783; The War of 1812; The Years of Exploration c.1770-1794; The LastDays of Sail; The French Revolutionary Wars 1792-1802; and Steam and Iron.