BRIAN LAVERY is one of the country's leading maritime historians and the author of more than thirty books, including the highly successful Nelson's Navy . He was for many years a curator at the National Maritime Museum and while there became an expert on its models, producing the definitive work on the collection. His recent books on the ages of sail, Anson's Navy and Royal Yachts Under Sail are both published by Seaforth.
"""Students of naval history will find this book invaluable for understanding how Great Britain maintained its maritime pre-eminence through the long eighteenth century, while those looking to understand and to revive ancient crafts have a comprehensive, readily intelligible, and lavishly illustrated guidebook. Brian Lavery has demonstrated that the printed book is as flexible and as user-friendly a medium as the tablet and the television."" --Australian Naval Institute."