Now on pre-order and releasing September 3, 2024! Historium Press author, Bradley John, presents his spectacular historical adventure, "Ships of War - Murky Waters" Book One
For fans of "Master and Commander: Far Side of the World" and thrilling sea adventures,
this is the book for you.
eBOOK PRE-ORDER LINK: https://geni.us/fSlcOa
Also available in paperback and hardcover.
1791 - England's cannon remain ever silent as her shipping is ruthlessly preyed upon, a detestable state of affairs soon to be remedied...
England is ill prepared, Europe is in turmoil and the French Revolution is readying to sweep across the continent. A tedious uneasy peace poises on a knife's edge. Britannia rules the waves, yet as more and more ships are mysteriously lost, it is rightly thought an act of war. However, England needs more time, or all could be lost.
With war looming, Lieutenant Hayden Reginald Cooper, Royal Navy, awaits in Portsmouth braving a bitter cold winter with half pay, beached in a constant state of penury. With little prospects, little "interest" and no chance of promotion or advancement, he is the perfect choice for the Admiralty: unknown, unimportant and wholly dispensable.
And so it begins, a turbulent action-packed naval adventure within the murky waters preceding war, the French piracy soon to discover the grit of a lowly Lieutenant, one who has very little to lose...
"Heavily spiced with action... an unbridled and no-holds-barred adventure story that is very much in the illustrious rip-roaring style of the "Hornblower" books of the great C.S. Forester..." - THE HISTORICAL FICTION COMPANY
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Editorial Review:
“Ships of War” [subtitled “Murky Waters”] by Bradley John is assumedly the first of an intended series of books. It is an unbridled and no holds barred adventure story that is very much in the illustrious rip-roaring style of the 'Hornblower' books of the great C.S. Forester or of the many books by Dudley Pope, the prolific author of many books on the subject of the Royal Navy in revolutionary times and during the the very long Napoleonic Wars of the very early nineteenth century. Many readers will also be familiar, perhaps, with the highly successful motion picture “Master and Commander”. Bradley John's lengthy novel, ''Ships of War'' is very much in this tradition and of that mould. The author seeks to maintain this worthy style with his own lengthy adventure story. In so doing, he displays excellent credentials with considerable style!
Bradley John provides a wealth of information on nautical issues to both the newcomer to the subject and also to those already reasonably or extremely knowledgeable and informed on the subject. There is, for example, a comprehensive glossary of terms and slang of the time, nautical and otherwise. This may well be of help to the baffled reader when faced with one of the many technical [and occasionally difficult to follow] passages of the book relating to the workings of a ship of the time and the various mysteries of wind and tide. A number of passages in “Ships of War” are likely to leave the average reader bemused and totally 'at sea'. For those willing and eager to delve, there are maps of France in the Revolutionary period, measurements, diagrams and cross sections of warships and points of the compass. In addition, each Chapter is prefaced with a handsome contemporary illustration. Bradley John is clearly an expert in his chosen field. The book is laden with examples of his deep and profound understanding - and, indeed, love - of the subject and his ability to portray the world he has conjured up for the reader. This world of his conjuring is, it should be said, occasionally difficult to follow. “Ships of War” is very much a book likely to most succeed with a reading market that is not only drawn to tales of adventure, the romance of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic periods and is conversant with at least a basic understanding of nautical and navigational subjects; the very market, in other words, that has already devoured the works of C.S. Forester and Dudley Pope. In all twenty four Chapters of this lengthy book there is not a single female character, portrayed, let alone any dialogue from a woman. “Ships of War” portrays a man's world and we must assume that the reading target audience is also masculine.
The narrative begins in the bitterly cold winter of early 1791. England enjoys a very uneasy peace with its perennial enemy, France. France has been in a state of chaos ever since the momentous events of 1789, when a long period of political and economic crisis and famine has resulted in the overthrow of the centuries old political status quo and the emergence of a far more democratic National Assembly. In effect, feudalism has been abolished and the power of the Aristocracy and of the monarchy of the Bourbon Louis XVI in particular had been greatly reduced; by the end of the year the figure of the King had been reduced to that of a largely symbolic Constitutional Monarch. Two years later he would become a victim himself of the guillotine. The excesses of the French Revolution and 'The Terror' still lie in the future, but the authorities in Whitehall, the government, the Navy and the armed forces in particular, know that the likelihood of a further war with France is very high, particularly as both Austria and Prussia have entered into an anti French military alliance which they seek to extend to other sovereign states. At this moment the young Napoleon Bonaparte is a mere lowly second lieutenant in the French Royal Artillery. Tension, uncertainty and anxiety is palpable, both in France and beyond. This is the backdrop to the lives and careers of two impecunious Royal Navy Lieutenants, Hayden Reginald Cooper and Charles Prescot Spencer. Living in greatly reduced circumstances, they share a cottage in Portsmouth and are always strapped for cash; they are 'on the beach' - reduced in peacetime to a life of half pay and with little or no opportunity for promotion and advancement. This lamentable situation is about to dramatically change when Spencer receives a visitor with a message and is summoned immediately to the headquarters of the Royal Navy - the Admiralty in Whitehall in London! So begins a turbulent and event crammed episode in the life and times of Hayden Reginald Cooper.
At the Admiralty after his rushed and precipitous journey from Portsmouth, Cooper meets his former Commander in the West Indies, the famous Horatio Nelson [1758-1805], the hero of the Battle of Trafalgar which ended his life and ensured the dominance of British sea power and the Empire for over a century to come. His former commander hands him a cryptic note. Cooper correctly guesses it is a summons to a particular place and time where they can confer in greater depth. Cooper has been summoned to a clandestine meeting with, arguably, the four most important men in England. It is the offer of a job, promotion, regular salary and the opportunity of prize money and further advancement - no less! It also involves a command of his own. He would be a fool to turn it down! The appointment of Cooper is extremely advantageous to these four men in that Cooper is held to be likely to be extremely skilful at this highly sensitive and top secret task and also comes highly recommended. He is also sufficiently unimportant and lowly so that he can be disowned should things go wrong! He is required to examine charts and figures of lost or missing English vessels in the English Channel and, using his considerable and highly developed abilities with mathematics, is able to prove the undeniable activities of French pirates and privateers as being responsible! The problem for this newly appointed pirate hunter is that both nations are at peace, however precarious this might presently appear. Any flagrant and obviously hostile act could result in diplomatic disaster and a war for which Britain is as of yet unprepared; hence the need to disown him should matters go awry. In this manner is Cooper, appointed to Captain, a man of proven battle experience, an expert mariner and fighter, a genius mathematician and expert card player and survivor and winner of no less than nineteen duels with his oriental 'katana' sword [taught to him by a Japanese master of the art], dispatched to Chatham Docks on the river Medway in Kent to view his first command - the 64 gun fighting “ship of the line” “Agamemnon”. As subsequent events progress, Cooper reveals more and more of his skills, personality and abilities as each new situation requires.
In the space of one Chapter, Bradley John has thus set out the circumstances of the remainder of the book - his unofficial war against piracy in the English Channel in a time of peace. The reader is introduced to a veritable host of characters and individuals in the course of the book; his own officers and men, and those with whom he comes into conflict. The book is heavily spiced with action and adventure for the aficionado of books of this genre and for those prepared to take the time to analyse and fully understand the nautical tactics and maneuvers described. For readers of this type there is no doubt that this book will prove excellent reading indeed! It contains all the necessary prerequisites and formulae of an acceptable adventure story. Should the budget exist, it would make for a fine movie!
There are, amidst all the mayhem, moments of fine writing, pausing to explore the nature and personalities of the people behind the frenetic action. Take the example of Midshipman Jarvis Thomas Holt, a boy of just fifteen years with excellent prospects within the Royal Navy and heir to a Lordship. In mathematical skill he is easily the match of Cooper with his own prodigious abilities, the boy, who plays a significant role in the book, has quite exceptional gifts to learn, absorb and deploy. Bradley John evokes his wholly understandable fear of a full cannon broadside of an enemy cannonade when it is imminent and of the terrible consequences that will come in its wake:
“Holt beheld the incoming broadside standing tall upon the Quarterdeck. In the first moments he regarded the undeniable sight of smoke instantly puffing from the ships yonder, silently though, for
the sound had not yet fully travelled. He was thereafter borne of a singular mind to which all familiarity with the outside world now fell lost. It certified within him a suffering never before deemed imaginable. It was a hostility he would soon not forget, such was his boyhood innocence. Noted instantly were a great many astonishing sounds, all racing to rupture the virtue of his lobes, an overall resonance seemingly strange and without a doubt wholly outlandish. Having never been on the receiving end of a broadside, it openly gave him pause....”
The author goes on to describe in great and graphic detail the effects upon flesh, timber and sail as the cannonade strikes!
In the best interests of this review and to prevent the danger of offering any spoilers to the plot, suffice it to say that throughout the narrative Cooper and his command aboard 'Agamemnon' and other ships he controls prove more than equal to the huge obstacles facing them; determined and powerful foes, unfavourable conditions and grossly uneven odds. This is, of course, the very stuff of the successful adventure story and comes from a long and noble tradition stemming not just from C.S. Forester. Suffice it to say also, at this point, Hayden Reginald Cooper and the officers and men he has come to cherish emerge at the end, scarred and singed and doubtless reeking of gunpowder, both triumphant and justified. It lies within the descriptive power and gift of the author, Bradley John, to recount their subsequent adventures. This is a finely paced story displaying admirable craftsmanship and a welcome addition to the bookshelf of any fan of the period and subject.
*****
“Ships of War” by Bradley John receives 4.5 stars from The Historical Fiction Company
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