The World Of Jack Aubrey | 
 enlarge | Author: David Miller
Publisher: Running Press
Category: Book
List Price: $12.95
Buy New: $7.50
You Save: $5.45 (42%)
New (27) Used (34) Collectible (1) from $5.94
Avg. Customer Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 72961
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 96
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.8
Dimensions (in): 11.4 x 8.8 x 0.5
ISBN: 0762416521
Dewey Decimal Number: 359.0094109033
EAN: 9780762416523
ASIN: 0762416521
Publication Date: October 15, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: **New** copy, unmarked EXCELLENT condition; ships USPS with delivery confirmation in US
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Product Description
Here's a stunningly illustrated guide to the ships, weapons, uniforms, and equipment described in Patrick O'Brian's sequence of 20 popular novels about the 19th century British Royal Navy officer Jack Aubrey and his surgeon colleague Stephen Maturin. Called "the best historical novels every written" by The New York Times, the books have sold more than 3 million copies and inspired a highly anticipated fox film adaptation starring Russell Crowe, set to premiere later this year. A must for O'Brian's enthusiasts, this volume boasts striking full color photographs illustrating a vast array of equipment, medals, weapons, and other objects, and is unique in that many of the featured items are actual battle relics, such as the coat Admiral Nelson wore at the Battle of Trafalgar-complete with bullet hole.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 Well worth reading and owning!!! June 26, 2006
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Anyone interested in the 19th century world of the British Royal Navy will find this book invaluable. Although Captain Jack Aubrey is fictional, the history is correct of that era. There are photos of museum relics, and much information fron primary sources. It is the most complete and affordable book I have yet seen that explains the ships of that era.One section even describes the uniforms of the Royal Navy and the Marines
of that era, a subject somewhat difficult to locate primary sources about.A great, hardback book that will keep the reader interested.
 Good book on Royal Navy November 3, 2005
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
This is a small coffee table book (less than a hundred pages) that is intended as an introduction to Patick O'Brian's Jack Aubrey novels. It is chock-full of diagrams, drawings, tables, pictures and so on. It covers a wealth of topics, such as types and ratings of vessels, sails and sailing, weapons. Uniforms, naval powers other than Great Britain, and privateers. It also includes a glossary at the end. There is a lot of information packed into those 90 or so pages and the reader can learn a lot. However, there is one great drawback to this book: it is written in a style that is sometimes hard to follow and assumes the reader already has a certain command of naval vocabulary. One example (page 43) will suffice:
"The lower mast passed down through holes in the deck known as partners and was stepped on the kelson. Masts were held in position by forestays which extended forward on the centerline of the vessel, while there were two sets of backstays extending aft to be secured to the sides by channel plates. The masts were stayed athwartships by shrouds."
Huh? If you can follow that, great, but in a book designed as an introduction, it's a bit much. One has to keep flipping to the glossary to figure out what's going on. However, not all the problematic words are in the glossary, kelson for example is absent (Kelson does appear in Sea of Words-see my review of that excellent book). This style diminishes the value of the book somewhat. If you find a copy, read it, but make sure you have Sea of Words at hand.
 The World of Jack Aubrey: etc August 20, 2005
1 out of 11 found this review helpful
A ripoff of bad, but large picts, no text to speak of.
 A good book, but needs editing December 16, 2004
19 out of 20 found this review helpful
This slim volume is very attractively put together. The layout is pleasing, and the many photos and historical paintings are easily the best part of the book. Past that, though, the quality drops off.
The text is reasonably well written, but doesn't always flow well. Often you'll turn the page and be surprised that the chapter is over. Or you'll read fairly detailed information on one subject, yet find gaps in others. For instance, there is a detailed chart of the actual weight of cannon shot depending on the nationality of its manufacture. This is interesting, but seems oddly out of place. In many places the book feels like a hastily organized jumble of facts. A bit more effort, and the services of a decent editor, would have improved this book.
Another improvement that could have been made by an editor is the removal of numerous typos and glitches. On one page, two illustrations have their captions transposed. In many other places obvious typos are present. If I can catch them by reading the book once, they shouldn't be there.
Perhaps the worst flaw of this book is its incompleteness. It's missing a serious discussion of how ships were sailed, information on battle tactics, and recurring locales from the novels. Worse, the book uses terms that it never explains. For instance, the caption of one illustration mentions that the bowsprit gammoning is ommitted for clarity. But gammoning is not in the glossary. (As it turns out, if you google for "bowsprit gammoning" you'll find an amazing online reference, geared towards model ship builders, with more detail than you can shake a stick at) The book is filled with such omissions. I'm pretty familiar with nautical terminology, but I'd worry for someone who got this book as their only reference.
Overall, I enjoyed the book; I received it as a gift and am happy with it. The numerous contemporary illustrations and photos of actual items are a joy, and the book did contain facts that I had not previously been aware of. However, as a reference book, it is somewhat lacking.
Good starting point July 17, 2004
3 out of 6 found this review helpful
Very helpful in filling in background to the Aubrey/Maturin series only too brief (only 80 pages). This book is a good place to start acquiring info on the subject matter of the books, especially if you are a hopeless lubber like myself.
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