Daily Life in the Age of Sail

This is what I have written for the hardcover edition: This is my favorite of the Daily Life series. It describes the sailing life of old. It begins with an evocative image of what a harbor was like from the smelly disreputable districts filled with landsharks of various kinds to the mansions of the maritime aristocracy of merchants and captains, as well as the various inns, taverns, coffeehouses and other places of relaxation. The image of The Harbor-the place where the wild of the sea and the order of the city meet in sharp contrast has long been an archetype that haunted my mind and the authors' description captured it perfectly. This is my favorite part. However there is much more. Descriptions of various parts of the sailing way of life and of the people that lived it. It is written in a charming and easy-to-read manner and would be quite suitable for older children or for anyone without much time on their hands(which statement must not be taken to mean that I think it unsuitable for those who are not in that situation: I do not desire to encourage people to deprive themselves of an experience from misplaced intellectual snobbery). It is a book that can be useful as an education aid for it makes learning fun, as well as conveying information. As do the rest of the Daily Lifes. A teacher, private tutor, or home-schooling parent can find the Daily Life in the Age of Sail very useful. I already have the hardcover. But I would probably be willing to get the Kindle edition for around $20.00.

This is my favorite of the Daily Life series. It describes the sailing life of old. It begins with an evocative image of what a harbor was like from the smelly disreputable districts filled with landsharks of various kinds to the mansions of the maritime aristocracy of merchants and captains, as well as the various inns, taverns, coffeehouses and other places of relaxation. The image of The Harbor-the place where the wild of the sea and the order of the city meet in sharp contrast has long been an archetype that haunted my mind and the authors' description captured it perfectly. This is my favorite part. However there is much more. Descriptions of various parts of the sailing way of life and of the people that lived it. It is written in a charming and easy-to-read manner and would be quite suitable for older children or for anyone without much time on their hands(which statement must not be taken to mean that I think it unsuitable for those who are not in that situation: I do not desire to encourage people to deprive themselves of an experience from misplaced intellectual snobbery). It is a book that can be useful as an education aid for it makes learning fun, as well as conveying information. As do the rest of the Daily Lifes. A teacher, private tutor, or home-schooling parent can find the Daily Life in the Age of Sail very useful.

While trying to research life on the great sailing ships of the last few centuries, I ran across this book in the library. Upon examining it, I was pleased to find it an interesting and well-written read. It requires very little knowledge of sailing ships from the reader initially, but quickly educates him or her in the basics, including construction and layout of the hull, arrangement of the sails and rigging, and nautical terminology. I had been annoyed in other books to find specialized nautical terms such as "fore-and-aft rigged" and "raked" used freely and left undefined; "Daily Life in the Age of Sail" defines these terms and many others. Chapters also deal with the composition of the crew (another item often assumed by other books to be already known) on both civilian and naval vessels, the experiences of sailors' families aboard ship, passtimes while at sea (did you know that a person who does scrimshaw is called a "scrimshander"?), and the history of both military and commercial ships. There is also a chapter about pirates and privateers, with the greater emphasis placed upon the latter. On the whole, a very readable and informative introduction to many aspects of the history of the sailing ship.

I am doing research for a book on the influence of sailing on life today, and this book has been invaluable. It has much more detail and covers a broader range of subjects than any other book I've been able to find. Thank you to the authors for pulling together so much interesting research into one very readable volume! It would be very helpful to students or anyone interested in the real day-to-day details of life on the seas or the waterfront in the 19th century.