Editorial Review
From the moment that Master and Commander, the first of Patrick O'Brian's sequence of 20 novels about the 19th century British Royal Navy officer Jack Aubrey and his surgeon colleague Stephen Maturin, was published in 1970, critics hailed his work as a masterpiece of historical recreation. Called "the best historical novels ever written" by the New York Times, the books have sold millions of copies. This first full-color illustrated companion to the Aubrey-Maturin series, timed to coincide with the release of the blockbuster Twentieth-Century Fox film adaptation starring Russell Crowe, explains the fascinating physical details of Jack Aubrey's fictional world. An in-depth historical reference, it brings to life the political, cultural, and physical setting of O'Brian's novels. Annotated drawings, paintings, and diagrams reveal the complex parts of a ship and its rigging, weaponry, crew quarters and duties, below-deck conditions, and fighting tactics, while maps illustrate the location featured in each novel.
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Customer Reviews
GET YOUR SEA LEGS 
2008-04-27
This book is not just for landlubbers. This old sea dog acquired a lot of new information about the history of sail from this book. I keep it handy when reading the Alan Lewrie Series and the Patrick O'Brien books.
It expands the O'Brian reading experience 2007-09-25
I feel that it is a must have companion to:
A Sea of Words, Third Edition: A Lexicon and Companion to the Complete Seafaring Tales of Patrick O'Brian.
The books complement each other and in particular to the wonderful illustrations in this book helps to clarify and in places, expand the information that one finds in A Sea of Words.
Perfect company for the 'Sea of Words' 2007-09-25
This informative, wonderfully-organized book is presently one of two on my coffee table and is picked up by just about all who visit.
Yes, I have all twenty (twenty-one) of O'Brian's works on Jack Aubrey's travels and travails and this text sets the whole collection off nicely.
Sweet.
tg 
2007-09-14
This is a fine complement to the Aubrey-Maturin series as it brings to life the action, locations, politics, etc about the period when the action took place by artwork, maps, tools, ship information and many other things that you read about but if you have this book when you are reading then it really brings everything to life. Highly recommended. Also recommend the Sea of Words and Harbours and High Seas: 3rd Edition, both by Dean King. The first explains the terms you wonder about when reading the series, and the second includes synopses and tracing of each voyage on maps. These are great.
Beautiful pictures 2007-08-22
This is a good overall book for visual explanation for the O'Brian series of books. I enjoyed this book, but must admit that I was looking for something more in depth. I haven't seen anything better yet, but will keep hoping that someone will write something even better. There is a lot of ground to cover and although this is a good book, and I would happily purchase it again, I am still looking for more visual information that just doesn't seem to be out there.
A short overview of the sailing Royal Navy 2007-01-24
From the moment that Master and Commander, the first of Patrick O'Brian's sequence of 20 novels about the 19th century British Royal Navy officer Jack Aubrey and his surgeon colleague Stephen Maturin, was published in 1970, critics hailed his work as a masterpiece of historical recreation. Called "the best historical novels ever written" by the New York Times, the books have sold millions of copies. This first full-color illustrated companion to the Aubrey-Maturin series, timed to coincide with the release of the blockbuster Twentieth-Century Fox film adaptation starring Russell Crowe, explains the fascinating physical details of Jack Aubrey's fictional world. An in-depth historical reference, it brings to life the political, cultural, and physical setting of O'Brian's novels. Annotated drawings, paintings, and diagrams reveal the complex parts of a ship and its rigging, weaponry, crew quarters and duties, below-deck conditions, and fighting tactics, while maps illustrate the location featured in each novel.
Ever wondered what a scuttlebutt really is? 2007-01-20
Having read the "Master and Commander" series, this was an ideal book for explaining the history and technology in that time period.
Excellent illustrations and diagrams accompany the narrative. Not wordy, just enough to keep the information from being dry and dusty.
A Must Companion to O'Brian 2006-10-20
Currently deployed to Iraq....Having read three of his books without this companion, I can tell you that I was missing out on a great deal of the language and the history. Buy this with the Lexicon and O'Brian's series are impossible to put down!!
Great Reference 2006-08-28
I bought a second one of these for my son, who recently started reading Patrick O'Brian's series. This is an excellent reference for anyone who wants to learn about the Royal Navy of the late 18 / early 19th century. Highly recommend.
good, but lacking in depth 2006-03-24
I suppose I may have expected too much. I was a little disapointed in the lack of depth and detail. The various graphics, pictures, etc are great. An interesting coffee table book for O'Brian mavens and a good place to start in looking for more about the Napoleanic era of the Royal Navy.
