Pen and Sword Books: Feeding Nelson's Navy by Janet Macdonald

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Feeding Nelson's Navy

Janet Macdonald
Found in: Naval Sail
All Chatham Books
Paperback 232 pages
ISBN: 9781861762887
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• The first modern study of the process of naval provisioning • Explodes many myths about shipboard food and drink • Written with the general reader in mind The prevailing image of food at sea in the age of sail features rotting meat and weevily biscuits, but this highly original book proves beyond doubt that this was never the norm. Building on much recent research Janet Macdonald shows how the sailor's official diet was better than he was likely to enjoy ashore, and of ample calorific value for his highly active shipboard life. When trouble flared - and food was a major grievance in the great mutinies of 1797 - the usual reason was the abuse of the system. This 'system' was an amazing achievement. At the height of the Napoleonic Wars the Royal Navy's administrators fed a fleet of more than 150,000 men, in ships that often spent months on end at sea. Despite the difficulty of preserving food before the advent of refrigeration and meat-canning, the British fleet had largely eradicated scurvy and other dietary disorders by 1800. A chapter compares provisions in the other major navies of the time, and the book concludes with recipes for some of the exotic sounding dishes, like lobscouse, prepared by naval cooks. While Feeding Nelson's Navy contains much of value to the historian, it is written with a popular touch that will enthral anyone with an interest in life at sea in the age of sail. Popular and succesful in hardback, this title is now issued in this paperback edition. JANET MACDONALD has written a number of books on cookery subjects, and this one is based on her current research into naval victualling for a higher degree at the Greenwich Maritime Institute. She was recently a featured historian on BBC Radio 4's Food At Sea programme.

by Dudley Pope

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