Pen and Sword Books: Seafarers' Voices 5: Life of a Sailor by Vincent McInerney, Frederick Chamier

Seafarers' Voices 5: Life of a Sailor (5 reviews)
by Frederick Chamier
Edited by Vincent McInerney

Found in: Maritime History Books
All Seaforth Books,
Seafarers' Voices
Series: Seafarers' Voices
Hardback
224 pages
ISBN: 9781848320970
Published: 23 May 2011

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Chamier was a Royal Navy officer, who like his exact contemporary Captain Marryat is best remembered for a series of naval novels. The Life of a Sailor was his first publication and is usually catalogued as fiction, which may be a tribute to Chamier’s story-telling skills but it is wrong – the book is an exact account of his naval career, with every personality, ship and event he describes corroborated by his service records. By the time he went to sea in 1809, the heroic age of Nelson was over, but the war was far from won, and he was to see a lot of action, from anti-slavery patrols off Africa to punitive raids on the American coast during the War of 1812.
His descriptions of the latter were to prove highly controversial. Like many liberal officers, he deplored the strategy of bringing the war to the civilian population, and the book was much criticised by more senior naval officers for saying so. Chamier represents a new generation of post-Nelsonic naval officer, more gentlemanly, better educated and perhaps more open-minded – he certainly got on well with Lord Byron, whom he met in Constantinople – and his sympathies generally look forward to the Victorian age. He was too young to rise to high rank, and after the Napoleonic War, like many others, he was condemned to a life on half-pay and perhaps forced into a literary career, but out of it came one of the era’s most authentic accounts of a junior officer’s naval service.

The articulate Chamier vividly describes life on ship and in port, and Mark Twain could have written parts of this wry and entertaining tale. Life of a Sailor is a valuable resource for anyone writing... [read full review]

Historical Novel Society

Another excellent little book in the series 'Seafarers' Voices' published by Seaforth. Once regarded as fiction this book is now accepted as a memoir. He vividly describes the War of 1812 and controversially criticised the... [read full review]

Ausmarine

Chamier was a well educated gentleman, well connected and at ease financially, and took it upon himself to write of his experiences without deference to popular opinion or, more importantly, to the sensitivities of serving... [read full review]

The Northern Mariner

Those with an interest in the early nineteenth century European and American conflicts will find it an excellent addition to their library.

Nautical Research Journal

A gripping page-turner that holds the reader as would a well-written novel, and it opens a new view to a neglected period of history...an excellent book

Fire Trench

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