Numerous
successful reprints of contemporary works on rigging and seamanship indicate
the breadth of interest in the lost art of handling square-rigged ships.
Modelmakers, marine painters and enthusiasts need to know not only how the
ships were rigged but how much sail was set in each condition of wind and
sea, how the various manoeuvres were carried out, and the intricacies of
operations like reefing sails or ‘catting’ an anchor. Contemporary treatises
such as Brady’s Kedge Anchor in the USA or Darcy Lever’s Sheet Anchor in
Britain tell only half the story, for they were training manuals intended to
be used at sea in conjunction with practical experiences and often only cover
officially-condoned practices. This book, on the other hand, is a modern,
objective appraisal of the evidence, concerned with the actualities as much
as the theory. The author’s facility in a remarkable range of languages has
allowed him to study virtually every manual published over a period of nearly
four centuries. This gives the book a completely international balance and
allows the author to describe for the first time the proper historical
development of seamanship among the major navies of the world.