This is one of the best books I've ever read. It is historical fiction based on the British Navy in the 1800's, during the Napoleonic wars. Of course, I love every book about the Age of Sail that I can get my hands on. But this book was different. I was enthralled like never before. The writing style was different from what I'm used to, but I became accustomed to it quickly and was drawn into this book so far that I no longer noticed.

This book, like no other, gave me a sense of what it would be like to live aboard a man-of-war in the Age of Sail. O'Brian didn't romanticize it; he told it exactly how it was, and even though he shows that a sailor's life is tedious and difficult, he made me want to live that life more than ever!

This book is hard to put into words. All I can say is that it's great. If the Age of Sail interests you at all, you must read this book. Oh, and this is a series, by the way...there are twenty of these great books! I'm just now starting the 2nd book, it's gonna be a great trip.