Detailed history of the men and battles of the British Navy around the turn of the 19th Century. I found the book too long, overly ambitious and filled with unnecessary accounts of minor individuals and details. True, Lord Nelson and Napoleon are featured, but so are a litany of minor figures from the times who you've probably never heard of before, and are unlikely to hear of again. If you're a true student of British Naval affairs, this is probably a good choice for you. If you're interested in a more adventurous read and an equal understanding of life at sea at the times, you can obtain that by reading some of Patrick O’Brien’s historical fiction on the same subject. ( )

What a great book! Feeling the need to add to my rather too small collection on Nelson I got this book as a present while visiting my son and started to (perhaps rudely?) browse through it as soon as I had unwrapped it. Voracious readers like you, and thankfully my son, will understand and forgive me for reading it more or less straight through over the next two days! I truly could not put it down.

This deeply researched but very readable history opens with an account of Sir Sydney Smith and recounts his adventures and almost personal battle with Napoleon and his services to the Royal Navy. Porter provides enough of these incredible brave events to prove Sir Sydney was arguably as great a naval hero as Nelson himself. The astonishing and unique defeat of the Emperor on LAND by this naval officer at Acre during Napoleon’s Egyptian Campaigns is astounding.

The accounts of Nelson’s battles are written in more human terms than technical and the irony that the fleet at Alexandria, when Nelson destroyed Napoleon’s fleet, included HMS Bellerophon – the “Billy Ruffian” as her seaman called her – being the chosen ship to transport the finally defeated Emperor to captivity many years later is described in sad detail. (See The Billy Ruffian: The Bellerophon and the Downfall of Napoleon by David Cordingly http://www.librarything.com/work/133989)

This work covers the war against Napoleon from 1798 to 1812, and includes some detail of the War of 1812 with America, but, as the authors had already published a thorough history of the Battle of Trafalgar and Nelson’s death, it is treated more lightly here. The authors seem to assume – probably correctly – that most of their readers are already somewhat familiar with the period, ship-board terms and history of the British Navy.

A book perhaps then for the well-read Naval buff, but also a great stand-alone account of this period of French Empire’s dramatic world war at sea.

A really great account of naval history in the early 19th century. I thought starting the book with the account of Sydney Smith'sescape from the Temple and the reference to Rousseau's Ode a la Fortune was brilliant and will hook any reader with an interest in naval history or the napoleonic era. The book has nice breadth and depth and reads very well. I particularly enjoyed Adkins' accounts of the Diamond Rock actions and the Walcheren Expedition. The book inspired me to read Cordingly's Cochrane, which I also highly recommend. ( )

The War for All the Oceans covers all major, and some less well known, naval actions from the latter part of the revolutionary war, to the end of the Napoleonic. As is always the case with the Adkins's work, it is meticulously researched, well presented and very hard to put down.

Although it is crammed full with information, and could certainly be used as one, I consider this more than just a reference book: the term conjurers up lists of details and dates that can make for dry, academic reading. The War for All the Oceans tells a story, and tells it well, with a blend of authoritative commentary and original reference material that almost involves the reader in the research. It is a style that the Adkins are masters of, and makes their work extremely readable.

Extensive maps, illustrations (many of which were new to me), a comprehensive index and bibliography, and a selected reading list finish off the package perfectly. Fascinating and compelling reading: highly recommended. ( )

A must for all fans of Patrick O'Brian. A very interesting, easy to read history of Britain's navel power in the 18th and 19th centuries. Provides a great overview of the times. ( )