
Man of War
Sir Richard Holmes
Richard Lawrence Ollard(Author)
Weidenfeld & Nicolson History (Publisher)
Published on 15. February 2001
Book
Paperback/Softback
240 pages
978-1-84212-236-5 (ISBN)
Description
Few biographies have caught more of the spirit and colour of the age of Charles II than this life of Sir Robert Holmes. Adventurous, energetic, combative and unscrupulous, Robert Holmes first attracted the attention of Prince Rupert as a young cavalry officer in the Civil War. As a Royalist exile, he accompanied the Prince first into the French service and then, in one of the strangest and most romantic episodes in naval history, on a cruise that carried the Royalist colours - no longer flying in England - to Portugal, the Mediterranean, West Africa and the West Indies. After the Restoration, Holmes destroyed, in perhaps the most successful single feat of arms of the century, a great part of the Dutch merchant marine at the cost of barely a dozen casualties. For thirty years he intrigued, manoeuvred and quarrelled with Samuel Pepys over naval matters ending with a mutual respect for their combined contributions to English naval supremacy. Richard Ollard's distinguished account of Robert Holmes and his naval career exhibits the inexhaustible vitality and gusto of the Restoration period.
More details
Edition
New edition
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Orion Publishing Co
Edition type
New edition
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Illustrations
12 B/W Photo\Illu(s)
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
473 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-84212-236-5 (9781842122365)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Richard Ollard spent ten years teaching History and English at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, before becoming a publisher's director. His previous book, The Escape of Charles II, was widely acclaimed for its skill in combining historical discipline with a vivid recreation of period and the immediate moment.