No other period of history has spawned such a huge fictional oeuvre as the Nelsonic era - Marryat, Forester, Pope, Kent, O'Brian and Donachie are just some of the authors whose heroics are portrayed as sailors in the Royal Navy. Their exploits have fascinated readers in countries all around the world but for many of them the real world of Nelson's navy is a closed book. This book describes in detail every aspect of the navy of that period and seeks to relate it to the novels that are based on its operations and feats in battle. The workings of the admiralty, the design and building of the ships, life on board, food and drink, entertainment, discipline, medicine, fighting tactics, gunnery, seamanship and shiphandling, and merchant fleets and opposing navies are described and explained in succinct texts and illustrated with over 5000 commissioned sketches, maps and diagrams as well as four-colour artwork; throughout there are cross-references to the novels inspired by this great fighting force.