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Feeding Nelson's Navy:The True Story of Food at Sea in the Georgian Era
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Author: Janet MacDonald
The prevailing image of food at sea in the age of sail features
rotting meat and weevily biscuits, but this highly original book
proves beyond doubt that this was never the norm. Building on much
recent research Janet Macdonald shows how the sailor's official diet
was better than he was likely to enjoy ashore, and of ample calorific
value for his highly active shipboard life. When trouble flared and
food was a major grievance in the great mutinies of 1797 the usual
reason was the abuse of the system.
This system was an amazing achievement. At the height of the
Napoleonic Wars the Royal Navy's administrators fed a fleet of more
than 100,000 men, in ships that often spent months on end at sea.
Despite the difficulty of preserving food before the advent of
refrigeration and meat-canning, the British fleet had largely
eradicated scurvy and other dietary disorders by 1800. This was the
responsibility of the Victualling Board, a much-maligned but generally
efficient bureaucracy that organized the preparing and packing of
meat, the brewing of beer, the baking of ship's biscuit, and all the
logistics of the Navy and on an industrial scale unparalleled
elsewhere.
Once aboard ship food and drink was subject to stringent controls to
ensure fairness, and this book takes a fresh look at the tarnished
reputations of Purser and Cook, before turning to the ways both
officers and men were able to supplement their official rations,
including the keeping of livestock on board. A chapter compares
provisions in the other major navies of the time, and the book
concludes with recipes for some of the exotic sounding dishes, like
lobscouse, prepared by naval cooks.
While Feeding Nelson's Navy contains much of value to the historian,
it is written with a popular touch that will enthrall anyone with an
interest in life at sea in the age of sail.
Format: Hardbound
Pages: 232
Length: 6.0625w x 9.125h
ISBN-13: 9781861762337
ISBN: 186176233X
Catalog ID: 142787A
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Price: $39.95
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Availability: Usually Ships Within 24 hours |
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