Brian Vale – författare

In 1818, the revolutionary government of Chile was poised to attack Peru, the last bastion of Spanish power on the continent. The new ruler, the half-Irish Bernardo O'Higgins, threw his energies into creating a navy. Short of local naval manpower, the Chileans looked to Britain and the United States for the sailors needed to man and command their squadrons, many of them unemployed veterans of the Royal Navy. And, to be the new navy's commander-in-chief, they recruited one of the most fearless and controversial officers of the age: Thomas, Lord Cochrane. The story of the naval war in the Pacific is an exciting one. Under Cochrane's audacious leadership, coasts were blockaded, fortresses stormed and ships seized in bloody hand-to-hand fighting. The result was that Chile and Peru gained their freedom from Spain, while Cochrane enhanced his reputation and made a fortune in pay and prize money. For one hundred and fifty years, the accepted story of the war has been based on Cochrane's own version of events. But how accurate is Cochrane's account? To find out, Brian Vale goes back to the original documents, despatches, diaries and newspapers.The result is a new and vivid account of the war in the Pacific and a reassessment of one of Britain's legendary naval heroes seen at the peak of his career.

In 1825 the Empire of Brazil went to war with the Republic of Argentina; the pretext was control of the north bank of the Plate, and consequently of the river itself. The conflict lasted for three years, the Argentinians dominating on land, the Brazilians at sea. As a compromise, the state of Uruguay was created as a buffer between the two.Providing a study of the naval war and its international repercussions, this book describes the struggle between Brazil, a maritime power with a huge navy and an extensive sea-borne commerce, and Argentina, which had tiny naval forces but a huge international trade carried mostly in British and American ships. It is the story of cat and mouse amid the shallows and fogs of the River Plate, as the Brazilian navy slowly strangled Argentinian trade in the face of audacious attacks by a small squadron led by the legendary William Brown; and of daring single-ship actions in the blue rollers of the Atlantic as swarms of Argentinian privateers took on both neutral vessels and Brazilian men-of-war.British and American trade were the major casualties of these tactics, and the book provides an account of the international diplomatic and naval actions which followed.

On 7th September 1822, Dom Pedro, Prince Regent of Brazil, declared his country independent and began the war of liberation against Portugal. Based on research from original documents and journals, the book details how independence was secured against all odds by seizing command of the sea, under the leadership of Lord Cochrane, to ensure the integrity of the new Brazilian empire. Set against the background of Brazilian politics and British foreign policy interests, this is a detailed account of the operations of the Brazilian navy during the transition to independence.

Details Thomas Trotter's important contributions, as a naval surgeon and after, to the eradication of scurvy and typhus, to the study of addiction, and to improved health and safety in mines.Thomas Trotter, after studying medicine at Edinburgh, began his naval career as a surgeon's mate in 1779 and saw continuous service up to the peace of 1802, rising as a result of great abilities and the right patronage to become Physician to the Channel Fleet, and being present at the great battles of Dogger Bank in 1781 and the Glorious First of June in 1794. As Physician to the Channel Fleet, he was a major player in the conquest of scurvy and the control of typhus and smallpox in the navy. After the peace he settled in Newcastle where he produced pioneering work on alcoholism and neurosis, as a result of which he is regarded as one of the founders of the field of addiction studies. This book provides an intimate account of naval life in the great age of sail from the perspective of a surgeon, describing the impact of Enlightenment ideas and new medical techniques, and showing how improved health was a crucial factor in making possible the British fleet's great victories in this period. BRIAN VALE is a maritime historian, whose books include Independence or Death: British sailors and Brazilian Independence (Tauris 1996), A Frigate of King George, Life and Duty on a British Man-of-War (Tauris 2001) and The Audacious Admiral Cochrane (Conway 2004). GRIFFITH EDWARDS, Emeritus Professor at King's College, London, is one of the country's leading experts on addiction. His publications include Alchohol: the Ambiguous Molecule (Penguin 2000) and Matters of Substance (Penguin 2005).

In 1818, the revolutionary government of Chile was poised to attack Peru, the last bastion of Spanish power on the continent. The new ruler, the half-Irish Bernardo O'Higgins, threw his energies into creating a navy. Short of local naval manpower, the Chileans looked to Britain and the United States for the sailors needed to man and command their squadrons, many of them unemployed veterans of the Royal Navy. And, to be the new navy's commander-in-chief, they recruited one of the most fearless and controversial officers of the age: Thomas, Lord Cochrane. The story of the naval war in the Pacific is an exciting one. Under Cochrane's audacious leadership, coasts were blockaded, fortresses stormed and ships seized in bloody hand-to-hand fighting. The result was that Chile and Peru gained their freedom from Spain, while Cochrane enhanced his reputation and made a fortune in pay and prize money. For one hundred and fifty years, the accepted story of the war has been based on Cochrane's own version of events. But how accurate is Cochrane's account? To find out, Brian Vale goes back to the original documents, despatches, diaries and newspapers.The result is a new and vivid account of the war in the Pacific and a reassessment of one of Britain's legendary naval heroes seen at the peak of his career.

In 1825 the Empire of Brazil went to war with the Republic of Argentina; the pretext was control of the north bank of the Plate, and consequently of the river itself. The conflict lasted for three years, the Argentinians dominating on land, the Brazilians at sea. As a compromise, the state of Uruguay was created as a buffer between the two. Providing a study of the naval war and its international repercussions, this book describes the struggle between Brazil, a maritime power with a huge navy and an extensive sea-borne commerce, and Argentina, which had tiny naval forces but a huge international trade carried mostly in British and American ships. It is the story of cat and mouse amid the shallows and fogs of the River Plate, as the Brazilian navy slowly strangled Argentinian trade in the face of audacious attacks by a small squadron led by the legendary William Brown; and of daring single-ship actions in the blue rollers of the Atlantic as swarms of Argentinian privateers took on both neutral vessels and Brazilian men-of-war.British and American trade were the major casualties of these tactics, and the book provides an account of the international diplomatic and naval actions which followed.