A Press Of Canvas (William H. White)

I love nautical fiction especially from the age of sail. I read all of it I can. All too often, there is a sameness to it. Britania ruled the waves so characters like Hornblower, Bolitho, Aubry, et al ruled the pages from their British quarterdecks. This time, though, we get a different point of view. The main protagonist of this new work is not a British officer. He is an American foremast hand, Isaac Biggs, a topman. He is on his way up and has the chance of some day becoming a ship's master in his own right. The Royal Navy, though, has other plans for him. In their continuing war against the French, they are always short of crew for their men of war. So it is that they resort to the policy of pressing seaman from foreign ships (including warship) they stop on the high seas. They are not too picky about choosing only Englishmen. That is how they come to snatch Isaac Biggs from his ship and he becomes an unwilling part of the Royal Navy. A PRESS OF CANVAS follows Isaac through his ... Read more

Generally, I am not an avid reader of historical fiction, but I read this book on a recommendation from a freind. I truly enjoyed White's work, so much so, that I found myself participating in the action, rather than reading it. I could feel the salt spray in my face and the boom of the cannon against my chest. Truly a wonderful read!

Part of my disappointment in this book stems from the fact that I am naval historical fiction nut and have been really looking forward to something other than a British hero. As an American, I've alway thought that the War of 1812 would provide the perfect fodder for an American Hornblower. Unfortunately, that is not what we get here. Clearly the author, Mr. White, knows his ships and his sailing. But that's like the special effects in a sci-fi movie, you have to care about the characters or else it's just a bunch of flashing lights. The author shows some potential as a writer, but it all reads a bit too amatureish -- like a first submission to a creative writing course. There are are way too many point of view shifts, so it can become difficult to remember who is who. Perhaps it was an intentional attempt at subtle parody, but I found it annoying to have very similar personality types in the role of junior officers on the the American Anne and the British Orpheus. And then, the story... Read more

This is volume one of a series, and perhaps should be read first to obtain the background for the other volumes. The author has trouble completing scenarios he creates. In some instances, the writing is clumsy. I have previously noted in reviews of books by other publishers that publishers should employ readers (people knowledgeable of the subject). This is another example of a book rushed into print without adequate proofing.The book is three separate related novelettes. The first story features Isaac Biggs, captain of the foretop on the merchant bark Anne in 1810. It covers a time period of several days and deals with the problems and seamanship aboard the bark. There is a thieving third mate who intends to kill or injure Isaac. Having created this problem, the author extracts Isaac by having him pressed into service aboard an English frigate. No more is heard of the Anne or how the problems aboard were resolved. An additional chapter could have closed out this tale.The second part ... Read more

First of all, I should say that I love this genre. Except for the occasional mystery or non-fiction history book, it is all I read. I was really looking forward to reading this book, because except for James L. Nelson (who's books I don't think very highly of) White is the only writer in this genre who writes from the American point of view. White does do one thing well: his descriptions of the workings of a sailing vessal during this period are wonderfully detailed (more than any other writer that I've read). There are a lot of problems with this book though. Most of the characters, including the main character, are not very well developed and are very one-dimensional. The plot is far too predictable. One of the best things about sea novels is that they are usually unpredictable; storms and enemy ships suddenly appear, a fire breaks out and quickly destroys the ship, etc. In this book, however, everything happens pretty much as you would expect it to. On top of that, there ar... Read more