'James Seay Dean is the noted authority on these voyages ? he provides a sympathetic treatment of life aboard ship in some of the most challenging circumstances these redoubtable sailors faced "beyond the line".' - Professor Barry Gough, maritime historian 'A fascinating and informative account of the development of Tudor and Stuart sailing ships. Its examination of their architecture, sailing, and tactics, especially as it is set within the international political context, makes a most interesting story.' - Bryan Barrett, Commander RN, ret. From jacktar to captain, what was life like aboard an Elizabethan ship? How did the men survive tropical heat, storms, bad water, rotten food, disease, poor navigation, shifting cargoes and enemy fire? Would a sailor return alive? Sea Dogs follows in the footsteps of the average sailor, drawing from the accounts of sixteenth-century and early seventeenth-century ocean voyages to convey the realities of everyday life aboard the galleons sailing between England and the West Indies and beyond. Celebrating the extraordinary drive and courage of those early sailors who left the familiarity of their English estuaries for the dangers of the Cabo Verde and the Caribbean, the Rivers Amazonas and Orinoco, and the Strait of Magellan, and their remarkable achievements, Sea Dogs is essential reading for anyone with an interest in English maritime heritage.

This is a seafarer's book that draws from the accounts of hundreds of sixteenth-century and early seventeenth-century ocean voyages to convey the realities of everyday life aboard the galleons sailing between England and the West Indies and beyond. From jacktar to captain, what was life like aboard an Elizabethan ship? How did the men survive tropical heat, storms, bad water, rotten food, disease, poor navigation, shifting cargoes and enemy fire? Would a sailor return to Devon alive? With a whiff of oakum, salt spray and gunpowder, and in the words of Hawkyns, Drake and Ralegh, Tropic Suns follows in the footsteps of the average sailor: first the state of his ship, his food and water, then the weather and climate, the tools and skills for getting from here to there and back again, the way the ship is run at sea, fights against a vastly more powerful enemy fleet's broadsides, tropical disease and at last, being paid once back in England. Celebrating the extraordinary drive and courage of those early sailors who left the familiarity of their English estuaries for the dangers of the Islas Cabo Verdes and the Caribbean, the Rivers Amazonas and Orinoco, and the Strait of Magellan, and their remarkable achievements, Tropic Suns is essential reading for anyone with an interest in our maritime heritage.