Alan Forrest on an account exploring the military, social and political state of Britain as it battled Napoleon's forces
Sam Willis is enthralled by a biography of Edward Pellew, a naval officer who provided the template for a fictional hero
GH Bennett follows the stories of lower deck seamen in a time of transformation for the Royal Navy
John MacKenzie is not convinced by a survey of the British empire’s crimes
Andrew Lambert applauds a new account of a pivotal naval battle by an author with salt water in his veins
Madge Dresser applauds an insightful study of a slave ship atrocity and its aftermath
Jonathan Lamb feels that a new biography of the Bounty captain William Bligh is excessively kind to its subject