Dean King's Harbors and High Seas serves as a companion to Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series or, more accurately, as a companion to King's other companion work, A Sea of Words. King begins this book by discussing the work involved in creating these maps and in locating the precise geographic locations mentioned in O'Brian's books. From there, John B. Hattendorf writes in the introduction about the difficulties inherent in nineteenth century nautical navigation. King writes the final introductory section, in which he examines maps of England, Ireland, and Europe during the time period in which O'Brian set the Aubrey-Maturin series, creating a "home base" of sorts from which to work. The majority of Harbors and High Seas focuses on the twenty completed novels of the Aubrey-Maturin series, with a chapter devoted to each. In these chapters, King summarizes the major action of the specific novel before discussing geographic locations of importance in the books and their real-world significance. The summaries necessarily contain spoilers for the novels, so those seeking to avail themselves of this companion piece are encouraged not to read the chapters detailing books they have not yet read. ( )

As a guide to the Patrick O'Brian books it does a great job of giving historical background, including contemporary illustrations, maps of the various journeys Jack & Stephen made, and even helping the reader remember key events in the various novels. My one big complaint is I wish there had been more about the ships - a nice illustration of a ship with some of the more common terms from the novels labeled - that would have been very handy. I still found myself guessing/skipping over the more technical descriptions in the novels. ( )

This is a great companion for readers of the Aubrey/Maturin series. Well worth it. ( )

Aubrey details, ( )

Gift from Andi Cass 12-25-2016