The Great Mutiny
by James Dugan
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Description
THE time is 1797. The armies of the French Revolution have swept over Europe, leaving Britain's eight million people to stand alone against populations totaling more than fifty million. On the Continent an enormous invasion force is massing; while in England the country is nearly bankrupt and popular discontent is so widespread that the monarchy itself is in danger and the possibility of a British Republic looms. At the height of the crisis, the British fleet mutinies in protest against show more poor pay, impossible living conditions, short and inedible rations, brutality and impressment, leaving England completely vulnerable to her enemies. Over 50,000 men serving in 113 ships refuse orders, expel their officers and set up ship democracy in the longest and largest naval insurrection in history. Their revolt becomes both a symptom and a cause of the internal dissension that wracks their country and in THE GREAT MUTINY, provides the focus for a panoramic view of Georgian England. Here are the ... show lessTags
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Member Reviews
1593 The Great Mutiny, by James Dugan (read 28 Oct 1980) (Book of the Year) This is a really great and memorable book. It tells completely and in chronological order the story of the mutiny in the British Navy in 1797. It is an almost unbelievable story, although the conditions existing in that navy were appalling. It is clear that freedom as we know it and as I believe it existed in the U.S. since the adoption of the Bill of Rights did not exist in Britain, but came by fits and starts. Not that I pretend the Bill of Rights had much to do with military and naval discipline in the U.S.--but this book covers a lot more ;than the mutiny. My only objection is that the book is so short on footnotes one wonders if the author may not have just show more made a lot up--else the research necessary seems like the job of a lifetime. The first part of the mutiny--at Portsmouth and Spithead--was met with surprising docility. But when it was settled the Nore mutiny began--the instigators of it were more demanding--and the opposition adamant. Really a great and interesting book--well worth the 35 cents I paid for it. A great new title in my reading on naval history. show less
An excellent look at one of the few successful military mutinies in recorded history.
The british navy mutiny of 1797
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Author Information
9+ Works 526 Members
Common Knowledge
- People/Characters
- William Bligh; Alexander Hood, Lord Bridport; Charles Buckner; John Colpoys; Adam Duncan; Charles James Fox (show all 19); Alan Gardner; George III, King of the United Kingdom; Lazare Hoch; Richard Howe; John Jervis, Earl of St Vincent; Valentine Joyce; Charles Elphinstone, Lord Keith; James Robert Mosse; Evan Nepean; Richard Parker (Leader of Nore Mutiny); William Pitt the Younger; George John Spencer, Lord Spencer; Wolfe Tone
- Important places
- Spithead, England, UK; Nore, England, UK; Yarmouth, England, UK; Sheerness, Kent, England, UK
- Important events
- Spithead Mutiny (1797); Nore Mutiny; Battle of Camperdown (1797-10-11); Age of Sail
- Related movies
- Mutiny on the Bounty (1935 | IMDb); Mutiny on the Bounty (1962 | IMDb)
- Dedication
- For Professor Emeritus William Louser Werner, The Pennsylvania State University
- First words
- In 1789, the birth cry of our age was sounded, "Aux armes!"
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, History, General Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 359.00942 — Society, government, & culture Public administration & military science Naval forces and warfare Biography; History By Place Europe England & Wales
- LCC
- DA87.7 .D8 — History of Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania Great Britain History of Great Britain England History
Statistics
- Members
- 93
- Popularity
- 345,377
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.80)
- Languages
- Chinese, English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 4
- ASINs
- 7
