Broadside and Boarding: Small scale action in the Age of Fighting Sail 1740 - 1815

I have been a fan of Antoine Vanner's writings since his first book about the fictional British naval officer Nicholas Dawlish was published. Recently he has published his first non-fiction book entitled BROADSIDE AND BOARDING: SMALL SCALE ACTION IN THE AGE OF FIGHTING SALE 1740-1815, and I reaad it whilst I was on our recent cruise.

The book is a collection of short articles that take five to fifteen minutes to read, some of which originally appeared on Antoine's blog. Most of the actions feature frigates and small vessels acting alone or in the company of other small ships. A number of cutting out operations are included as are a few attacks on coastal fortifications.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in naval warfare during the latter part of the eighteenth and the early years of the nineteenth centuries. It describes the different tactics used by the participants and also covers the sort of technical details that will appeal to those who want to understand how small warships fought each other. For example, the French tended to fire at masts and sails to reduce their opponent's ability to manoeuver whilst the British tended to fire at the hull to punch holes in the side of their opponent's ship and disable their armament. For the naval wargamer, this book contains a wealth of potential scenarios that they could easily reproduce on a tabletop.

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BROADSIDE AND BOARDING: SMALL SCALE ACTION IN THE AGE OF FIGHTING SALE 1740-1815 was written by Antoine Vanner and published in Kindle and paperback formats in 2024 by Old Salt Press (ASIN B0DNBDFZDR/ISBN 978 1 9434 0455 1)