Brian Vale

"Vale also explores the stories of the men who fought the war, notably James Norton, for Brazil, and William Brown, for Argentina - as Ambassador Robert Gordon complained in 1827, this was essentially 'a war betwixt Englishmen'. In the Brazilian Navy, one third of the officers and men were Britons; on the Argentinian side, the proportion was greater and their numbers were augmented by republican North Americans. Vale charts their audacious deeds during the war and their careers in the political turmoil that followed."--BOOK JACKET.

Brazil Against Argentina on the River Plate

A War Betwixt Englishmen

"A 'blood and thunder' narrative of Lord Cochrane's career in Brazil and, more broadly, of the activities of British sailors in the Brazilian independence movement and in the postindependence consolidation of central control. Based on archives in Brazil and Great Britain. Generally, the employment of mercenaries in these conflicts served the Empire well"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 58.

British Sailors and Brazilian Independence, 1822-25

Independence Or Death

Christopher Lloyd

John Knox Laughton

Michael Duffy

N. A. M. Rodger

William Gordon Perrin

The Naval Miscellany

"What was life really like on a wooden warship? This book takes a look at life aboard the 42-gun frigate HMS "Doris" - launched from Bombay in 1807 and finally retired at Valparaiso in 1829. Vale concentrates on her service on the South American station under Sir Thomas Hardy as she protected British interests during the stormy years of South American Independence. The author covers in vivid detail the operations in Brazil, Chile and Peru, both from the political and military angle and from the perspective of the sailors, to give a fascinating account of the everyday concerns and routines of life on shipboard."--Bloomsbury Publishing.

Life and Duty on a British Man-of-war

A Frigate of King George

In 1818, the revolutionary government of Chile was poised to attack Peru, the last bastion of Spanish power on the continent. The new ruler, the half-Irish Bernardo O'Higgins, threw his energies into creating a navy. Short of local naval manpower, the Chileans looked to Britain and the United States for the sailors needed to man and command their squadrons, many of them unemployed veterans of the Royal Navy. And, to be the new navy's commander-in-chief, they recruited one of the most fearless and controversial officers of the age: Thomas, Lord Cochrane. The story of the naval war in the Pacific is an exciting one. Under Cochrane's audacious leadership, coasts were blockaded, fortresses stormed and ships seized in bloody hand-to-hand fighting. The result was that Chile and Peru gained their freedom from Spain, while Cochrane enhanced his reputation and made a fortune in pay and prize money. For one hundred and fifty years, the accepted story of the war has been based on Cochrane's own version of events. But how accurate is Cochrane's account? To find out, Brian Vale goes back to the original documents, despatches, diaries and newspapers. The result is a new and vivid account of the war in the Pacific and a reassessment of one of Britain's legendary naval heroes seen at the peak of his career.

Brian Vale

Books

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