Kipling And The Sea

Product Description

Kipling may be best known as a commentator on the British Empire, but he was also a vivid observer & chronicler of the sea & of ships & all who sailed in them. For him the sea was the glue which bound the British Empire together. To reach distant lands, you needed to sail. Kipling wrote copiously about his own voyages to India, across the Pacific & Atlantic, down to South Africa & Australia & about the voyages of others. Sailors were particular heroes of his, as adventurers who braved every kind of element & danger in order to reach distant lands. In writing about them, he was enthralled by the romance of the sea, touching on everything from pirates to technical changes in ships. His output reflected his deep historical understanding, so he could write equally about three sailors reminiscing about their shipwreck with St Paul off Malta in 66ad & a ship on fire in the Indian Ocean. He was also a great advocate of the navy. He wrote about its exploits, customs, history & contemporary role in a variety of different forms. At all stages of his life Kipling peppered his many letters with observations about the sea, encompassing his own voyages & his other nautical interests. Edited & with a commentary by Kipling expert & author of the much praised Kipling Abroad, Kipling & the Sea illuminates a side of Kipling`s work that has for too long languished in the shadows.