The Greater the Honor Review

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(More customer reviews)White's fourth book is his best effort to date. The novel is a 'coming of age story' about a young sailor named Oliver Baldwin who signs on as a midshipman in the US Navy during the early 1800's. Historically accurate, the novel's main focus surrounds the Barbary Wars where the fledgling country, The United States of America, is defending its merchants from Mediterranean pirates.
Unique to this novel is the way that White introduces young Baldwin to the trials and tribulations of life as a sailor. The various parts and names of 18th century sailing ships can cause the novice to this period shy away from these types of stories. White does an excellent job teaching the reader as Baldwin learns and grows accustomed to life aboard a naval ship.
I frequently found myself fully engrossed in the story, looking over Baldwin's shoulder as he works aboard the ship, makes friends with his fellow shipmates, and fights the pirates of the Mediterranean. The novel is fast paced, and the descriptions are truly magnificent. From the sea spray in your face, to the boom of the guns, to the heat of the battle, White truly puts you in the front row seat for all the action.
When the story ended, I wondered what happened to Baldwin in the rest of his life. I think White sets himself up nicely for a sequel as Baldwin grows older and wiser in the ways of as sailor and an officer in the US Navy.

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Baldwin and his shipmates are in for a rollicking adventure. Under Decatur's careful eye, the young men in his command learn to hand, reef, steer and fight!

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A Press Of Canvas (War of 1812 Trilogy, Volume 1) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is volume one of a series, and perhaps should be read first to obtain the background for the other volumes. The author has trouble completing scenarios he creates. In some instances, the writing is clumsy. I have previously noted in reviews of books by other publishers that publishers should employ readers (people knowledgeable of the subject). This is another example of a book rushed into print without adequate proofing.
The book is three separate related novelettes. The first story features Isaac Biggs, captain of the foretop on the merchant bark Anne in 1810. It covers a time period of several days and deals with the problems and seamanship aboard the bark. There is a thieving third mate who intends to kill or injure Isaac. Having created this problem, the author extracts Isaac by having him pressed into service aboard an English frigate. No more is heard of the Anne or how the problems aboard were resolved. An additional chapter could have closed out this tale.
The second part of the book is a story about service aboard the British frigate Orpheus from 1810 to 1812. Isaac Biggs is a maintopman and plays a supporting role. The action skips forward rather quickly from 1810 to 1812 when the Orpheus leads a small squadron against a French convoy. Here the writing goes off track. The Orpheus is attacking a French brig, almost wrecking it completely with a couple of broadsides; then the brig is fighting like a frigate; then they board the brig; then they take off the captured officers who seem to be the complement from a frigate, etc. The author seems to lose track of where he is in the storyline, and seemed to forget that a brig was a lieutenant's command with perhaps 40 to 50 in the crew, no significant number of marines, and perhaps 12 four-pounder popguns for its armament (the light structure of a brig could not take the recoil of heavy guns). The story of the action against the French convoy is never completed, and the tale skips forward to a scene in a tavern in Nassau.
The third part of the book is about an American privateer commanded by Captain Smalley, formerly captain of the bark Anne. Isaac Biggs joins the tale at the midway point. Eventually Isaac is able to return to the United States. By placing three stories in the same book, the action becomes superficial at some points, jumping between points where action is very detailed. The repeated nautical commands for sail handling can get a bit tedious.

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When the Anne is stopped by a British Royal Navy frigate, Isaac and several shipmates are forcibly pressed into service on the Orpheus, which is actively engaged in England's long-running war with France. Written from the aspect of the fo'c'sle rather than an officer's view and through the eyes of an American, it provides new persepctives and an exciting story from an often neglected period in American history.

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