Description: The first scholarly study of the Royal Navy during the reigns of Charles II and James II, this book assesses the traditional picture of the Restoration Navy in the light of recent scholarship, using the evidence not only of Samuel Pepys, the greatest diarist and naval administrator of the age, but also that of his contemporaries. Davies examines the reactions of naval personnel to the demands imposed by Pepys, and analyzes the structure of the service. He also explores the lives and attitudes of the men (the "tarpaulins") and their officers -- the quests for promotion, enrichment, and glory, their very different problems posed by peace and war, the nature of life at sea, and the role of the Navy in national life.
Review Quotes: "Davies's excellent study for the first time lays bar the real complexity of the situation....Davies is the first safe and knowledgeable guide to these sources we have had, and Gentlemen and Tarpaulins is a work of real scope and originality, illuminating naval, social and political history. It should be absorbed by anyone who takes an interest in seventeenth-century England."--Times Literary Supplement
"Provides a clear, convincing evaluation of the politics of naval factions such as might be provided by anthropology-influenced historians of patronage such as Linda Levy Peck....A helpful guide for naval specialists and for students interested in new, integrative approaches to the Restoration."--The Historian"No historian of the period should fail to read it."--American Historical Review"Skillful narrative of high politics, international relations, naval events, and officers' intrigues as played out between 1660 and 1688."--Albion