The Trafalgar Chronicle, the yearbook of The 1805 Club, has established itself as a prime source of information and the publication of choice for new research about the Georgian navy, sometimes also loosely called Nelson's navy. Successive editors have widened the scope to include all sailing navies of the period, while a recurring theme is the Trafalgar campaign and the epic battle of 21 October 1805. Contributors to The Trafalgar Chronicle have included leading experts in their field, whether they are Professor John Hattendorf from the US Naval War College in Newport, RI, Professor Andrew Lambert from Kings College, London, or antiquarians and enthusiasts. Each volume is themed and this new edition looks in detail at the Royal Marines and the United States Marine Corps. The RM were founded in 1664, but their ‘royal’ title was only granted to them on 29 April 1802. The USMC traces its roots to the Continental Marines of the American Revolutionary War (or American War of Independence), when two battalions were formed by Captain Samuel Nicholas after a resolution of the Second Continental Congress on 10 November 1775. Both corps have similar duties, then and now, and in this volume there are newly researched articles about their common roles in the age of sail. The main piece has been written by Major General Julian Thompson, and there are leading articles by American and British scholars including Dr Charles P Neimeyer, the Director and Chief of Marine Corps History at Marine Corps University, Quantico, Virginia. There is also a unique autobiography by a marine who took part in the battle of Trafalgar, the War of 1812, the bombardment of Algiers and the First Ashanti War. Other issues are investigated, including Victory’s true colours in which Andrew Baines, Head of Historic Ships at the National Museum of the Royal Navy, describes the research which went into revealing how Nelson’s flagship looked in 1805. Scholars and students, experts and enthusiasts fascinated by the era of the sailing navy will be absorbed by this handsomely illustrated journal.
