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The East Indiaman
- Percival Merewether Series, Book 1
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 14 hrs and 30 mins
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The East Indiaman
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Summary
The Naval Service of the Honorable East India Company, popularly known as the Bombay Marine, operated in romantic areas in perilous times. From the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea, from Calcutta to Canton, the Company ships were famous for their speed and daring. The "Bombay Buccaneers" who sailed them were the stuff of legend.
For Percival Merewether, 1806 would be a year to remember. For in January of that year he was promoted from First Lieutenant to become the junior Captain in the Company's Service and given the command of his first ship - the Rapid.
Armed with 10 nine-pounders, the Rapid was a match for any pirate ship that crossed its bows, and in it Captain Merewether was to spend as action-packed and eventful a first year as any ambitious young seafarer could have wished.
Merewether had quick wits and daring to match his ambition. And with mutinies, diplomatic intrigues, and skirmishes with the French to occupy him, he soon found that he needed both qualities as never before.
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Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ian C Dando
- 13-11-18
A ripping good yarn!
Excellent narration, engaging writing - thoroughly enjoyable. Highly recommend., especially if you enjoy nautical adventures with intriguing characters.
1 person found this helpful
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- Sean
- 21-06-23
Very good
Nice balance of a story with bits of action which don't dominate the whole thing.The author is now definitely on my list.
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- David Barnes
- 21-03-23
Disappointed
The narrator sounds like he should be telling a children’s story, like Trumpton or ‘Ivor the Engine’! I gave up after 3 chapters.
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- Alan Odgers
- 17-01-22
Great story
Well told and interesting all the way through will try to find other books by this author
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Stephen Foulk
- 17-05-19
All around unobjectionable but nothing remarkable.
The story is a cut above some of the other authors of this genre (I find a lot of age of sail authors lack the proper knowledge without seeming to realise it - the author dodges this pitfall by avoiding going into too much technical detail).
The narrator is too vanilla for me... he certainly doesn’t spoil the story but neither does he add anything, I’d say competent but uninspired.
When looking at books in this genre it’s inevitable it would be compared to the masters and although it pales in comparison to the Patrick O’Brian masterpieces it still holds attention.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Jean
- 18-07-17
A Rousing Tale
This is a story about the British East India Company and its navy referred to as the Bombay Marine. Our protagonist is Percival Merewether, who just received his promotion to Captain and obtained his first command. His ship is the HEICS Rapid, an East India Warship, with ten, nine pounders. The ship had been a slaver prior to being acquired by the East India Company and was a fast ship. The year is 1806, the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815). The East India Company maintained its own army and navy to protect its company interest and trade routes.
I enjoy reading about sailing ships in the Napoleonic era. It is delightful to read about the East India Company for a change. It seems most stories are about the Royal British Navy. The book is well written and researched. The characters are interesting and the plot is straight forward. The story is full of action with lots of pirates and French warships. Looking forward to the next book in the series. Ellis K. Meacham (1913-1994) was an American attorney and judge, who wrote Napoleonic era nautical adventures.
The book is fourteen and a half hours long. Steven Crossley does a good job narrating the book. Crossley is an actor and award-winning audiobook narrator.
7 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- David
- 22-08-22
Very Well Done.
Very well done, and the genre every aspect of the telling is written and narrated so well. Highly recommended
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- escapewheel
- 20-09-21
Better than Hornblower.
Merriweather is far more interesting than Hornblower. likeable too. I very much enjoyed this journey.
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- Joe's review
- 26-08-21
Excellent 1st installment of trilogy
I'm an avid reader of historical fiction and nonfiction of the period and jenre, late 1700 thru mid 18th century Seafaring. This was my first, by author, definitely not my last.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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- OBX
- 13-07-21
Great 19th century age of sail series
This book takes place in my favorite time frame for historic fiction. Much in the vein of Alexander Kent Bolitho novels, it is set in the 19th century during the Napoleonic wars but not from a British navel prospective but from the British East India's private navy called the Bombay Marine. If you like the Hornblower, Bolitho and Aubrey novels and series this is a must listen. Additionally, this series has with more action than most of the aforementioned novels and has a faster pace. Sadly there are only three novels in this series but all three are over 14 hours each. This is a gem of a series don't pass it up.