The period 1798 to 1815 - the Napoleonic Wars - has just about everything that you could wish for in a book on naval history. Brought vividly to life through the words and stories of the ordinary people caught up in the conflict, this is a sweeping history of the years of naval warfare that set the balance of power in Europe for the following century. Taking in gallant duels, bloody battles between huge fleets, amphibious assaults, daring coastal raids, and the subtleties of espionage and naval intelligence, this global conflict truly was 'The War For All The Oceans'.