The Nathaniel Drinkwater series, by Richard Woodman »
By Peter on Jun 28, 2009 in Excellent book, Historical Fiction, Richard Woodman, book review | 0 Comments
Richard Woodman is a wonderful writer – a craftsman with words. His series of nautical fiction books featuring Nathaniel Drinkwater is one of the very best series in this genre. It may not be quite up there with C. S. Forester’s series about Horatio Hornblower or Patrick O’Brian’s series about Jack Aubrey, but it is fairly close. It is, for sure, fairly close in terms of realism, entertainment and skillful descriptions of life in the Royal Navy, along with other series like Alexander Kent’s Bolitho series, Dudley Pope’s series about Lord Ramage, and Dewey Lambdin’s Alan Lewrie series. Richard Woodman, along with these writers, can create suspense and describe battle scenes incredibly well. He’s also very knowledgeable and writes in a realistic fashion.
More historical fiction book reviews!
Naval fiction:
Alan Lewrie series, by Dewey Lambdin
Richard Bolitho series, by Alexander Kent
Lord Ramage series, by Dudley Pope
Kydd series, by Julian Stockwin
Frederick Marryat
Charles Edgemont series, by Jay Worrall
Nathaniel Drinkwater series, by Richard Woodman
Richard Delancey series, by C. Northcote Parkinson
The Fury series, by G.S. Beard
Other historical fiction:
Genghis Khan, by Conn Iggulden
Emperor, by Conn Iggulden
Gladiators of Empire, by James Duffy
So far Richard Woodman has written 14 books about Nathaniel Drinkwater. In addition, he has written shorter series about James Dunbar and William Kite, some other nautical fiction books, and several factual (non-fiction) books about 18th century and WW2 history.
Nathaniel Drinkwater is a somewhat reluctant hero. He has the skills and the courage as well as the intelligence, but he lacks mentors to promote his career. In many ways he seem more human than some of the other heroes of nautical fiction novels – Drinkwater is a real man that makes mistakes, sometimes handles situations badly, has regrets as well as successes, is subject to temptations, suffering, worries, bullying, and much more. His vulnerability adds realism to Woodman’s books.
The series is also characterized by really outstanding descriptions of life in the ships – both below decks and on the quarterdeck, as well as a thorough understanding of the operation of naval ships and the navy. It is a wonderful series for friends of nautical fiction!
Praise for Richard Woodman:
There will not be a better novel of naval warfare until Richard Woodman’s next book appears.” –Times Literary Supplement
“There is no doubt that Nathaniel Drinkwater rates up there with the best of the nautical world.” –Midwest Book Review





















