Edward Codrington (1770–1851) joined the navy at the age of thirteen. Having narrowly avoided freezing to death in Nova Scotia three years later, he went on to serve during some of the most important naval conflicts of his time. This two-volume biography was first published in 1873, and combines his own accounts with the research of his daughter Lady Bourchier. Volume 1 introduces Codrington's friend Bowen, the shy and awkward commander of the fleet, Lord Howe, and the the sheer terror of the 1793 third battle of Ushant, the British fleet's first major encounter with that of the new French Republic. Volume 2 opens in 1827 as the English fleet, now under Codrington's own command, faces the Turks at the Battle of Navarino, now seen as a decisive moment in the struggle for Greek independence. The work is both an interesting read and a useful resource for naval history.