Available January 2025
EER
ISBN 9781915115546 Hardback £49.50 Order
280 x 216 mm. 302pp.
Illustrations - 96 colour and 23 black & white
Sailing For The Empire: Slavery, Piracy and Trade
The Life of Admiral Sir John Corbett in Letters and Paintings.
David Peretz
Edward Everett Root Publishers Co. Ltd.
About this book
This is the first major account of an important part of the life of the naval officer who rose to be the eminent Admiral Sir John Corbett, KCB, (1822-1893) and became Commander-in-Chief in the East Indies and at the Nore. He played significant roles in the expansion and management of the British Empire, and his adventures including in the Opium War are visually captured by the full-colour and black and white illustrations, many from his own skilled paintings.
The work draws on public documents, family papers, contemporary photographs, and the archive of Sir John’s paintings which feature the many places where he served all over the globe.
Corbett’s informative detailed letters in particular provide an important insight into life in the Victorian navy in many parts of the world, and how senior officers recorded and communicated their experiences.
The work starts with his years as a midshipman in the Mediterranean, a year of action against the slave trade including an act of heroism in which he was badly wounded, a visit to India and his first command in the Caribbean ending with a shipwreck in 1855. It continues with the commissioning of his new command, the paddle steamer HMS Inflexible, in 1856 and his epic voyage towing a gunboat to Hong Kong in record time. The Shropshire-born officer served in China, India, the Mediterranean, North America, Syria, and on the East African coast. His descendant, David Peretz, provides Corbett’s vivid detailed account of his time in China, including his involvement in the May/June 1857 actions there.
About the author
The author David Peretz, CB worked for HM Treasury and retired as Under Secretary for International Finance and G7 Financial Sherpa in 1998. After 1998 he worked as a consultant to the World Bank and IMF and other international organizations. From 2016 to 2019 he served as chair of Bermuda’s independent Fiscal Responsibility Panel. His mother, April, and stepmother, Margaret (his mother’s cousin), were both John Corbett’s grand-daughters.
Reviews
"This strikingly handsome book reminds us that the men who led the Victorian Navy saw the world in the round, capturing new locations in words and pictures, using their artistic training to generate understanding and insight. John Corbett's letters and pictures capture a naval service in transition from sail to steam, with a wide range of challenges, from chasing slavers and pirates to settling trade disputes and waging war. A delightful introduction to the reality of naval service in the age of Empire."
- Andrew Lambert FKC Laughton Professor of Naval History. Kings College, London