Meticulous reconstruction of the building of HMS _Thunderer_, one of the most successful types of warships of her time. Paints a vivid and often surprising picture of life and labour in the eighteenth century. Specially drawn, beautifully detailed line drawings.

"Royal Navy vessels in the eighteenth century were so expensive to construct that meticulous records were kept, from the purchasing of timbers to the last details of their furnishings and armament, including even the individual names of some of the shipwrights and craftsmen. Fromintensive study of these records the authors [examine], in extraordinary detail, the building of HMS Thunderer, a two-decked, 74-gun ship-of-the-line, which represented one of the most successful types of warship of the world's leading maritime power of the time. In words, and specially drawn illustrations, as well as contemporary prints and paintings, the authors illustrate every stage of building, from the purchase and cutting of timbers in the forests right through to the launching in 1760"--Publisher marketing.