Sea Road to Camperdown

by Showell Styles

Based on the life of Lord Duncan of Camperdown.

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1968

About the author

Aka Glyn Carr

Frank Showell Styles was a Welsh writer and mountaineer.

Showell Styles was born in Four Oaks, Birmingham and was educated at Bishop Vesey's Grammar School, Sutton Coldfield. Known to his friends as 'Pip', Showell Styles' childhood was spent in the hills of North Wales where he became an avid mountaineer and explorer. During the Second World War, Styles joined the Royal Navy and was posted in the Mediterranean, but even there he walked and climbed as much as he could.

An aspiring writer, Styles already had articles published in Punch, before setting out to make his living as an author. His first novel, Traitor’s Mountain, was a murder mystery set on and around Tryfan in Wales. He became a prolific writer with over 160 books published for children as well as adults. In addition to historic naval adventure fiction such as the Midshipman Quinn and Lieutenant Michael Fitton series set during the Napoleonic Wars, and non-fiction works on mountains and such as The Mountaineer’s Weekend Book, he wrote detective fiction under the pseudonym of Glyn Carr, and humorous pieces as C.L. Inker.

For walkers visiting Snowdonia for the first time, Styles' The Mountains of North Wales is monumentally inspirational, written by a sure hand and with a firm conviction and love of these mountains.

Reviews

[Thom Swennes · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 1797 England was facing a threat not unlike that of the Spanish Armada during the reign of Queen Bess. Napoleon Bonaparte held mainland Europe and was threatening invasion. The only thing protecting the island kingdom was the Channel and an antediluvian and antiquated fleet. Admiral Adam Duncan, at age sixty-four had long outlived his effectiveness (according to the William Pitt government) but they were equally unable to find an alternative. Not only the ships and the supreme commander were suspect, the recent mutiny at Spithead raised more questions as to the dependability of the common British sailor. With this hallmark event as a background, Showell Styles weaves a story of danger, trial and passion. As is often stated, when man is facing his greatest test, thoughts of his life flash through his mind and this is exactly what happened to Admiral Duncan in the early morning hours of the eleventh of October 1797 as he awaited the appearance of the Dutch fleet off the coast at Camperdown (Kamperduin) of the newly created Batavian Republic. The reader is treated to a life rich in tradition of a young midshipman and his long climb to flag rank. This is a very engrossing and informative book and if I were to voice a criticism, it would be on the pithiness and brevity of the book. The times, characters and events of this time would easily form the basis for an epic and a work of a mere 157 pages hardly scratches the surface.