Ned Myers Or A Life Before The Mast

by James Fenimore Cooper

Ned Myers Or A Life Before The Mast is a novel written by James Fenimore Cooper. The book is a fictionalized account of the life of Ned Myers, a sailor who served in the United States Navy during the War of 1812. The story follows Myers from his childhood in New York City to his enlistment in the Navy at the age of 13. The narrative chronicles his experiences as a sailor, including his time aboard various ships and his involvement in several naval battles. Throughout the book, Cooper provides vivid descriptions of life at sea during the early 19th century, including the harsh living conditions, the dangers of naval warfare, and the unique camaraderie that develops among sailors. The book also explores themes of loyalty, duty, and patriotism, as Myers grapples with his commitment to his country and his desire for personal freedom.Ned Myers Or A Life Before The Mast is considered a classic of American literature and a seminal work in the genre of sea fiction. The book is notable for its realistic portrayal of life at sea and its exploration of the human experience in extreme conditions. It is a must-read for anyone interested in naval history, adventure stories, or the works of James Fenimore Cooper.I walked over the ground where the explosion took place. It was a dreadful sight; the dead being so mutilated that it was scarcely possible to tell their colour. I saw gun-barrels bent nearly double. I think we saw Sir Roger Sheafe, the British General, galloping across the field, by himself, a few minutes before the explosion. At all events, we saw a mounted officer, and fired at him. He galloped up to the government-house, dismounted, went in, remained a short time, and then galloped out of town.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

Genres: Biography, American

194 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1843

About the author

James Fenimore Cooper was a popular and prolific American writer. He is best known for his historical novel The Last of the Mohicans, one of the Leatherstocking Tales stories, and he also wrote political fiction, maritime fiction, travelogues, and essays on the American politics of the time. His daughter Susan Fenimore Cooper was also a writer.

Series:
* The Leatherstocking Tales
* The Littlepage Manuscripts
* Afloat and Ashore
* Homeward Bound

Reviews

[Chip · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very interesting read! It reminded me quite a bit of Richard Henry Dana's Two Years Before the Mast, but where Dana was a rich kid taking time off from Harvard to go slumming with sailors, Myers was the real thing, who ran away from his foster parents to join a ship, was taken prisoner during the war of 1812, etc.

Myers and Cooper had served together on the Sterling when Myers was a cabin boy of thirteen, and then crossed paths again nearly 40 years later. The book is an "as told to" autobiography, written by Cooper in Myers' voice in the first person. For some reason, I had gotten the impression that Cooper had taken some liberties with the story, but now I believe that impression was wrong.

I read this as a download from Project Gutenberg. It was particularly gratifying to be able to flip back and forth from the ebook to Wikipedia or Google to look up further details on some of the ships Myers sailed, captains he served, ports he visited, and battles he fought. I was already familiar with a lot of "age of sail" jargon from books like Dana, Moby Dick, and Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series, but a few of the terms left me - and Google! - scratching our heads.

I see that Cooper also wrote some other non-fiction books and biographies about the U.S. Navy. While Ned Myers might not be everyone's cup of tea, I'd say it's definitely worth reading if you're interested in sea stories or biographies from that period or the history of America and the American Navy in the first half of the 19th century.

[Miles Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard to describe. Its a novelized autobiography focusing on a sailor in the United States Navy in the Early Republic. The ending is fantastic, but much of the narrative is wordy and halting.