I'm the author of Gentleman Captain, the first in a new series of naval and historical fiction - 'The Journals of Matthew Quinton' - set in the seventeenth century. This is a little known but hugely important period in naval history: it saw some of the largest battles of the sailing age, the beginnings of a professional navy, the evolution of the 'line of battle' and a number of dramatic historical events, such as the Plague of 1665, the Great Fire of London and the Dutch attack on the Medway in 1667, debatably the greatest defeat in British history. It was the age of Charles II, of Samuel Pepys, of Isaac Newton - and of my fictional hero, Matthew Quinton, a young man suddenly given command of a warship despite knowing nothing whatsoever about the sea. His story is founded on the very real experiences of those who found themselves in exactly that position - the 'gentlemen captains' of the Restoration age.

This is a new departure for me, as my previous work has mainly been academic research and writing set within the same period of history. My prize-winning survey of the late seventeenth century navy, Pepys's Navy: Ships, Men and Warfare 1649-89, was published in 2008, and I've just published my first non-naval book, Blood of Kings: The Stuarts, The Ruthvens and the Gowrie Conspiracy. I'm currently Chairman of the Naval Dockyards Society and a Vice-President of the Navy Records Society. I'm also a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a member of the Council of the Society for Nautical Research.

NEWS

A superb new book on the life of Admiral De Ruyter includes my essay 'The Good Enemy: British Perceptions of De Ruyter'. Details here.

The third Quinton novel, The Blast That Tears The Skies, is now available for pre-order on Amazon UK - publication is on 31 March 2012. The second book in the series, The Mountain of Gold, is published in hardcover in North America on 31 January, followed by the paperback of Gentleman Captain on 8 February.

I'm taking part in an English Heritage 'meet the author' event at Kenilworth Castle on 23 March - a debate on the civil war with Fiona Mountain. Details here.

I'll be giving a paper at the conference 'The Navy is the Nation', being held at the National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth, on 17-18 April. More detail on this site soon.

I'M DELIGHTED TO ANNOUNCE THAT THE HISTORY PRESS WILL BE PUBLISHING MY NEXT NON-FICTION BOOK, BRITANNIA'S DRAGON: A NAVAL HISTORY OF WALES. More detail here!

OLD STREET WILL BE PUBLISHING THE NEXT THREE TITLES IN THE JOURNALS OF MATTHEW QUINTON! More details on this site soon.
 



 




 

The dramatic cover of the US and original UK editions of Gentleman Captain, which also forms the backdrop to the home page of this site, depicts the book's climactic battle. Painted by Richard Endsor, it is based closely on actual ships of the period and on the scenery and flags described in the book. More detail about Richard's work is available here.