На сегодняшний день перу Ричарда Вудмена принадлежит около двух десятков произведений, включая четырнадцать томов серии о Натаниэле Дринкуотере и книга о морской службе Тринити Хауз – «Хранители моря». Им также написаны «История корабля», различные исследования о Второй мировой войны, об арктических и мальтийских конвоях, а также захватывающая история фрегатной войны во времена Французской революции – «Воины моря».К плаванию под парусом Вудмен пристрастился с детства. Он получил опыт управления судном с прямым парусным вооружением, плавая на судах «Роялист» и «Эндевор Реплика» (восстановленной прогулочной яхте викторианской эпохи). У него есть пятитонный гафельный куттер «Андромеда», на котором он совершает плавания, главным образом вдоль берегов Англии и в южных водах Северного моря. Его привлекают в качестве советника Национальный Военно-морской музей и парижская студия «Эдвенчер Филмз».«Око флота» (An Eye of the Fleet) Первая книга серии о Натаниэле Дринкуотере. Действие книги развивается в начале 1780-х гг. Юный мичман Дринкуотер начинает службу на одном из фрегатов Королевского флота. Ему предстоят как сражения с американцами и французами в ходе Войны за независимость, так и борьба за самоутверждение в корабельной команде.
The sixth book in the Nathaniel Drinkwater seriesAnother installment in Woodman's ongoing series featuring Nathaniel Drinkwater of the British Navy. Here, Drinkwater is the skipper of the British vessel Antigone, which is massing with other Royal Navy ships as part of Admiral Nelson's blockade against Napoleon's fleet in what would be the disastrous Battle of Trafalgar. Drinkwater, however, is captured by the French and soon is on the receiving end of the British bombardment.
In the aftermath of a typhoon, Captain Nathaniel Drinkwater brings His Britannic Majesty's frigate into the shelter of the Pearl River on the China coast. Seeking the means to refit, he is unwittingly entangled in bizarre events following the British occupation of Macao and Admiral Drury's attack on Canton.Initially relieved to be assigned the straightforward duty of a convoy escort to Penang, Captain Drinkwater quickly discovers that the convoy's cargo contains a mysterious quantity of silver and a single passenger. An apparently routine task is suddenly complicated by the resurrection of an old, embittered hatred, and Captain Drinkwater finds himself drawn inexorably by treachery, greed, perversity, and cruelty towards a climactic rendezvous in the remote tropical rain forest of Borneo.
The seventh book in the Nathaniel Drinkwater series. Written in 1988, Baltic Mission is an installment in Woodman's Nathaniel Drinkwater series. This episode finds the British sailor on a secret assignment for the crown while Napoleon continues to acquire real estate. Drinkwater is soon at odds with his crew and hamstrung by his drunken first mate.
The year is 1813. Captain Nathaniel Drinkwater succeeds Lord Dungarth as head of the Royal Navy's Secret Department. While the Grand Army of Napoleon faces defeat on the battlefields of Germany, the discovery of a secret treaty with America leads Drinkwater into the forbidding fjords of Norway, and one of the most desperate missions of his career.Increasingly isolated and affected by the long war with France and her allies, Drinkwater pursues his personal odyssey against often daunting odds. In a compelling narrative the author brings vividly to life conditions at sea during the Napoleonic wars.' The fate of one of Napoleon's most charismatic marshals is linked with American privateers, escaped prisoners and the Danish Navy resulting in a violent confrontation set beneath the aurora.
It is 1843 and Captain Nathaniel Sir Drinkwater embarks on the paddle-steamer for an inspection of lighthouses on the west coast of England. Bowed with age and honors, the old sea officer has been drawn from retirement on half-pay to fulfill his public duty. The following day, tragedy strikes, and Drinkwater is confronted with his past life: his sins and follies, his triumphs and his disasters.Drawing on a true incident, Richard Woodman deftly concludes the career of his sea hero. Drinkwater's complex character is revealed in its entirety. Far from being the reminiscences of an old man, the novel skillfully weaves the past with the present; the personal tensions below decks, the straining creak of a man-of-war under sail, the crack of a cannon shot and the plaintive mews of the trailing gulls are never far away. To the end, Nathaniel Drinkwater's life is full of incident and the unexpected, so typical of the sea officers of his day.
The fourth book in the Nathaniel Drinkwater seriesIn The Bomb Vessel, a young Captain Nathaniel Drinkwater is given command of the old VIRAGO, to be sent to the Baltic as a cargo ship. Drinkwater's ambition is to turn VIRAGO back into a fighting ship, but he is thwarted by Lord Nelson. At the same time, Drinkwater's brother appeals for help in his desperate attempt to escape the gallows. As Sir Hyde Parker's fleet approaches the Danish coast, the VIRAGO is nearly caught in their destructive path. Amid gales and ice, Drinkwater strives to save his ship and his brother. In the spring of 1801, Napoleon had reached supreme power in France and allied himself with Tsar Paul of Russia. Against this hazardous backdrop of the Baltic expedition, Drinkwater's actions in the complex and bloody battle of Copenhagen are crucial.
The fifth book in the Nathaniel Drinkwater seriesCommander Drinkwater's experience of battle was what mattered when Earl St Vincent entrusted Drinkwater with his new command — as escort to the Arctic whaling fleet on its annual expedition to the Greenland seas. With the French established as masters of the war upon trade, violent action ensued.
It is 1811 and Napoleon's French Empire dominates Europe. Desperate to stem the encroaching French tide and avert war with the emerging power of the United States, the Royal Navy orders Captain Nathaniel Drinkwater to the Chesapeake Bay to heal the rift between London and Washington.Quite by chance, on the banks of the Potomac, Drinkwater discovers the first clue to a bold plan by which the U.S. could defeat the Royal Navy, collapse the British government and utterly destroy the British cause. Amid personal crisis, Drinkwater takes command of a squadron sent against the Americans in the South Atlantic, audaciously risking his reputation and, in a climactic confrontation, coming face-to-face with the horror of an interminable war.
It is 1814 and Napoleon has abdicated as Emperor of the French. King Louis XVIII is brought out of his English exile and escorted back to France by an Allied squadron commanded by the Duke of Clarence. The 'Great War' is at an end and Europe prepares to celebrate the return of legitimate monarchy. But the victorious Allies are increasingly suspicious of one another. Alexander I, the capricious Tsar of Russia, believes he is the savior of the world, while Great Britain whose sea-power has guaranteed victory at sea and contributed to the military success of Russia, Austria and ...
In 1809, working undercover for the Admiralty's Secret Department, Captain Nathaniel Drinkwater goes ashore and mingles with the dregs of London's dockland. Disguised as a Merchant Marine shipmaster of low character, he encounters a known French agent in a brothel and advertises his plans to carry military cargo to Russia.Intended to drive a wedge between Napoleon and his new ally, Czar Alexander, Drinkwater's mission is disrupted by tempestuous weather and a lost escort — a gun-brig commanded by his friend and protege. Reaching the British-occupied island of Helgoland, Drinkwater takes great personal risk by resolving on a bold course of action that is not endorsed by the Admiralty.
