After my fourth voyage through Patrick O'Brian's 'The Mauritius Command' I resolved to tackle C. Northcote Parkinson's 'War in the Eastern Seas,' expecting an archaic, unreadable, tedious slog. But no! Published in 1954, it is a delightful, well-paced, extremely well-researched romp, full of favorite friends popping up like old Star Wars characters: the Surprise, the horrible old Leopard, Arthur Wellsley, old Boney of course.. and on every page there is usually a delicious, very extensive, interesting quote from the British Navy Admiralty records or other contemporaneous source material, always in that unmistakable early-1800s writing style and sometimes including obscure and ridiculous medical terminology. Best of all, Parkinson has the exact same incisive dry wit as Patrick O'Brian and I often find myself laughing out loud! I can easily see how books like this were a direct inspiration for the series, as I believe O'Brian says himself somewhere. "My point is that the admirable men of those times... are best celebrated in their own splendid actions rather than in imaginary contests; that authenticity is a jewel; and that the echo of their words has an abiding value."