Genral Hooker wasn't a friend of Captain condon, by any chance?

Pete, I've no idea if the book is easy to find; I picked up a lonely copy in a bookshop in Langollen, Wales. Try your local library with the ISBN, see if they can find it. Another utterly excellent book is "The Ship" by Bj”rn Landstr”m; I don't know the details on that one.

I got interested in that kind of thing originally through the references in songs; but about twenty-five years ago someone lent me the book "Post Captain" by Patrick O'Brian, and I was hooked. Never mind Hornblower! This guy is the dog's doo-dahs. Highly reccommended, and you can still enjoy them even without any technical knowledge.

Steve