CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR A BOY

If you're looking for a Christmas gift for a boy, you could do no better than to give him a rousing poster of sea battles in The Age of Sail. 

Here's (above) a detail of the famous painting depicting The Battle of the Nile in 1798.

It occurred shortly after Napoleon succeeded in dodging Nelson and successfully landed his troops in Egypt. Nelson arrived right behind him, ready for a fight, and immediately engaged the French fleet in the harbor. The French made the mistake of arranging their warships in a singe line and the British arrayed themselves on either side of it, catching the French in a crossfire. It was a big victory for Nelson.

It looks like the painter was prevailed upon to paint a duplicate (above) of the Nile picture, only in more somber colors. 

Nelson was afterward involved in another battle with the French off the coast of Syria. Britain won but Nelson was seriously wounded. Oddly the battle was most famously commemorated in a poem called "Casablanca" written by a British woman about the bravery of a French boy who fought for the other side. For a hundred years the poem was read by every schoolboy in the English-speaking world, but it's now largely forgotten.     

My guess is that this one (above) is of The Battle of Trafalgar. Wow, massive ships of the line going at it, fang and claw.

Is this Trafalgar again?

I'm guessing that this one (above) is of Drake's ships vs. The Spanish Armada.

What is this (above)? The ships look like frigates. I'll guess that it's a scene from a battle on The Great Lakes, but I'm probably wrong.

I have no idea what this (above) is. Are those Congreve Rockets...the kind that Britain used against America in The War of Independence? Maybe they're just red-hot shot.

Unfortunately battle posters are often small and expensive...why, I don't know...but bargains must exist. Give it a try.

*************************




On another subject, have you seen this video yet?  'Chances are you have, but just in case.......