8 h 0 minAudiobook3 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Beyond the sails and open water lies a workplace where hard labour, harsh weather, and survival shape a sailor’s life.
In The Shellback’s Progress in the Nineteenth Century, Walter Runciman turns toward the common seaman’s changing world. A shellback is an old sailor, seasoned by long years at sea and a crossing of the equator. Here, the sailing age comes into view from the forecastle, where the crew lives.
Runciman brings close knowledge of ships and their crews to this account of working life. Daily labour and dangerous weather share the page with the harsh habits of life aboard. Alongside these pressures runs the question of change: how laws and public concern begin to touch sailors’ safety, food, and living space.
What you’ll discover
- Life in the forecastle See the sailing age from the crew’s quarters, close to the common seaman’s daily concerns.
- The weight of work Encounter a world where the ship is a workplace before it is an adventure.
- Weather with real stakes Feel the danger that storms, ice, fog, and rocky coasts bring to life at sea.
- A sailor’s changing lot Explore the slow pressure for better ship safety, crew food, and room to live.
- Fear and boredom aboard Look beyond sea adventure to the ordinary people who face both danger and weary routine.
Is it for you?
This book suits readers who enjoy sea history, sailing ships and first-hand accounts of working life. It also fits anyone curious about how ordinary people lived in the 1800s. If you want a modern fast plot, it may feel less suited.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- The sailing ship was a floating workplace
- The seaman's life was hard and dangerous
- Reform slowly changed the sailor's lot
- Why such sea tales still hold a reader
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- Large print hardcover
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Le parcours d’un vieux loup de mer au XIXe siècle
by Walter Runciman· 1904
A sailor recounts working life aboard nineteenth-century sailing ships.
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Language: Français
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 4
The sailing ship was a floating workplace
A ship of the nineteenth century was a place of work before it was anything else. Books of this kind describe sails, ropes, spars and the watches that divided the day. Sailors lived in cramped quarters and worked in all weather.
The crew was a small society with strict ranks. Officers gave orders, and the men in the forecastle carried them out. Skill with canvas and rope mattered more than book learning.
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Questions about Le parcours d’un vieux loup de mer au XIXe siècle
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Who was Walter Runciman?
Walter Runciman was a British shipowner and writer who died in 1937. He knew the shipping trade from the inside and wrote about sailors and the sea, using that experience to shape his books.
What is a shellback?
A shellback is a traditional word for an old, experienced sailor, often one who has crossed the equator. The word suggests a seaman toughened by long years of service on deep-sea voyages.
What period does the book cover?
The title points to the nineteenth century, the last great age of sail, when steam and iron ships began to replace wooden sailing vessels and the working life of seamen slowly changed.
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