7 h 28 minAudiobook5 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 7 h 28 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
A captain can command a ship—but can he keep his clever plans from running aground on shore?
In A Master of Craft, W. W. Jacobs brings you to the London riverside, where small trading ships tie up beside the wharves. The master takes pride in his command and his cunning. But his crew watches closely, and managing people proves harder than handling a vessel.
Love and money complicate the business of staying out of trouble. Secret engagements sit beside the demands of sea trade, while an employer needs pleasing and a sweetheart needs impressing. She is not easily fooled, and a rival has competing plans. Here, a quick tongue and a straight face matter as much as seamanship.
What you’ll discover
- Cunning beneath the command Meet a proud captain whose confidence in his cleverness makes managing people a comic challenge.
- Sharp eyes among the crew Watch hands and mates study their master, with ideas of their own about his affairs.
- Courtship with complications Follow quiet engagements and clashing wishes as love becomes tangled with the business of seafaring.
- The sound of riverside life Enjoy quick exchanges and working London speech among skippers, mates, and hands.
- Dry humour, light touch Settle into short scenes and plain prose that let scheming people supply the laughter.
Who will love it
For readers who love dry humour, Victorian and Edwardian life, and gentle stories about scheming people. It also suits anyone who enjoys short, easy chapters and comic tales of sailors, love and money.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Jacobs writes from the riverside he knew
- Cunning is the real skill at sea
- Love and money tangle the plot
- A dry voice does the work
Who’s who
- The masterA ship's captain, proud of his command and of his own cleverness, who finds that managing people is harder than managing a vessel.
- The crewThe hands and mates on a small trading vessel, who watch their master closely and have their own ideas about what is going on.
- The sweetheartA young woman on shore whose good opinion matters greatly to the men at sea, and who is not easily fooled.
- The schemer's rivalSomeone with competing plans, whose own wishes cut across the master's and keep the comedy moving.
Formats and delivery
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- Audiobook
- 7 h 28 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 5 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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A Master of Craft
by W. W. Jacobs · 1900
A skipper trusts his quick tongue and clever schemes, but his crew and a sweetheart on shore have ideas of their own.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
A Master of Craft is a comic novel by W. W.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Jacobs writes from the riverside he knew
William Wymark Jacobs grew up in London, and his boyhood was spent near the docks, where his father worked on a wharf. Later he took a clerk's post in the Post Office Savings Bank. He wrote his tales in the evenings, and his sailors come from close observation, not from adventure books.
The ships in his stories are not great square-riggers crossing oceans. They are small, hard-worked vessels that carry cargo along the coast and up the Thames. Their crews are few, and everyone knows everyone else. That closeness is the engine of his comedy, because a small deck leaves no place to hide a lie.
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What is A Master of Craft about?
It is a comic novel by W. W. Jacobs about sea life on small trading vessels, where skippers and crews use cunning, bluff and quick talk to manage their affairs, including matters of love and money.
Who wrote A Master of Craft and when?
W. W. Jacobs wrote it, and it was published in 1900. He was an English humorist who drew on the London riverside and its working sailors for most of his stories.
What does the title A Master of Craft mean?
Craft has two senses here. It means a ship or boat, and it means skill and cunning. A master of craft is both a ship's captain and someone clever at getting his way.
The author
W. W. Jacobs
1863–1943 · English humorist and fiction writer
William Wymark Jacobs (1863–1943) was an English writer of short stories and novels. He was born in London and lived in England. His books include the story collection Sea Urchins (1898) and the novels A Master of Craft (1900) and Salthaven (1909). He died in London.
More by W. W. Jacobs
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