BOOK REVIEW | Quicksilver Captain: The Improbable Life of Sir Home Popham

Only a late nineteenth century captain in the Royal Navy could boast a name as peculiar as Popham’s. As this delightful and very well-researched book tells us, only such times could provide the practically endless adventures that Popham experienced.

While officially a naval officer, the unscrupulous but very well politically-connected Popham had strong piratical tendencies. He certainly experienced large parts of the world for his time. Imaginative, innovative and unconventional, he proved useful to Britain’s political leaders, particularly those of the Pitt governments.

A very quick thinker, Captain Popham was articulate and valuably persuasive despite his many enemies. He developed and was an early expert on amphibious warfare, combined operations and, most notably, effective signalling.

He was clearly unpopular among many of his naval contemporaries who were largely incapable of coping with his unconventional approaches to their trade and, thus, envious of him. Possibly, that was partly due to his many successes that made him attractive to his political masters.

This is a fascinating and inspiring biography that has been very well written.

Author: Jacqueline Reiter

Available from Helion and Company, Warwick, UK

Web: www.helion.co.uk