The books in this section are usually hardcover and in decent shape, though we'll sometimes offer hard-to-find books in lesser condition at a reduced price. Though we often put images of the book with their original dust jackets, the copies here won't always (or even often) have them. If that is important to you, please call ahead or say so in the order comments!
In Portsmouth, by the fireside of Will Tunn's Cheerful Tortoise taproom, British seamen quaff pints and regale themselves with tales of grapeshot and gales. Enter the one-legged Royal Navy surgeon, Doctor F. Dogbody, raconteur extraordinaire.
In each of the ten stories collected here, the good doctor recounts the loss of his "larboard" leg, and each story is more outrageous and hilarious than the last. Weaving rich historical detail into his fantastical tapestry, Dogbody encounters such real-life personages as Horatio Nelson, Thomas Cochrane, Benjamin Franklin, and Catherine the Great of Russia.
"African arrows, fighting cocks, poisonous serpents, and ferocious wolves are but a few of the obstacles the resolute Dr. Dogbody had to overcome in these wonderful takes of high adventure afloat and ashore during the reign of Great Britain's King George III."
—Harold D. Langley, Ph.D., Curator of Naval History, Emeritus, Smithsonian Institution
"What pleasanter way to spend an evening that comfortably ensconced at the Cheerful Tortoise, with a roaring fire and a bottle of Will Tunn's best old Port Royal; and that veritable starfish F. Dogbody yarning away, losing yet another larboard leg in preposterous fashion. God's rabbit, such admirable nonsense. There's heroism here, adventure and bold seamanship; there's good cheer, gentle humor, rich period detail."
—Anna Chotzinoff Grossman and Lisa Grossman Thomas, authors of Lobscouse & Spotted Dog, the authorized Patrick O'Brian cookbook
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