A rollicking sea adventure, set in the time of the Napoleonic Wars, Mr Midshipman Easy follows the escapades of a young midshipman who enters the King's service with some ideas that run badly afoul of the standards of naval discipline! The author was an actual 19th century British naval hero who lived a saga worthy of the novels of C.S. Forester or Patrick O'Brian. Captain Frederick Marryat survived fifty naval battles and served on the crack frigate Imperieuse under Lord Cochrane- the real-life model for Horatio Hornblower and Jack Aubrey. Mr Midshipman Easy is said to have been inspired by Cochrane's adventures as a young midshipman. Lord Cochrane wrote of Marryat, "He was brave, zealous, intelligent and even thoughtful, yet active in the performance of his duties." Leon Howard's biography of Herman Melville credits Captain Marryat's writing as having influenced the author of Moby Dick to first go to sea.