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Author

Julian Stockwin

1944

29 fiction · 1 non-fiction

Julian Stockwin writes naval historical fiction focused on seamanship, social mobility and the discipline of the Royal Navy.

Julian Stockwin was born in Basingstoke in 1944 and went to sea at a young age. He entered nautical training before joining the Royal Navy, later serving in the Royal Australian Navy and eventually becoming a petty officer. After leaving full-time naval service, he studied psychology and Far Eastern subjects, worked in education and information technology, and maintained links with the sea through the Royal Naval Reserve.

Stockwin began writing the Thomas Kydd series with Kydd, published in 2001. The books follow a young wig-maker who is pressed into naval service in the 1790s and gradually learns seamanship, leadership and command. This social ascent allows the series to show the age of sail from the lower deck as well as the quarterdeck, moving through the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Stockwin’s own maritime experience supports detailed descriptions of watchkeeping, sail handling, discipline and shipboard hierarchy. He has also written standalone historical novels, but the Kydd sequence remains his principal achievement. It is particularly suited to readers who want sustained character development alongside naval campaigns and technical maritime detail.

Periods and events

Age of Explorationc. 1400–1600 CE Battle of Corunna1809-01-16 Battle of Crécy1346 CE Battle of the Nile1798-08-01–1798-08-03 Battle of Trafalgar1805-10-21 British Conquest of the Cape Colony1806 CE Caribbean Campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars1793–1802 CE Caribbean Campaigns of the Napoleonic Wars1803–1815 CE East India Company Ascendancy1757–1833 CE Georgian Empire and Atlantic World1714–1837 CE Gunboat War1807–1814 CE Ottoman Empire1299–1922 CE Peace of Amiens1802–1803 CE Privateering in the Napoleonic Wars1793–1815 CE Reign of Edward III1327–1377 CE Reign of Justinian I527–565 CE Resumption of War with France1803–1805 CE Royal Navy in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars1793–1815 CE Smuggling on the Georgian Coast1714–1830 CE Transportation to Australia1788–1868 CE War of 18121812–1815 CE War of the First Coalition1792–1797 CE Waterloo Campaign1815-06

Historical fiction

Historical fiction series by Julian Stockwin (2 series)

Thomas Kydd in Order

by Julian Stockwin 27 books 4.2(24,001)

The Thomas Kydd series follows a Guildford wig-maker pressed into the Royal Navy in 1793 and traces his rise from inexperienced landsman to admiral. Across twenty-seven novels, Kydd learns the work of the lower deck, crosses to the quarterdeck and commands increasingly important ships during the French Revolutionary…

Moments of History in Order

by Julian Stockwin 2 books 4.1(434)

The Moments of History series uses self-contained historical adventures to explore discoveries and technologies that changed the balance of power between societies. Each novel follows fictional travellers and craftsmen whose ambitions place them beside documented rulers, scholars and military events at a decisive historical turning point. The Silk…

Non-fiction

Non-fiction by Julian Stockwin (1 book)

Reference works, biographies and other non-fiction are kept separate from the historical fiction above.

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