<p>The H.M.S. <em>Temeraire</em>, one of Britain's most illustrious fighting ships, is known to millions through J. M. W. Turner's masterpiece, <em>The Fighting Temeraire</em> (1839), which portrays the battle-scarred veteran of Britain's wars with Napoleonic France. In this evocative new volume, Sam Willis tells the extraordinary story of the vessel behind the painting.</p><p>This tale of two ships spans the heyday of the age of sail: the climaxes of both the Seven Years' War (1756–63) and the Napoleonic Wars (1798–1815). Filled with richly evocative detail, and narrated with the pace and gusto of a master storyteller, <em>The Fighting Temeraire</em> is an enthralling and deeply satisfying work of narrative history.</p>