Books like A Sea of Words: A Lexicon and Companion to the Complete Seafaring Tales of Patrick O'Brian

A Sea of Words is perfectly described by its subtitle: A Lexicon and Companion to the Complete Seafaring Tales of Patrick O'Brian. If you've invested any time at all in reading the 22-part Aubrey/Maturin series of nautical tales, you would be painfully remiss in not having by your side for quick reference A Sea of Words. You will not--I reiterate--you will not understand the nautical or medical terms O'Brian pours forth, not even if you're a seasoned sailor or physician. Why? Because these terms are specific to tall-masted, square-rigged sailing frigates, Indiamen, and xebecs of the early 1800's. In other words, O'Brian talks in nautical code that has been lost during the Industrial Revolution and era of mechanization. Peering within is like looking at the Shroud of Turin; it's like breaking the Enigma Code; it's like solving the Riemann hypothesis. Patrick O'Brian's anachronistic language, pervasive throughout, jumps to life when an unfamiliar word, verbiage of local color, or a Latin quote is disentangled by quick reference to A Sea of Words. The author has taken great care to dissect every book written by O'Brian, isolate the words that may have particular, rare, historic meaning to the story, and combine them in this book of reference. This is not a book that can be read independently, unless you like perusing the dictionary or encyclopedia before those references were moved to the internets. Patrick O'Brian must have lived a previous life as a seaman or Post Captain in the 1800's. If not, then I envision him having written languidly day and night among a midden of dusty, open, cloth-bound primary-source naval literature, a fire greedily stoked, and a single-bulb desklamp under which he pensively hunted and cross referenced ancient medical and nautical terms. I prefer a publication like A Sea of Words instead of 3-8 footnotes per page. I've read the first 3 in the Aubrey/Maturin series, the first without the Lexicon and Companion, the other 2 with it by my side. Again, it's quite necessary, and you won't enjoy O'Brian as much without it. It's a loss to the world of literature that Patrick O'Brian has passed away.