Title Details

Known as the Beaufort Scale, the shipping forecast broadcast on the radio has never been bettered and, as a result, never replaced. This lasting legacy of Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort is only part of his overall contribution to the world of the mariner, scientist, and antiquarian. Nicholas Courtney chronicles the life of this unsung hero whose early years come straight from the pages of "Hornblower" pirates, wars, and royalty, and whose later life carries on from "Longitude." The story, set at the turn of the 19th century, of this courageous officer who was instrumental to the major discoveries and surveys of his day, not least the voyages of the Beagle and the subsequent fame of Charles Darwin, is told here for the first time.