Under Sail

Riesenberg, Felix, 1879-1939Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 474K words
Chapters: 48

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Under Sail by Felix RiesenbergAuthor: Riesenberg, Felix, 1879-1939,Language: English, Class: G: Geography, Anthropology, Recreation, Release Date: Sep 2, 2016

Editor's review

Under Sail is a work of narrative nonfiction in the literature of the sea, written by Felix Riesenberg, an author with deep personal ties to the ocean. Written in English and classified under Geography and Recreation, the book offers detailed descriptions of life under sail, letting readers experience wind, weather, routes, and daily shipboard routine from a sailor's perspective. Its value lies not in dramatic plotting but in its plain record of seafaring experience, making it suitable for readers interested in maritime culture, the history of sailing ships, and English-language nautical narrative. It can be read as a slice of its era, using its terminology and scenes to understand the tone and rhythm of early twentieth-century maritime writing. As a public-domain ebook, it is easy to obtain and makes a light choice for reading in the original English, as well as supplementary material for researchers working with nautical texts.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers interested in the age of sail and life at sea
Readers who want to encounter nautical literature in the original English
Students and enthusiasts studying maritime culture or the history of navigation
Readers who enjoy factual narrative and do not require a strong plot

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting the tension of a modern adventure novel
Readers with weak English skills who need Chinese support
Readers seeking systematic technical knowledge of seamanship

Reading tips

Read the opening chapters first to get used to the language and nautical terms, then decide your pace.
Keep a glossary of nautical vocabulary on hand for rigging and ship-handling terms.
Read alongside a map or route information to help build a sense of space.
Read one or two chapters a day to avoid fatigue from dense terminology.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a novel or nonfiction?

The available information classifies it under Geography and Recreation, and the author, Riesenberg, had a seafaring background. The text is closer to factual nautical narrative than to a novel built on invented plot. Readers can approach it as a record of life at sea.

How difficult is the English?

This is an original English text from an earlier era, and its sentence patterns and nautical terminology pose some difficulty. Readers with college-level English can work through it with a dictionary; beginners should sample the opening before deciding.

Why recommend it to enthusiasts of maritime history?

The book presents concrete scenes of sailing and details of shipboard life, offering first-hand material for understanding the language and atmosphere of early twentieth-century maritime literature. It works well as supplementary reading in maritime history.

Comments

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About the author

Riesenberg, Felix, 1879-1939 Author

Felix Riesenberg (1879–1939) is the author of works on the practical side of seamanship and life under sail. Two of his books are held here. The Men on Deck: Master, Mates and Crew, Their Duties and Responsibilities sets out the division of labour aboard ship, explaining in turn what each rank owes to daily navigation and to emergencies. Under Sail deals with the concrete conditions of sailing, combining technical detail with direct reporting. His writing centres on the specific tasks of shipboard life, uses precise terminology, and stays plain in tone, with little of the romance often attached to sea narratives. It is therefore useful for understanding how merchant and sailing vessels of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were operated and how their crews were organised. Public information is limited; further details of his life, education and other experience cannot presently be confirmed, and readers may chiefly rely on these two works to learn his themes and style.