What a marvelous series in the library this whole time! And how fascinating it is to discover how much like pirates those old naval engagements were. This was great to read after the "Bloody Jack" books because the period is the same but the Bloody Jack books explained a lot of the background so I could read these without being too baffled. 
 That said, I will probably never be able to visualize sea (or any other) battle scenes, no matter how well-written. This is not O'Brian's weakness--his writing is lucid and vivid--but mine.