The Sailor King: The Life of King William IV

Of all the British monarchs who have claimed they ruled the seas, just one, King William IV, has been a truly professional seafarer. Known as the ‘Sailor King’ in his own lifetime, he saw himself as a naval officer who happened to become the sovereign, rather than a monarch who had been a naval officer. His life – here told as a whole, rather than dominated by his short reign – presents an appealing, if sometimes shocking, personality. William bounds from these pages like a character from an h...