Spent last night watching Horatio Hornblower (mmmmm Ioan Gruffudd)...if you haven't seen it, I'll recommend...
But today I thought I'd briefly discuss impressment! That's right, the 18th century British Navy's "drafting" process. The sun doesn't not set on the Empire all on its own, after all.
Actually, this was fairly terrible...apparently press gangs would hang around docks and kidnap any young and able-bodied men they could, and then sell (?) them to the navy. Life was brutal in pretty much all parts in the 1700s, but in my opinion it doesn't get much worse than being stuck on a moldy boat with a bunch of scurvy men on the eve of a battle at sea. But maybe that's just me.
Anywho, check Wikipedia if you're interested in reading a slightly more scholarly look at the subject.
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