The presence of women on board ships of the Royal Navy during the age of sail has been disregarded by historians and even hidden by the Royal Navy. Stark is the first historian to seriously address the topic. Primary sources for sailing life and social context give accuracy to her work. She shares first person accounts of wives of warrant officers and seamen who spent years at sea, protitutes who lived on ships in port, and women in male disguise who served as seamen or marines. She disentangles myth from fact and adds information such as why women would willingly join the navy when most men had to be forced by press gangs. The final chapter is a biography of Mary Lacy who served as seaman and shipwright in the Royal Navy for 12 years. Naval Institute Press. Annapolis. 1996. Hb, Dj. USED. $25.00