Ship of Fire

For my book report, I chose the book Ship of Fire. This book showed how life was as a citizen, soilder, and sailor for England. The book could be divided into three parts; the beginning, where they are simple doctors. The middle, which is when they are on the voyage to attack a Spanish port. And the end, which is the actual battle on the Spanish port, Cadiz.

Inside the book, the voyage is the bulk of the book. This tells the real facts about being a sailor in the conflict between England and Spain, and their constant struggle for power. I learned that being a soldier back then wasn’t easy, as things like broken ribs were as common as a bruise. The beginning of the book was shorter and showed the life inside London, giving the citizens ideas on the War. The end of the book showed the battle on Cadiz and gave me an idea on warfare during that time. Even though they had guns and cannons, they still fought hand to hand most of the time. Overall the book taught me a lot of aspects in life and war during the Age of Exploration. 


Michael Cadnum is a author for The Book of The Lion ( nominee for National Book Award for young peoples literature) and author of many books.

"A fire ship was sailing right at us, surely i thought it would miss, but the bulking ship grew as it got closer and closer" -164

"Rumors spread that Her majesty was planning to strike Spain.." 26

"Dont worry he wont die Sir, a broken rib is seen as much as a bruise on this ship" 134