Mr. Midshipman Easy

by Frederick Marryat

"Mr. Midshipman Easy" by Frederick Marryat is a novel published in 1836. Set during the Napoleonic Wars, it follows Jack Easy, a spoiled teenager who believes in his father's philosophy of absolute equality and the "rights of man." When Easy joins the British Royal Navy expecting to find an equal society, reality proves quite different. With help from Mesty, an escaped slave turned ship's corporal, Easy navigates Mediterranean adventures that challenge his idealistic notions about property, rank, and human nature.