author
Bartimeus
1886–1967
A Royal Navy officer turned storyteller, this writer brought life at sea to the page with humor, detail, and the kind of authority that comes from firsthand experience. His books capture the routines, dangers, and character of British naval life in the early 20th century.
5 Audiobooks
The Navy eternal : which is the Navy-that-Floats, the Navy-that-Flies and the Navy-under-the-Sea
by Bartimeus
The Long Trick
by Bartimeus
Naval Occasions, and Some Traits of the Sailor-man
by Bartimeus
A tall ship on other naval occasions
by Bartimeus
An awfully big adventure
by Bartimeus
About the author
Writing as Bartimeus, Sir Lewis Anselm da Costa Ritchie (born Ricci) was a British naval officer, author, and later a royal press secretary. Born in 1886 and dying in 1967, he built his reputation on vivid stories and novels about the Navy, drawing on the world he knew from the inside.
He joined the Royal Navy in 1901 and served through the first half of the 20th century, eventually retiring as captain of the royal yacht. Sources also note that illness damaged his eyesight while he was still young, limiting his sea service but not ending his naval career or his writing.
As Bartimeus, he became especially known for naval fiction and sketches such as Naval Occasions and The Long Trick, works valued for their strong sense of everyday shipboard life. Later in life he also served as press secretary to King George VI, adding an unusual final chapter to a career that moved from the quarterdeck to the writing desk.