(Scrimgeour's) witty and indiscreet jotting's reveal a man missing his family and lovesick for a woman whose feelings for him remain unclear. Like millions of other young men with similar hopes, he never got to realise them.

Damian Whitworth, The Times

Remarkable. No reader can doubt the impact of his loss, magnified in its tens of thousands, across that Britain he was so proud to defend. I loved the book.

Richard Holmes

The young midshipman's zest for life and meticulously recorded bitching about his fellow officers is completely infections and, at times, hilarious. All this adds to the genuine sense of loss when his diaries and letters come to an abrupt end.

BBC Who Do You Think You Are