A self-proclaimed "Navy Brat," Lambdin spent a good deal of his early days on both coasts of the U.S.A., and overseas duty stations, with his father. His father enlisted as a Seaman Recruit in 1930, was "mustanged" from the lower deck (from Yeoman chief Petty Officer) at Notre Dame in '42, and was career Navy until May 1954, when he was killed at sea aboard the USS Bennington CVA-20, on which he served as Administrative Officer, 5th in line-of-command (posthumous Lieutenant Commander).

Lambdin himself attended Castle Heights Military Academy, graduated in 1962, and was destined to be the family's first "ring-knocker" from the U.S. Naval Academy, "... until he realised that physics, calculus, and counting higher than ten were bigger than he was." He studied at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, majoring in Liberal arts and Theatre, where he was published in The Theme Vault in 1963, also reprinted in a national textbook, which whetted his appetite for writing. However, he failed his degree. He finally graduated with a degree in Film & TV Production from Montana State University, Bozeman, in 1969. This was considered at the time to be the McHale's Navy of the academic set, so the nautical influence was still at work. He has worked for a network affiliate TV station as a producer/director for twelve years, an independent station as production manager and senior director/writer/ producer for three years, all in Memphis, and as a writer/producer with a Nashville advertising/production facility, or in free-lance camera, lighting and writing.

He has been a sailor since 1976 and spends his free time working and sailing on his beloved sloop Wind Dancer, with a special taste for cruising the Gulf of Mexico. Mr. Lambdin has thus far resisted the temptation to trade his beloved typewriter for a computer. He currently lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

He is a member of the U.S. Naval Institute, a Friend of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, England; Cousteau Society; the former American Film Institute; and the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

This is a series of historical sea fiction sagas, and are bold, funny and exciting adventures. Alan Lewrie is a scandalous young rake whose amorous adventures ashore lead to his being shipped off to the Navy. He finds that he is a born sailor, although life at sea is a stark contrast to the London social whirl to which he had become accustomed. As his career advances, he finds the life of a naval officer suits him. He finds himself in one scrape after another, often of his own making but, in true "swashbuckling" fashion, manages to come out of them with flying colours (and with lessons learned). Dewey Lambdin writes authoritatively of ships and life at sea, but he can also tell a rousing, high-paced adventure story.

The very first Alan Lewrie naval adventure is The King's Coat:

The year is 1780 and seventeen-year-old Alan Lewrie is a brash, rebellious young libertine in London. However, his callous father is planning on getting Lewrie out of the house and into somewhere dangerous; so he is set up to be found in a compromising situation with his half sister (a nefarious setup by his father and half sister) and gets sent off to sea (hopefully never to return). Fresh aboard the tall-masted Ariadne, Midshipman Lewrie heads for the war-torn Americas, finding out rather unexpectedly that while he might despise the navy life, he has a talent for it. In between the battles and the bout of Yellow Fever, there are amorous adventures ashore.

Subsequent years find Lewrie in battle ashore (at Yorktown and among the Creeks) and at sea, with enough wanton adventures to keep things spicy. He also slowly gains competence as a Midshipman, passes a board for his lieutenancy, finds out what dastardly plan his father was up to, and ends up at the end of the American Revolution with enough wealth to live comfortably (if he is very careful).

Bored in peacetime, he is soon immersed in too many love affairs for his own good, but new appointments in the Navy beckon in the South Seas and the Caribbean. He also finds himself dangerously attracted to a Loyalist Refugee and soon becomes a married naval officer.

The Lewrie novels come thick and fast with the Napoleonic Wars, and Lewrie's career takes off. A lieutenant in the impress service, he becomes first Lieutenant on a Man o' War, then a commander with a sloop of his own. Eventually, he is a proper captain with a frigate. Lewrie finds himself getting a reputation as a daring and clever officer, with a complex life ashore (once somebody starts sending anonymous letters to his wife).

Alan Lewrie books

1. The King's Coat (1989)
2. The French Admiral (1990)
3. The King's Commission (1991)
4. The King's Privateer (1992)
5. The Gun Ketch (1993)
6. H.M.S. Cockerel (1995)
7. A King's Commander (1997)
8. Jester's Fortune (1999)
9. The King's Captain (2000)
10. Sea of Grey (2002)
11. Havoc's Sword (2003)
12. The Captain's Vengeance (2004)
13. A King's Trade (2006)
14. Troubled Waters (2008)
15. The Baltic Gambit (2009)
16. King, Ship and Sword (2010)

• For King and Country (omnibus) (1994)