I've found books about the "Age of Sail" as a historical/cultural/societal phenomenon, or about particular warships, commanders, or battles, or even about sailing in general; but what I'd like to know is stuff like:
different types of... rigging, do you call it? e.g. square-rigged vs. lateen-rigged vs. whatever else, advantages and disadvantages, etc.
naval tactics with these sort of ships
first-rate, second-rate, frigate, what's the difference?!
Spanish vs. French vs. English vessels, differences and similarities
and maybe even a few details about how the devil one might sail against the wind in a sailing ship, what all the different sails are called, etc.
and maybe even, also, details regarding life on board these ships, all the types of officer and crewman one might encounter, victualling and supply, and other slightly-less-technical details
I've been Googling around but can't seem to find quite the right combination of words, and I've also had great luck with the fine people of /r/AskHistorians steering me away from apparently-decent sources that are actually out-of-date or of poor quality... so thank you in advance for any recommendations!
From my flair profile:
N.A.M. Rodger, The Safeguard of the Sea: A Naval History of Britain, 660-1649: The first volume of Rodger's multi-volume naval history of Britain, this book covers seapower from the earliest days of "England" until the end of the second English Civil War. He includes passages on non-English British navies, though the research in that area is still incomplete and spotty. The series the first comprehensive naval history of England/Britain in nearly a century. Rodger divides his books into four types of chapters: ships; operations; administration; and social history. The books can successfully be read as a narrative straight through, or each chapter can be read sequentially; I have done both. Replete with references and with an excellent bibliography.
N.A.M. Rodger, The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, 1649-1815: The second volume of Rodger's history covers operations, administration, ships, and social history through Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo.
N.A.M. Rodger, The Wooden World: An Anatomy of the Georgian Navy: An earlier (than the two previous citations) and arguably more accessible introduction to the navy of the mid-18th century, while still providing substantial detail. Establishes Rodger's interest in organizations and organizational history as a way to drive the conversation about navies and their successes or failures.
Patrick O'Brian, Men-of-War: Life in Nelson's Navy: A slim volume but replete with illustrations, this was intended as a companion to O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series, about which more below. Useful to understand details of daily life, ship construction, rigging, etc.
King, Hattendorf and Estes, A Sea Of Words: A Lexicon and Companion to the Complete Seafaring Tales of Patrick O'Brian: Meant as an atlas and glossary for the O'Brian novels, it's a useful companion for all sorts of naval reading.
The Social History of English Seamen, 1485-1649, edited by Cheryl A. Fury. A series of essays on the social history of English seamen from the Tudor period onwards. Includes a very interesting chapter on the archaeology of the Mary Rose.
Royal Tars: The Lower Deck of the Royal Navy, 875-1850 by Brian Lavery. A social history of the lower deck (common crew/sailors) of English and British ships.