This is an original approach that works well, blending fiction and fact. The author produced the history book equivalent of a docu-drama, based on extensive research and the use of primary source material, and 19thC secondary source material. – Highly Recommended
NAME: The Royal Navy 1793-1800, Birth of a Superpower FILE: R2804 AUTHOR: Mark Jessop PUBLISHER: Pen & Sword BINDING: hard back PAGES: 190 PRICE: £19.99 GENRE: Non Fiction SUBJECT: French Revolutionary War, Napoleonic Wars, Royal Navy, Britain, naval blockade, Fleet engagements, squadron warfare, naval warfare, French, Spanish, Wooden Wall, naval technology, tactics, strategy, sea routes, empire, global war
ISBN: 1-52672-0337
IMAGE: B2804.jpg BUYNOW: http://tinyurl.com/y68nnf2k LINKS: DESCRIPTION: This is an original approach that works well, blending fiction and fact. The author produced the history book equivalent of a docu-drama, based on extensive research and the use of primary source material, and 19thC secondary source material. - Highly Recommended One of the mysteries for many countries is how a small nation on a collection of islands off the coast of Europe grew into the premier global Empire. There are a number of factors that combined to produce this amazing success. Primarily England, and then Great Britain, was a nation of businessmen. They travelled to trade and their travels expanded around the world. As the population was small, there was never any attempt to build huge standing armies and subjugate other countries. Businessmen travelled and built trading posts, missionaries travelled and sold flavours of Christianity to indigenous populations, and administrators and diplomats went out to consolidate these outposts, winning the support of local leaders. To make this all work, Britain had to build a powerful navy to protect the trade routes and put down small wars. At the same time, the naval power projection had to be capable of taking on major navies of France and Spain who did not like the competition. The author has provided a series of compelling pictures of how this Royal Navy was built, staffed and equipped to become the most powerful navy in the World. It employed the most advanced technologies of the time and benefited greatly from the British Industrial Revolution that also provided the goods to be traded around the World. Some purists may object to the combination of fictional stories to illustrate the following real history facts but this will make history more accessible and provides a fascinating review that holds the reader's attention to the end. It packs a great deal of information into those pages and includes a photo-plate section of images and maps. Some may object to the period credited with the birth of a superpower and this is a contentious area where many strong opinions are held and each contains its own justifications. The British Empire and the British naval power began during the reign of Elizabeth I. That can be taken as the birth of a superpower with the defeat of the Spanish Armada, but England still had small isolated embryonic colonies, the naval power was mainly private enterprise that had grown by the alliance of Scottish, English West Country, and French Huguenot corsairs who operated together, preying on the Spanish treasure ships. From that point, empire began to grow, the establishment of a standing navy developed, but many nations continued to contend and the Dutch were remarkably effective against the Royal Navy during the Anglo-Dutch wars. The Royal Navy established supremacy at sea during the Seven Years War and the empire continued to expand. The period covered by this book saw the Royal Navy maintaining their dominance at sea, but the Battle of Trafalgar was the point where the French and Spanish Fleets were comprehensively defeated and the real race for Empire was able to begin. The author makes his own case for taking 1793-1800 as the start of Britain becoming a global super power in a most enjoyable book.