Description
Book SynopsisThe articles collected here (two appearing for the first time in English) cover a number of topics central to naval history and illustrate the author''s contention that this is not only, or even chiefly, a distinct area of special study, but rather a central theme running through the history of England, and of the whole British Isles. Though the subjects and the styles vary a good deal, the studies are linked by a common approach and some common ideas. Hence many examine ways in which naval history has formed a key element in such subjects as intellectual, religious, administrative or medical history and explored the nature and meaning of sea power as a theme. At the same time naval history is a technical subject, which demands a willingness to understand warships - the most complex artefacts - and the structure of large and complex organisations. Detailed evidence about ships and weapons can build large conclusions, for example about late Anglo-Saxon government and military organis
Trade Review’... this collection will be of very great value to historians, and teachers...’ International Journal of Maritime History
Table of ContentsContents: Preface; Cnut's geld and the size of Danish ships; The naval service of the Cinque ports; The development of broadside gunnery, 1450-1650; The new Atlantic: naval warfare in the 16th century; The military revolution at sea; Queen Elizabeth and the myth of sea-power in English history; The victualling of the British Navy during the Seven Years War; Medicine, administration and society in the 18th-century Royal Navy; Mobilizing seapower in the 18th century; The naval chaplain in the 18th century; Medicine and science in the British Navy of the 18th century; Weather, geography and naval power in the age of sail; Form and function in European navies, 1660-1815; Navies and the Enlightenment; Commissioned officers' careers in the Royal Navy, 1690-1815; Mutiny or subversion? Spithead and the Nore; Training or education: a naval dilemma over three centuries; Index.
