The Safeguard of the Sea: A Naval History of Britain 660-1649

Front Cover
Penguin UK, Oct 7, 2004 - History - 720 pages

Throughout Britain's history, one factor above all others has determined the fate of the nation: its navy. N. A. M. Rodger's definitive account reveals how the political and social progress of Britain has been inextricably intertwined with the strength - and weakness - of its sea power, from the desperate early campaigns against the Vikings to the defeat of the great Spanish Armada. Covering policy, strategy, ships, recruitment and weapons, this is a superb tapestry of nearly 1,000 years of maritime history.

'No other historian has examined the subject in anything like the detail found here. The result is an outstanding example of narrative history' Barry Unsworth, Sunday Telegraph

 

Contents

List of Maps
The First English Empires
Fall of the House of Anjou
The Northern Wars
Operations 12661336
The Chief Support of the Kingdom
v
End of the Empire
xxv
Departed Dreams
xii
No More Drakes
clv
The Inward Cause of All Disorders
clxviii
One and
cxciii
The Fall of Three Kingdoms
ccvi
Conclusion
ccxix
Chronology
60
Ships
65
Medieval Fleets
65

The Galley and the Galleon
xliv
The Council of the Marine
lviii
The Spanish
lxxi
The Advantage of Time and Place
lxxxix
The Path to Fame
cxvi
The Undertakings of a Maiden Queen
cxxxix
Rates of
65
Glossary
34
Abbreviations
52
Index
82
Copyright

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About the author (2004)

N.A.M. Rodger is Professor of Naval History at Exeter University and Anderson Senior Research Fellow, National Maritime Museum. He is the author of The Wooden World and The Admiralty. The second volume of his naval history of Britain, The Command of the Ocean, is published this month by Allen Lane.

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