(Hardback)

(Paperback)

Describes the rise of Britain to naval greatness, and the central place of the Navy and naval activity in the life of the nation and government. This work describes not just battles, voyages and cruises but how the Navy was manned, how it was supplied with timber, hemp and iron, how its men were fed, and how it was financed and directed.

(Paperback)

This 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.