A Brief History of British Sea Power

This book is an excellent summary of English sea power. Great life stories of many of the key Naval Officers and Ship captains.

Howarth has achieved the impossible: he has adequately - nay, magnificently - summarized the history of Britannia ruling the waves. Beginning with the Middle Ages, Howarth tracks British naval history through its most stirring days and shows it as it sails from strength to strength. Perhaps its best feature is the way Howarth is able to tell (or retell) the great stories of Britain at sea. For example, I had always known that Admiral George Anson had done something great, but I didn't know just how great his deeds were until Howarth told me of his incredible voyage around the world via Cape Horn - spending weeks in a frightful gale that dispersed his ships and set them hundreds of miles back on their course, and enduring with fortitude many other disasters and crises. Indeed, Anson and his fellows in the constellation of brilliant British naval heroes did not merely endure but triumph with gallantry going beyond all praise. But Howarth goes a long way toward praising them adequately, pointing out errors, and generally informing while also delighting. This book is an excellent springboard for future study -- one may simply choose an era, man, or event and delve into it. Howarth certainly inspires one to read more.

This book is an excellent primer on the history of ships and naval warfare from the point of view of the British. In addition to providing some useful technical information, it provides an absolutely engrossing account of the past millenium of exploration and war by the ships of the British Navy. Definitely an indispensable read for any history buff.

When I first scanned through this book I thought it seemed sort of scattered. I bought it anyhow. And I was wrong. It does go on little tangents sometimes but it doesn't detract from the book. It covers the major aspects of improvements and wars that attributed to the advancement of the british navy. I suppose going into too much detail would make the book over a 1000 pages long. At 450 pages the book gives a pretty good overall glimpse of the passing of time and the movements of the naval command. Great read.

This is a fascinating look at Englands evolution from the beginning to it's eventual dominance and final retirement as a major sea power. Howarth covers all the bases with details regarding the political environment, ship design, armament, crews, exploration, navigation, privateering, naval strategy, on and on. It is a candid look at the success and failures of this naval force over time. A fascinating point made, was the almost immediate obsolescence of the battleship by submarines and aircraft carriers. The Admiralty invested heavily in these ships, ignoring the need for smaller vessels to protect their merchant convoys. Britain came very close to losing it's Atlantic supply line and possibly WWII. It is a classic example of failure to recognize a significant paradigm shift in the art of war.If you are a devotee of the Aubrey / Maturin series by Patrick O'Brien, this book provides a terrific account of the great battles fought under sail.If I have any dissapointment it is that I longed for more. I would characterize this as an enjoyable and very factual read.