The Evil Necessity: British Naval Impressment in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World (Early American Histories)
Denver Brunsman's examination of British impressment in the Atlantic world emphasizes the importance of sailors to British global power, and the clash of ideas with the American colonies that helped to spark both the War of Independence and the War of 1812 and that sustained Anglo-American antagonism down to the 1860s. It remains a potent metaphor for the tyranny of King George.(Andrew Lambert, King’s College London)The first book-length study of British naval impressments in a transatlantic context,The Evil Necessitytells the fascinating story of impressments in the British and British colonial world. Denver Brunsman is a fine storyteller and an excellent writer, who offers a highly original piece of scholarship on a subject that has received remarkably little scholarly attention(John Dann, editor ofThe Nagle Journal: A Diary of the Life of Jacob Nagle, Sailor, from the Year 1775 to 1841)The author reproduces some engaging engravings and provides a rich bibliography; his research is as thorough as his writing is fine. Given Brunsman's interest in liberty, his book especially reveals impressment's costs to individuals and to their families. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students, faculty.(B. M. Gough, Wilfrid Laurier University)Impressment remains a potent metaphor for the tyranny of George III. The author reproduces some engaging engravings and provides a rich bibliography; his research is as thorough as his writing is fine. Given Brunsman's interest in liberty, his book especially reveals impressment's costs to individuals and to their families. Summing Up: Recommended.(Choice)