Maritime Power and Struggle For Freedom: Naval Campaigns that Shaped the Modern World 1788-1851
Padfield partakes of the popularity of the Nelsonic era of sailing-ship navies in this second installment in his naval trilogy (afterMaritime Supremacy, 2000). Not merely describing ships and dramatizing sea battles, Padfield challenges his readers to grasp the strategy of sea power, to sense its interaction with land power, and so to view the course of the wars of the French Revolution on a land-sea continuum. Padfield's organization and clarity make this approach exceptionally accessible. He starts with the naval contribution to the onset of the French Revolution--Louis XVI's construction program. It only exacerbated the financial crisis that was the revolution's immediate trigger; comparable efforts by successive revolutionary governments similarly strained the budget without degrading British maritime and commercial superiority. Discussing internal politics and trade statistics as needed, Padfield then demonstrates the influence of Britannia's rule of the waves in events as separated as Napoleon's invasion of Russia, the War of 1812, and agitation against the slave trade. Discerning the forces behind the broadsides, Padfield is fluidly readable in this perceptive history.Gilbert TaylorCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved