| To Rule the Waves: How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World (P.S.) | 
 enlarge | Author: Arthur Herman
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Category: Book
List Price: $15.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  53 reviews
Sales Rank: 229500
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 688
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.4 x 1.5
ISBN: 0060534257
Dewey Decimal Number: 941
EAN: 9780060534257
ASIN: 0060534257
Publication Date: November 1, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
Accessible and fun June 18, 2008
As popular history, this succeeds; I can't speak to the errors others have found. This is a long story that moves the way Herman describes his subject, in fits and starts and in multi-directional webs. Yet it carried me along without the battle descriptions getting boring, and I learned a bit... about ships and nautical word etymologies at the very least.
The book could have used some editing for mechanics and sentence structure, though. Articles are dropped all over the place, unless it's a matter of style to refer to "French navy" rather than "the French navy," and the author's nontraditional use of commas is a little jarring. But I'm a mechanics nerd, and if such things don't distract you too much, this is a fun and informative read.
 Useless November 3, 2007
2 out of 7 found this review helpful
This book has more than 600 pages.
To the worst defeat of the British Navy in history, the siege of Cartagena, the author devotes exactly 6 lines.
The British Navy Saves the World... October 19, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Arthur Herman's "To Rule the Waves" is the best kind of popular history: a thrilling narrative wrapped around an interesting idea and punctuated with lots of the kind of human-size details the average reader will enjoy.
Herman's subject is the British Navy, from its origins among Elizabeathan sea dogs little removed from pirates, to the professional Navy that helped beat Napoleon and Hitler while holding together Britain's far-flung empire, to the twilight triumph in the Falklands in 1982. Herman's thesis is that the Royal Navy's control of the seas helped make possible the modern world, with its global trade ties, international order, and the survival and success of democratic government.
Herman's efforts to explain everything in terms of sea control is inevitably a little strained in places. Also inevitably, in a single volume history covering some 400 years of crowded history, some of the details get stretched or misplaced. These faults aside, this is fun history.
Herman takes an unflinching look at such successful but tough-minded mariners as John Hawkins, Francis Drake, Horatio Nelson, Jack Fisher, and Sandy Woodward. Familiar historical figures such as Queen Elizabeth and Winston Churchill appear at the appropriate moments, along with a slew of lesser-known but equally important persons. The battle vignettes, from Panama to Trafalgar to Jutland to the North Atlantic to the Falklands, are crisply and concisely written, allowing the reader to grasph the tactics and outcome, without becoming bogged down in detail.
The descriptions of life aboard ship from age to age are simply fascinating. The repeated innovations in naval architecture as the world moved from wooden walls and sails to steel hulls and coal or oil-fired engines help explain how Britain stayed in the forefront as a naval power for so long. Along the way, it turns out that the British naval establishment was just as bureaucratic as any other large institution.
This book is highly recommended as an entertaining and educational experience for the average reader with any interest in naval matters and especially in the British Royal Navy.
Forget Johnny Depp. This is the real thing. October 8, 2007
Chapter 1, page 1, a hurricane in the Caribbean of 1568. The author casts us upon the pitching deck of the "Jesus", a leaking old tub commanded by John Hawkins. His approved mission for queen and country? Why, theft, of course. Take your dramamine and hang on, mates. You are on an unrelenting voyage that won't end until the Falklands War. Sure, some priggish reviewers can nibble away at Mr. Herman's occasional errors. Let it go! On a 400-year voyage there are bound to be a few minor errors. Frankly, the man writes well. This isn't your college history book. It's more like a compelling sea adventure. The author at his most insightful? Herman's description of Captain Bligh and the HMS Bounty mutiny, and the story of the rise of the complex Admiral Nelson should have been part of my MBA management class. Herman at his weakest? His description of Napoleon as a terrorist. Terrorist? A Corsican-born military dictator, yes, but a terrorist? No way. Herman describes John Paul Jones as a vengeful Scot, deprived of a Royal Navy midshipman's billet, who becomes a blood thirsty U.S. Navy captain. Provocative words, but an egregious misread of history. OK, both darts and laurels for Mr. Herman. My recomendation? Buy the book. Herman goes beyond the cold facts. He provides the elusive "Why" so often lacking when reading history. Nicely done.
 Excellent Overview April 22, 2007
1 out of 5 found this review helpful
This is an excellent overview of the history of the Royal Navy from medieval times to the modern era. The book dispells a few myths along the way and makes a splendid read.
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