| 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:  54 reviews
Sales Rank: 52471
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
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 51-54 of 54 | | « PREV 1 ... | | |
The rise and fall of the Royal Navy December 5, 2004
6 out of 12 found this review helpful
Overall this is an interesting historical account covering the British Royal Navy from the 16th century to its last gasp in the Falklands. It ties things together historically, and intersperses accounts of naval action with discussion of the governments and politics of the different time periods. The author notes that many battles were decided by weather, disease, and/or inept leadership.
It is difficult to sympathize with the men who were with Hawkins. They had attacked a village in African, killing most of the inhabitants, and carrying off the survivors to sell into slavery. When the Spanish attacked Hawkins, killing many of his men and condemning captives to serve as galley slaves, it was a form of justice. Drake comes across as somewhat inept, attacking Spanish ports or treasure caravans without providing means to carry off the silver bars (he seemed to ignore the weight of silver when he planned his misadventures). The beginnings of the Royal Navy seem to be rooted in officially sanctioned slave trading and piracy. There was a prevailing attitude in Europe that native populations were inferior and available for exploitation, with the church parceling out territories like they owned the world.
The book covers main events involving the Royal Navy, but skims by some actions while digressing into discussions of such things as Bligh and the Bounty. It perhaps uses rose colored glasses in looking at life before the mast, and ignores some notorious mutinies and also tyrants like George Vancouver. There is a sprinkling of factual errors, e.g., it has the British capturing Baltimore in the War of 1812 (they were driven off), gives John Barrow the credit for documenting the Mutiny on the Bounty (William Bligh published a full account upon his return to England), and puts Bligh's second voyage 10 years after the first (it was immediately after the first).
Some discussions in the book seem to reflect the author's opinions, but overall it is well documented.
 Magnificent, easy-to-read, fascinating December 2, 2004
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
The subtitle of this book sets out the author's thesis and he amply demonstrates that contention by this good account of the British Navy from the 1500s till into the 20th century. This book tells well the story of exciting things, from well-known ones like the Armada in 1588 to lesser known but equally fascinating things such as the work that Samuel Pepys did to make the British Navy the dominant force it was in his day and in the days thereafter. Reading this book one understands William Cowper's lines in "The Castaway" when he says "No braver chief could Albion boast than he with whom he went, Nor ever ship left Albion's coast with warmer wishes sent," referring to Anson's trip around the world in 1740-1744. The Nelson story is well covered, as is the role of the British Navy in the 19th century. The book's footnoting leaves something to be desired, since only by referring to the endnotes themselves can you determine if a reference for a statement is given, and there is no bibliography as such. When will publishers learn that endnotes and footnotes in themselves do not take the place of a real bibliography? There are conclusions which some will quarrel with, and there are small mistakes, such on page 511 where it is stated that Wilson asked Congress to declare war on April 6, 1917, whereas the correct day is April 2, 1917, and on page 532 where the author says Mussolini invaded Yugoslavia in 1940, whereas it was Greece he invaded. But these are minor flaws which do not detract enough to give the book less than five stars.
An interesting history of the Royal Navy November 30, 2004
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
According to Arthur Herman, the British were able to defeat the Spanish and the French by cutting off their exports and imports. Sir Francis Drake and others severly damaged the Spanish economy by interrupting the flow of silver and gold from South America. The English stopped the French in the Seven Years War by using the Navy to takeover France's colonial possessions in the Americas.The Royal Navy also was able to defeat Napolean by breaking down his Continental System through blockading the whole of Europe. Herman also stated that the Royal Navy was able to promote nineteenth century values by stopping the slave trade and piracy while helping Greece and the newly independent South American countries achieve their goals of self determination. Finally, Herman believes that the main reason the Royal Navy decayed in the twentieth century was due to a lack of funding. Although this book is very readable, Herman makes significant errors in his book. In his analysis of the Napoleonic wars, Herman asserts that naval power was cheaper than land power and thereby England could retain its system of a low taxed and decentralized state. But the British historian Nial Ferguson points out that the British government during the Napoleonic era raised taxes significantly and became more centralized. Also Herman seems to believe that seapower alone could win wars, but in the Seven Years and Napoleonic Wars, Britain was allied with major European land powers, and in the War for Independence, which it lost, and in the near defeat of the Boer War, Britain was allied with no continental nations. Plus Herman's contention that the British Navy suffered in the Second World War due to a lack of funding ignores the fact that the British were preparing for another Jutland, and didn't pay enough attention to the advances in submarine and air warfare. Despite these major weaknesses, Herman has written an informative book that is very readable.
Help to put your naval fiction into context November 29, 2004
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Good pacing and a wealth of interesting nuggets have kept me glued to this book. For example, I never knew that the phrase "Rum, sodomy and the lash" came from Winston Churchill, and I found the author's take on naval discipline very interesting (essentially that the crew accepted the need for discipline and there was very little sodomy - the rum is a fair cop!). If you read Forester or O'Brian and wonder how realistic the life is, or just want to put the books a little more into context, this is a recommended read.
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