To Rule the Waves: How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World by Arthur Herman, Arthur Herman

To Rule the Waves tells the extraordinary story of how the British Royal Navy allowed one nation to rise to a level of power unprecedented in history. From the navy's beginnings under Henry VIII to the age of computer warfare and special ops, historian Arthur Herman tells the spellbinding tale of great battles at sea, heroic sailors, violent conflict, and personal tragedy - of the way one mighty institution forged a nation, an empire, and a new world.This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more. Editorial Reviews A cracking good read and a model of intelligent concision. To Rule the Waves is likely to become the standard one-volume history of the Royal Navy. From the epic sailing battles of the 16th century to the coda of the Falkland Islands War in 1982, from Hawkins and Drake to Nelson and Fisher, all the navy's great episodes and characters are brought alive for the reader. . . . It also places the Royal Navy in its political context, showing how it created one of the first global systems, one that still influences the world today. - Max Boot, author of The Savage Wars of Peace A riveting story of some 400 years of British naval mastery-the great battles, the courageous sailors, and the often fanatical admirals-that serves as an especially timely reminder that national purpose and unity, coupled with a sense of self-sacrifice and heritage, really do win wars and keep the peace. - Victor Davis Hanson, author of Carnage and Culture, and Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University A splendid history of the British Royal Navy. . . . Herman writes extremely well. . . . Good one-volume histories of one of the world's most vital fighting forces appear rarely; this one should rule for a while to come. - Publishers Weekly A stirring account of the origins and evolution of the British navy. . . . This is an exciting chronicle filled with colorful characters and enthralling adventures. - Booklist Arthur Herman's excellent history combines thrilling accounts of battles like those brought to the big screen in ‘Master and Commander,' with a terrific strategic analysis. He reminds us that the sea unites distant and far away lands. - New York Post A rousing history. . . . The rise of the navy and the road to empire supplies Mr. Herman with his subject, and he does it justice [with] a fast-paced, energetic narrative. - New York Times To Rule the Waves is an engrossing tour de force, like the Royal Navy itself. . . . Arthur Herman's well-written, engaging storytelling shows the British Navy's geopolitical impact commanding the seas. - Richmond Times-Dispatch - From the Publisher A stirring account of the origins and evolution of the British navy. . . . This is an exciting chronicle filled with colorful characters and enthralling adventures. - Booklist A riveting story of some 400 years of British naval mastery-the great battles, the courageous sailors, and the often fanatical admirals-that serves as an especially timely reminder that national purpose and unity, coupled with a sense of self-sacrifice and heritage, really do win wars and keep the peace. - Victor Davis Hanson A cracking good read and a model of intelligent concision. To Rule the Waves is likely to become the standard one-volume history of the Royal Navy. From the epic sailing battles of the 16th century to the coda of the Falkland Islands War in 1982, from Hawkins and Drake to Nelson and Fisher, all the navy's great episodes and characters are brought alive for the reader. . . . It also places the Royal Navy in its political context, showing how it created one of the first global systems, one that still influences the world today. - Max Boot Arthur Herman's excellent history combines thrilling accounts of battles like those brought to the big screen in ‘Master and Commander,' with a terrific strategic analysis. He reminds us that the sea unites distant and far away lands. - New York Post A rousing history. . . . The rise of the navy and the road to empire supplies Mr. Herman with his subject, and he does it justice [with] a fast-paced, energetic narrative. - New York Times To Rule the Waves is an engrossing tour de force, like the Royal Navy itself. . . . Arthur Herman's well-written, engaging storytelling shows the British Navy's geopolitical impact commanding the seas. - Richmond Times-Dispatch Arthur Herman's excellent history combines thrilling accounts of battles like those brought to the big screen in ‘Master and Commander,' with a terrific strategic analysis. He reminds us that the sea unites distant and far away lands. - New York Post A stirring account of the origins and evolution of the British navy. . . . This is an exciting chronicle filled with colorful characters and enthralling adventures. - Booklist From its uncertain beginnings under Henry VIII, the British Royal Navy developed into a force that enabled Great Britain to become a global power without precedent in history. Arthur Herman's To Rule the Waves shows how the Royal Navy toppled Spain and Portugal's world economic system and replaced it with another, far more powerful and resilient. This popular narrative about England's epic the journey from the age of tall ships to the age of computer warfare is penned by the author of How the Scots Invented the Modern World. - [Mr. Herman] is particularly adept at explaining the changes in technology and battle tactics that kept the British Navy a step ahead of the competition. Even more impressive, he describes the evolution of the navy's bureaucracy in such dramatic fashion that Samuel Pepys, secretary to the Admiralty, becomes as stirring a figure as Horatio Nelson. The British Navy scored its greatest victories largely because it was better organized, better financed and better equipped than its enemies. For this, Pepys gets much of the credit. - The New York Times - William Grimes The author of How the Scots Invented the Modern World returns with this quite splendid history of the British Royal Navy. Probably to no one's surprise, his thesis is that the British Empire was the foundation of the modern world and the Royal Navy the foundation of that empire. By and large, he sustains that thesis in a fluent narrative that stretches from the Elizabethan Age to the Falklands War. Although definitely Anglocentric and navalist, the author has done his research on a scale that such a large topic (to say nothing of a large book) requires. The Royal Navy's discipline and food in the age of sail may not deserve quite as much rehabilitation as he gives them, but on the other hand, he is frank about the limitations of British warship design, poor Victorian gunnery and lack of preparations for antisubmarine warfare between the world wars. He also writes extremely well, whether dealing with the role of the Royal Navy in founding the British iron and steel industries (it was a major customer) or grand battles, such as Quiberon Bay (1759) or Trafalgar (1805). Good one-volume histories of one of the modern world's most vital fighting forces appear rarely; this one should rule for a while to come. Agent, Glen Hartley. (Nov.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information. - Publishers Weekly The contributions of the British fleet extend beyond the inventive use of rum, sodomy, and the lash. The British Empire, argues Herman (How the Scots Invented the Modern World, 2001, etc.), would scarcely have been possible without it, and half the world's independent nations would not exist today. The inhabitants of the British Isles, by mere virtue of the fact that they live on islands, have been going down to the sea in ships for millennia. But Herman credits Henry VIII with taking lessons from his fellow rulers in more ambitious lands and rethinking the whole business of the ocean as more than an inconvenient obstacle between England and its holdings in Ireland and France; a skilled copycat, he built up a modern fleet for his time and, stealing a page from Scotland, mounted its ships with heavy, bronze siege cannons. Its descendant, the navy of Elizabeth's age, sailed the world, mostly in order to chase the Spanish; as Herman notes, the Spanish crown replied by launching three successive armadas in 1596, 1597, and 1598, the last of which set off a national panic, with citizens of London closing off streets and rushing to Tilbury with 30,000 militiamen to repel the imagined attackers. England's swabbies found worthy opponents in Napoleon's fleet, too, which dogged them around the globe and made heroes of Lord Nelson and his lieutenants; in the fleets of the Germany in WWI and WWII; and even in the Argentine navy, which gave England's ships a hard fight in the Falklands War of 1982. The last conflict, the author notes, forced a rethinking of the fleet's increasing reliance on high-tech gizmos and put it back in touch with the old traditions: If the British navy was going to winthis war, it was going to have to rely on the human factor, the courage and endurance of its officers and men. There's plenty of courage and endurance here. Herman's thesis is less than groundbreaking, but his narrative ought to please fans of Aubrey and Hornblower-and even the Tudor kings. - Kirkus Reviews