The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, 1649-1815 [Hardcover]

N. A. M. Rodger (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 4, 2005

An Economist Best Book of 2004: "Destined to remain the reference on the subject for the coming generations."—U.S. Naval Institute

The Command of the Ocean describes with unprecedented authority and scholarship the rise of Britain to naval greatness, and the central place of the Navy and naval activity in the life of the nation and government. Based on the author's own research in a dozen languages over more than a decade, it describes not just battles, voyages, and cruises but also how the Navy was manned, supplied, fed, and, above all, how it was financed and directed.

N. A. M. Rodger provides convincing reassessments of such famous figures as Pepys, Hawke, Howe, and St. Vincent. The very particular and distinct qualities of Nelson and Collingwood are illuminatingly contrasted, and the world of officers and men who make up the originals of Jack Aubrey and Horatio Hornblower is brilliantly brought to life. Rodger's comparative view of other navies—French, Dutch, Spanish, and American—allows him to make a fresh assessment of the qualities of the British. 24 pages of illustrations

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. The adjective "magisterial" is justified for this colossal second volume of a complete history of British sea power, which began with The Safeguard of the Sea (1998); the author of the classic 18th-century British naval history, The Wooden World, has surpassed himself here. The book opens with the establishment of the Commonwealth in 1649; for its duration there were two British navies, the Commonwealth Navy (which laid the foundations for a professional officer corps and fought the First Dutch War of 1652–1654) and a semipiratical Royalist Navy-in-Exile. After the Restoration, we quickly find the diarist Samuel Pepys exercising less literary but more permanent influence as secretary (or chief administrative officer) of the admiralty. The book offers colossal amounts of information (organized sometimes thematically, sometimes chronologically) right through to its endpoint of 1815, accompanied by a formidable set of notes and bibliography, as well as 24 pages of illustrations. The author not only avoids a hagiography of famous admirals but displays psychological insight in his portraits of, for example, the trio of Lord St. Vincent, his protégé Nelson and Nelson's indispensable second, Collingwood. Rodger also demonstrates a firm grasp of the relationship of technical subjects (the amount of tar caulking a ship needed) to British strategy (keeping the Baltic sources of tar accessible). Readers without an intense interest in the subject may be daunted; readers without some background knowledge in British social history may be somewhat at sea in the author's discussion of the officer corps and the recruitment of sailors (usually through the press-gang). Serious students of naval history, however, will find this absolutely indispensable; this is the place to find out whence the navy of Jack Aubrey and Horatio Hornblower came.
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Review

As Mr. Rodger demonstrates on almost every page, if you do not understand the importance of British maritime history, you can never fully understand Britain. (The Economist )

Rodger illuminates the world of Nelson and Hardy and its portrayal by C. F. Forrester in the Hornblower novels and Patrick O’Brian in the Aubrey and Maturin cycle . . . to understand the Royal Navy at its peak, Rodger’s account is indispensable (Washington Post Book World )

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 976 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; First American Edition edition (April 4, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393060500
• ISBN-13: 978-0393060508
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 2.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #662,677 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Stunning Achievement, June 1, 2005

By 

Ignotus (Long Branch, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, 1649-1815 (Hardcover)

This volume continues the author's brilliant elucidation of the history of the British navy, so ably begun with The Safeguard of the Sea. The author addresses the navy as a multi-faceted institution, influencing and being influenced by the evolution of politics, taxation, government finance, trade and bureaucracy. Though focused upon the British navy, the book includes a collateral and comparative consideration of naval institutions in France, Spain and Holland.

The author serves up a generally savory mixture of impeccable scholarship and pungent opinion. Nevertheless, American readers may find distasteful his dismissive attitude toward the outcomes of the American Revolution (the "American War") and the War of 1812, and their implications for British naval policy.

Like its predecessor, this volume is chaptered by theme within broad time periods. The thematic structure facilitates the development of theses concerning social organization, finance and the like. The book also includes a Glossory (invaluable)and statistical appendices (valuable, but not priceless).

I await with interest a further volume in this series -- when the author will have to come to terms with the ascendancy of the United States Navy, and modify his thusfar appropriate Euro-centrism. Yankee pride aside, this is an absolutely marvelous book.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A grand history of a great maritime history, July 4, 2005

By 

Bruce Trinque (Amston, CT United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, 1649-1815 (Hardcover)

NAM Rodger's name is already well-known to students of the Royal Navy during the great age of sail, particularly for his "The Wooden World". His "The Command of the Ocean" is a superlative history of the Royal Navy during its rise to dominance at sea and of its period of greatest achievement and glory -- the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars when it was Britain's primary weapon in the struggle with France. Besides being a compelling narrative of more than a century and a half of naval history, Rodger's book is also a compendium of detailed information about the Royal Navy as an institution. Fans of the nautical novels of O'Brian and Forester would do well to read "The Command of the Ocean" for a more complete understanding of the world in which their fictional heroes lived.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a excellent history of Nelson's navy, April 17, 2005

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1. "John Henninger" (Littleton, CO United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, 1649-1815 (Hardcover)

Rodger has written an excellent book that details why the Royal Navy triumphed over the French in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. According to Rodger the reasons for British naval superiority were better maintanence, superior ship design, more effective officer training, and improved health measures. The British were able to keep their ships afloat because they invested a great deal of money in buiding docks that were able to fix ships of the line as opposed to the French, who sacrificed dock building in favor of making new ships. The British also had rugged ships that with bronze plating could outrun their French counterparts that were of a lighter design. British officer training was more practical since it was aboard ships as opposed to the classroom eduction of the French officers. Finally the British were able to triumph over the French because they were able to keep their sailors healthy by a better diet than their French counterparts, and constantly cleaning the interiors of the ships as opposed to the French, who neglected these health measures.The main weakness of Rodger's book is that he seems to gloss over British naval operations, but despite this weakness, Rodger gives credible reason why the Royal Navy defeated the French on consistent basis.